STARKVILLE — Maybe it’s a sign of how far the Mississippi State football team has come under Dan Mullen, but there were few smiles from the sixth-year coach or his players after a 47-34 victory against Conference USA foe Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.
The numbers were there in spots, as junior quarterback Dak Prescott matched a career-high with five touchdowns and had 322 yards, while junior tailback Josh Robinson rushed for 120 yards. But sluggish, often sloppy play offensively and a number of defensive breakdowns that led to three touchdowns of more than 75 yards left the Bulldogs (2-0) with as many questions as answers.
“We knew we were going to be in for a battle and it showed,” said Mullen, whose team allowed 548 yards, the most since a 51-41 loss at Texas A&M last November. “We said coming (UAB was) a different-looking outfit than last year. We’ve got some things we have to get fixed, but it’s hard to get wins. Half the teams playing today are not going to get to celebrate those wins, so we’re going to celebrate and enjoy our win tonight.
“But we flirted with disaster. We did some things you absolutely cannot do if you want to have the type of season we think we can have.”
On a day when MSU matched its highest point total after two games since 1951, the Bulldogs never couldn’t put the Blazers away. A year after the Blazers finished 2-10, first-year coach Bill Clark and UAB walked into Davis Wade Stadium and pushed the deeper, more-talented Bulldogs into the fourth quarter.
“Give Mississippi State credit for staying on us,” said Clark, whose team slipped to 1-1. “I really felt like we could come back in the second half and do great things, but give them credit. They came out and answered, but I will say that our guys never quit.”
The Bulldogs topped the 40-point mark for the third-straight game and led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter. Prescott, following a week filled with rumors he was nursing an ankle injury, looked anything but banged up in a performance that was often brilliant. The Haughton, Louisiana, native passed for a career-high four touchdowns for the second-straight week and added 111 rushing yards and a score, becoming the first player in school history to pass for at least four touchdowns while surpassing the 100-yard mark.
The Bulldogs needed every bit of Prescott’s performance. After opening the game with a three-play, 87-yard drive capped by a 68-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to senior wideout Robert Johnson, the Bulldogs’ defense pushed MSU’s early lead to 13-3 on the strength of a 21-yard interception return for a touchdown by reigning Southeastern Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week Preston Smith. It was Smith’s second-consecutive game with an interception.
“It was a big change of momentum,” Smith said. “Both sides were going out and scoring today, and it felt good to help the offense by going out and scoring points.”
It was one of few defensive highlights for MSU. A week after recording its first shutout in 15 years, the defense found itself susceptible to big plays against an offense that connected on five passes of 50 yards or better, including three touchdown strikes that covered at least 75 yards. Those home run plays included an 88-yard pass from quarterback Jeremi Briscoe to wideout J.J Nelson, an 81-yard connection between Cody Clements and wide receiver Josh Magee, and the final blow, a 75-yard pass from Briscoe to Quincy Perdue. The scores helped UAB throw for 435 yards.
“It’s embarrassing, and it’s not what we are about as a defensive football team,” Mullen said. “Some of those plays, we were beaten. Some were just a matter of poor positioning. You look at the second one (the 81-yarder), Will Redmond was right there, and he went for the pick. The coverage was perfect, and I like when a guy tries to make a play. But he didn’t get it, and the wide receiver never broke stride. We’ll get with (defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend) and we’ll get that cleaned up.”
MSU cornerback Taveze Calhoun agreed.
“It’s not who we are. It’s not the way we want to play football,” Calhoun said.
Although MSU’s defense struggled to contain UAB’s big-play offense, it consistently had answers for the game’s momentum swings. After UAB took a 20-19 lead midway through the second quarter, Prescott found tight end Gus Walley for a 20-yard touchdown score to give the Bulldogs the lead for good.
And when MSU needed a big play coming out of the halftime break, MSU’s special teams unit came through for the second week in a row. Sophomore safety Kivon Coman broke through UAB’s punt protection unabated on UAB’s first possession of the third quarter and blocked a punt by Hunter Mullins. The blocked punt gave MSU a first down at the Blazers’ 20-yard line and set up a three-play, 20-yard touchdown drive that was capped by Prescott’s 4-yard touchdown run that pushed the lead to 33-20 and gave the Bulldogs a two-score cushion for the first time since the first quarter.
“That blocked punt was huge,” Mullen said. “At the end of the day, I’m pleased we found a way to make plays. Every time they made a play, we came back and took momentum right back. You like to see that.”
The momentum from Coman’s blocked punt carried MSU the rest of the way, as it twice built 20-point leads in the second half, first on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Morrow that made it 40-20, and again on an 8-yard scoring strike from Prescott to De’Runnya Wilson that made it 47-27.
The touchdown catches from Morrow and Wilson were part of an effort that saw 10 players catch passes, including four for scores.
“We talk with (position coach Billy Gonzalez) about being the best unit on the team,” said Johnson, who had two catches for 75 yards. “That’s how we want to approach every game.”
MSU (2-0) will venture out on the road for the first time next week when it faces South Alabama at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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