Mississippi State’s 2025 season took another wrong turn on Saturday in Columbia, Mo. The Bulldogs, now 5-6, were plagued by mistakes in all three phases in a 49-27 defeat to the Tigers, and a closer look at the gap between the teams on offense is in line with persistent problems throughout SEC play on both sides of the running game.  

Here are some of the standout numbers and performers from MSU’s sixth loss of the season. 

Standout Stat: Mizzou 13 explosive plays for 341 yards

The Bulldogs have a new ugly habit on defense, giving up big plays. 

Since the fourth quarter collapse against Texas, opponents have been able to gash MSU through the air and on the ground for big gains (10+ yards on the ground, 15+ yards through the air).

On Saturday, opposing running backs hit the 300-yard mark against the Bulldogs for a second straight week, only this time, Missouri sophomore Ahmad Hardy did it all by himself. Once again, the defense had no answers.

The Tigers offense accumulated 438 total yards despite a slow passing game, and averaged eight yards per play with 8.4 yards per carry on the ground. 

Simply put, the Tigers had a field day, and the Bulldogs were unable to keep up with the production on the ground.  

Standout Stat: MSU 52 carries for 110 yards, 2.1 yards/carry

MSU head coach Jeff Lebby went with a different approach to the ground game in an effort to reignite the offense. He called several quarterback runs, with Blake Shapen and Kamario Taylor combining for 27 carries on the night. Shapen led the team in carries with 12, though the statsheet counts the five sacks as well as the negative yardage. 

In total, the Bulldogs ran the ball 52 times and tallied just 110 yards across seven ball carriers. 

Shapen scored two touchdowns with QB draws in the red zone, but the Tigers quickly got smart to the strategy and stopped the Bulldogs for no gain or negative yards on 12 plays. 

On a night when both teams made plenty of mistakes, the lack of a cohesive ground game and failure to create better third down opportunities doomed the Bulldogs. 

Nic Mitchell: 6 tackles, 3 solo, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT

It wasn’t a positive day for the defense, but Mitchell played his part in giving the Bulldogs a chance. He made two big plays behind the line, including one of just two sacks for the team on Saturday, and made a key interception in the first half to give the offense an opportunity to take the lead. 

Mitchell, a member of Lebby’s player leadership council, has often represented the defense in front of the media, and did so again in Columbia with obvious frustration over the team’s performance. In his view, the big plays, especially on the ground, were killer once again for the team’s chances. 

“We couldn’t stop the run at all,” he said after the game. “Not getting out of gaps, not setting the edges, just collectively as a defense, we couldn’t find a way to stop the run all game.  We had some times where we slowed it down, but anytime someone rushes for 300 yards, you can’t expect to win. I mean, just not how it works. That’s not how football works. You have to stop the run, and we couldn’t do that.”

Ahmad Hardy: 25 carries for 300 yards, 3 TDs, 12 yards/carry

This piece is normally reserved for the Mississippi State players and team perspective, and in a way, this does highlight the defensive issues Mitchell spoke of. 

Hardy wasn’t recruited by any of the top Mississippi programs, and instead committed to UL Monroe, where he ran for more than 1,300 yards as a freshman and earned an offer to lead the Mizzou backfield as a sophomore. 

Now, Hardy is the leading rusher in the nation after burying the Bulldogs in the bottomland of the SEC standings. His performance was aided by great offensive line help and poor defending from MSU, but that takes nothing away from the vision, the physicality or the speed that was on display in a memorable performance. 

Blake Shapen: 19-33 for 199 yards, 2 INTs

It was another bad day at the office for the MSU quarterback. After a week of uncertainty over his health outside of the building, Lebby unveiled a game plan that put Shapen in the thick of things as a runner, but the strategy yielded little outside of the opening drive. 

Shapen’s running was useful in providing two rushing touchdowns, but taking hit after hit wasn’t worth the toll. The passing game took a hit as well, and the sack count on Shapen jumped to 34 for the season as the Tigers’ defense got to him three times. 

The real backbreaker was the two interceptions, the second of which was a throw Shapen will want back. It was his eighth pick of the season, and the 36.2 QB rating is his worst of the season so far.