NEW ORLEANS –What a difference a year makes.
One season after finishing with the nation’s No. 1 ranked defense, it was the Mississippi State offense that led the charge in Saturday’s 38-28 win over Louisiana in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
“What we wanted to do offensively in striking a balance with our ability to run the ball and pass the ball successfully I think we took a positive step in that regard,” coach Joe Moorhead said.
The Bulldogs outgained the Ragin’ Cajuns 497-431 as junior running back Kylin Hill and quarterback Tommy Stevens paced the MSU offense.
Speaking in their pregame meal, Moorhead and HIll discussed the possibility of the latter turning in a 200-yard game. Though he finished a touch short — 197 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries — Hill’s head coach was thrilled with the performance.
“I think he’s one of the premier backs in the conference and in the country and I think he showed that today,” Moorhead said.
Hill, who took a swing pass 53 yards for a touchdown on the first play of last season’s Week One thrashing of Stephen F. Austin, burst onto the 2020 scene with a 20-yard scamper on the first play from scrimmage Saturday.
Bobbing and weaving through Louisiana defenders, he finished the day with seven runs of 10 yards or more while earning 7.3 yards per carry.
Stevens was equally dynamic under center as he made the first collegiate start of his career.
Donning a pocket presence now-departed incumbent Nick Fitzgerald desperately lacked a year ago, he torched the Louisiana defense for 236 yards and two touchdowns on 20 of 30 passing and rushed for another 37 yards and a touchdown.
“I’ve been able to play a lot at Penn State and that didn’t really make the moment too big for me,” he said. “It was a really good feeling to just go out and overall have a really good team win.”
Stevens opened Saturday’s scoring with a 31-yard dime to junior receiver Osirus Mitchell — who led all MSU receivers with six receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown — to cap off a six-play, 74-yard drive.
Following a three-yard touchdown run by Louisiana junior running back Elijah Mitchell and an eight-yard score from MSU senior running back Nick Gibson, Stevens sent the Bulldogs into halftime with a 21-14 lead as he notched a four-yard touchdown plunge with 31 seconds remaining.
After Hill added the only points of the third quarter on a five-yard touchdown scamper, Stevens tossed his final score of the day with 13:07 remaining in the fourth quarter — delivering a strike to sophomore receiver Austin Williams on a corner route toward the front left pylon to put MSU ahead 35-14.
Texting with Moorhead Friday night, Stevens was assured Saturday was the moment he’d long awaited — one that was supposed to occur in State College but was delayed until a trip to The Big Easy.
“I said ‘You’ve been working for this opportunity for your whole life and for the past few years,'” Moorhead recounted. “‘I want you to go out, play loose and have fun and for a guy to come out and have that kind of production I was very excited for him.”
Louisiana drew within a touchdown when junior running back Trey Ragas took a 17-yard handoff into the end zone with 2:45 remaining.
Bulldogs’ junior kicker Jordan Lawless put the game on ice with a shaky 37-yard field goal after the Ragin’ Cajuns sent an onside kick out of bounds.
“Got some things we need to clean up, obviously, but we’re going to enjoy this one tonight, come back tomorrow ready to work and start game planning for Week Two,” Stevens said.
While the offense was plenty prolific, MSU’s vaunted defense was anything but. With the departures of Montez Sweat, Jeffery Simmons and Johnathan Abram coupled with the unbalanced formations Louisiana threw out, MSU struggled to generate any kind of pressure on quarterback Levi Lewis.
“As I told the guys after the game, Jeffery Simmons isn’t coming back, Montez Sweat isn’t coming back, Johnathan Abram isn’t coming back,” Moorhead said. “We’re not that defense. We need to find our own identity.”
Junior cornerback Cam Dantzler was among the few bright spots as he totaled seven tackles, one interception and a fumble recovery. A Hammond, Louisiana native, Dantzler said he had roughly 30 family members in attendance Saturday.
“It’s just a homecoming for me,” he said postgame. “I’ve got to put on a show for my family and friends and that’s always a good feeling — coming back home and making plays.”
MSU now returns to Starkville as it prepares for its Week Two home opener against Southern Mississippi 2:30 p.m. next Saturday.
“We need to find a way to make plays and ultimately it’s not about one phase or one unit,” Moorhead said. “It’s about us playing together as a team and it’s going to be old school Mississippi State football — we’re going to have to find a way on a weekly basis to fight, scratch and claw like junkyard dogs and find a way to win football games and I think we did that today.”
DAWG NOTES
Seven players were unavailable for Saturday’s opener after violating team rules. Of note, starting WILL linebacker junior Willie Gay Jr., senior defensive tackle Lee Autry and sophomore safety Marcus Murphy.
Senior offensive lineman Michael Story, junior kicker Jace Christmann, junior receiver Devonta Jason and freshman offensive lineman Kwatrivous Johnson were also unavailable.
Though no exact reasoning was given, a handful of the suspensions likely stem from last week’s NCAA findings that 10 MSU football players and one men’s basketball player were found to have committed academic misconduct involving a part-time athletics tutor.
Other offseason incidents of note include Christmann being arrested for a DUI in February, while Story pleaded guilty to an animal cruelty charge Aug. 13.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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