STARKVILLE — Even though the Mississippi State football team is 3-1 and 1-2 in the Southeastern Conference, it feels good about where it stands entering the final seven games.
MSU lost a heart-breaker to LSU 21-19 at home in the second week of the season. Two weeks ago, it went to Auburn, Alabama, and toppled the Tigers 17-9. However, MSU couldn’t keep the winning going on the road Saturday, in a 30-17 loss to Texas A&M at Kyle Field.
MSU and Auburn are the only teams in the SEC West with two conference losses. MSU and Ole Miss are the only teams in the West that have played three conference games.
Texas A&M and LSU lead the division at 2-0.
MSU will start a three-game home stretch at 3 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) against Troy. It then will play host to Louisiana Tech and Kentucky. It it wins those three games it will be bowl eligible for the sixth-straight year.
“You just get ready for the next phase of the season,” MSU seventh-year coach Dan Mullen said Saturday. “We’ve got three-straight home games coming up, so this will be a really important stretch for us to get this season where we need it to be.”
MSU, which was ranked No. 21 and No. 22 in The Associated Press and Amway Coaches polls, respectively, last week, dropped out of both polls.
MSU will have its only bye after the game against Kentucky. It then will go to Missouri for a Thursday night game, play host to Alabama, travel to Arkansas, and play host to Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl at Davis Wade Stadium.
“We’re going to win at home. That’s our plan,” MSU senior quarterback Dak Prescott said. “We’ve got to take the positives from this loss and move forward and get better as a team.”
Prescott is 115 of 176 for 1,279 yards and seven touchdowns. He hasn’t thrown an interception in 225 attempts dating back to last season. It’s the nation’s longest active streak, and the third-longest in SEC history.
Last season, MSU won its first nine games and finished 10-3 (6-2, second in the SEC West). But the Bulldogs had to replace 15 starters, and many young players have been getting a great deal of playing time this season, especially on defense.
“We’ve got to grow up and make plays,” senior cornerback Taveze Calhoun said. “The other team isn’t going to be looking at you like young guys. They look at it like an opponent. Everybody has to grow up.”
The Bulldogs’ defense has been up and down. It stopped Southern Mississippi’s running game in the first game, but the Golden Eagles passed for more than 300 yards. MSU couldn’t stop the run against LSU and Auburn, and Texas A&M passed for 322 yards, as quarterback Kyle Allen completed his first nine passes.
“A lot of times, you’re a young guy or you haven’t played a lot and you think you might have something, but you really don’t,” Calhoun said. “The little details matter. I think if we do those things, we’ll be right where we want to be.”
MSU will try to bounce back against Troy (1-3). The Bulldogs are 3-1 all-time against the Trojans. The loss was in 2001 in Starkville. MSU claimed a 30-24 victory in 2012 in Troy and a 62-7 victory in 2013 in Starkville.
Troy is coming off a 24-18 loss to South Alabama.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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