AUSTIN, Texas — It was a performance, especially on defense, that far exceeded anything Mississippi State could have hoped for Saturday. But with a true freshman quarterback making his first career start on the road against the No. 1 team in the country, the Bulldogs did not have enough offense to pull off the monumental upset.
MSU trailed by just one score at halftime before wearing down in the second half in a 35-13 loss to the top-ranked Longhorns.
The Bulldogs (1-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) came out determined to run the ball, and even without Keyvone Lee, they had some success doing so. Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels both found some holes in Texas’ outstanding defensive front, and both Van Buren and Chris Parson were able to squirt forward as well. But the Longhorns held on fourth down on the opening drive when tight end Justin Ball ran his route short of the line to gain.
It took little time for Arch Manning and the Texas offense to take the lead. MSU continued to leave receivers with huge swaths of open space deep downfield, and the Longhorns used three chunk plays through the air to set up a 1-yard touchdown run for Jaydon Blue.
After that, though, the Bulldogs’ defense settled in. Texas (5-0, 1-0) was on the verge of taking a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter when safety Corey Ellington knocked the ball out from Blue on a third-and-1 and linebacker Zakari Tillman recovered, part of a huge first half for Tillman. MSU forced punts the next two times its defense was on the field, with Tillman partially blocking the first one.
Both of those punts led to Bulldogs field goals, as MSU had success moving the ball in the middle of the field before the Longhorns tightened up. But Texas extended the lead before halftime on a two-minute drill, with Manning hitting DeAndre Moore deep for a 49-yard touchdown.
Middle linebacker Stone Blanton provided a big play right out of the break, stripping Blue after a long gain and recovering the fumble himself for MSU’s second takeaway. The Bulldogs, though, fumbled the ball right back on a strip-sack when the line could not protect Van Buren. Left tackle Makylan Pounders had a rough third quarter, committing a block in the back on an end-around run and later allowing a blitzing linebacker to sprint right past him for a sack.
The defense was running on fumes for much of the second half, allowing touchdowns on three straight drives. Manning scored on a quarterback sneak to end the third quarter, then found Moore deep again to stretch the lead to 28-6 in the fourth. Van Buren’s first career touchdown came on a 12-yard run, the first touchdown the Longhorns had allowed in the red zone all season. Texas then iced the game when Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond took a reverse 26 yards to the end zone.
Takeaways
1. Mississippi State’s defense at least played better. The Bulldogs may have been facing a backup quarterback, but Manning is no ordinary backup. Manning played a pristine game, taking advantage of some mismatches with his receivers and using his legs for a big play to set up a quarterback sneak for a touchdown to end the third quarter. It also helped that MSU dominated time of possession in the first half, holding the ball for more than 21 minutes. But Coleman Hutzler’s unit looked as good as it has all season early on — admittedly not saying much, but there are positives to build on heading into an open date.
2. Michael Van Buren handled the environment adequately but seemed rattled at times. The Bulldogs started the game with five straight handoffs to Booth before calling a pass play, on which the freshman scrambled for seven yards. The goal was clearly to take as much of the burden as possible off of Van Buren’s shoulders, and he did make some nice medium-length throws, but could not connect on a deep shot until the fourth quarter, when he found Mario Craver for a 46-yard gain.
MSU’s offensive line, which got off to a good start from a run blocking standpoint, was dreadful in pass protection, allowing six sacks for 45 yards. The Bulldogs also had trouble getting the plays in, resulting in four delay of game penalties — including two in a row on Van Buren during MSU’s first drive of the fourth quarter.
3. The bye week could not be coming at a better time. MSU is licking its wounds as it tries to find its identity under a new coaching staff. Safety Isaac Smith, the Bulldogs’ leading tackler, did not play Saturday, and MSU is still depleted on the defensive line. Veteran De’Monte Russell went down with an injury in the third quarter, a blow to a front already missing Kalvin Dinkins and Kedrick Bingley-Jones.
With a trip to Georgia coming up in two weeks, the Bulldogs need the week off to get healthy and reassess some things as the remaining schedule offers very few breaks.
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