Published September 15, 2011 - 10:40pm
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LSU went into Starkville and came out a winner against the Mississippi State Bulldogs 19-6, and this LSU defense really came to play tonight against what looked to be a top-ranked offense in the SEC.
Here are three take aways from this LSU victory over Mississippi State:
1. Jarrett Lee is good enough to lead this team in big games: Mississippi State dared Lee to beat them tonight because they stacked the box to stop the run, and he did just that by throwing the only touchdown of the football game to Rueben Randle. Lee finished 21 for 27 for 213 yards and one touchdown pass. He also threw an interception late in the game, but he played very well tonight and showed some leadership and poise. He’s now beaten two top 25 teams in Oregon and Mississippi State in this short season, and he looked decent in both games. It will be interesting to see how things play out when Jordan Jefferson returns, or if he even returns. I have been pleasantly surprised with Lee’s play so far.
2. LSU’s defense is suffocating: This defense might be as good as Alabama’s defense – notice I said might. They are very fast and physical, but we already knew this after the Oregon game. This defensive line and secondary put on a clinic all night. John Chavis has an outstanding defense that will keep them in every single football game they play all year. The Tigers only gave up 189 total yards and 49 rushing yards to the best running team in the conference, and they also added five sacks and 16 tackles for loss. Morris Claiborne had two interceptions, and combined with Tyrann Mathieu, these two are a dominant duo in the secondary. This defense is scary good.
3. Mississippi State needs to regroup: The Bulldogs have the wind out of their sails right now with two straight losses to Auburn and LSU, but this is still a good football team with very winnable games ahead on the schedule. They just ran into a mack truck tonight in this LSU defense. This team could still be the best rushing football team in the SEC, but they will have to progress in the passing game moving forward because teams will make the Bulldogs beat them through the air.
Once again, LSU wins in LSU-like fashion. A complete domination defensively, with solid offensive play. The Tigers could be the team to beat in the SEC West.
Well it was good while it lasted the hype I mean. State has gone back to being State and thats a shame for Dan Mullen. If I were him I would get out while the gettings good. I have pulled for State for 30 years and at this point I don’t think they will ever be anything more than a soso team at best. I’m just glad I didn’t buy season tickets.
No reason to be that down about it. They played well against a good team. Im a UGA fan and you probably just need to do what all of the UGA faithful have to do this year. Just hope that the team keeps up the good spirit and comes out to play the rest of the season. I have a lot of faith in Miss St. and feel like they can still come out with a good season!
Bugtussel, come-on lighten up a little, I understand you are a little disappointed but look at things realistically. The SEC west is the best division top to bottom in College football, period end of story!!! You have played two top 25 teams back to back, with LSU ranked in the top 3. You played a barn burner in Auburn last week and if Auburn doesn’t make a tackle for the ages you win that game “on the road.” On 4 days rest you played the number 3 ranked team in the nation who is averaging 45 points a game and held them to 19 points. And let’s face it in the first half it was really close. Is MSU a Bama or LSU, not yet but they are right there cut them a little more slack. You saw what your team did to Michigan last year, you have a good football team and a great coach your time is just around the corner and I truly don’t believe you could say that since JS left the program. How good they will actually be, I think they will be really good if you can keep DM, if you can’t well back to the cellar. I know it is a disappointing loss, but be realistic you were not supposed to win that game but your kids played their hearts out against a very, very, very good LSU team.
So don’t hope DM takes his talents elsewhere, in fact you should be saying the exact opposite and getting people to jump on the MSU bandwagon because playing MSU now is not like it used to be. I will tell you how it used to be, I would look at our schedule and one of the auto wins I would mark down was the MSU game, now I go “crap we have to play those guys that is going to be a tough game I sure hope we get out of there with a win!!!!” Because if DM leaves, you are going right back down to the games that are auto wins and I know that is no fun. So get back on the MSU bandwagon and convince other people to do so also, because the worst thing a fan base can do is after all the hard work the head coach is putting in “and compared to where you guys were before DM got there he has put in a whole lot of work” is for the fan base that is supposed to love their team through thick and thin to lose faith!!!!!
Mississippi State played hard. Just overmatched against the LSU defense which is incredible. Be proud of the Bulldogs.
IF the dogs can play offence like they did against Auburn, and defense like they did against LSU, they can win re remainder of their games this season.
I have never seen such poor game management. Sure, LSU stepped up their game in the 4th but MS State layed down half way through the quarter. Can anyone tell me why they had their backup quarterback in the game? Beyond that, MS State got the ball back with 2:53 left in the game with 3 timeouts, down by less than 2 TD’s and let the clock run out before using even one. They didn’t try to get out of bounds to stop the clock or anything?? Being an AL fan I was indifferent to the outcome but that was just piss poor performance by the coaching staff. I don’t even want to comment on Les Miles’ timeout call wth 5 seconds left in the half to get the ball back then downs it the next play to let it run out? If someone can enlighten me to the the strategy used I am more than open to hearing it.
Roll Tide.
LSU’s defense is impressive with speed and strength at all positions. The word out of Baton Rouge is that they are 2 to 3 deep at virtually every position as well. It’s even scarier to think that AL’s defense may be better. Looks like a lot of hard mouth football in the SEC this year with a great shot at 6 in a row!
MSU is solid but with Ballard averaging almost 10 yds per carry going into the game, how did he only get 10 touches? Relf kept the ball way too much and was obviously ineffective. He needs to hand the ball off!
Bottom line, gonna be a great year in the SEC and this early in the year, MSU and Georgia, two pretty good teams, have 2 losses a piece with schedules that just dont get a whole lot easier in-conference.
I’m telling you guy’s I have been a State fan a long time and the game I watched last night reminded me of the Sylvester Croom days. Relf for whatever reason would not get rid of the ball nor run. Ballard seems to play hard when he feels like it then he fades away. The defense needs to play all 4 quaters they just quit. The offense is improved but they don’t play to win. I think all the hype went to their heads and now reality has slapped them in the face. State needs to buckel down and play like they have something to prove!!!!! Looks like it’s gonna be life in the bottom of the SEC again this year.
You know, I am an Auburn Fan, and I think MSU is one great team. Yes, they lost to us, and yes, they lost to LSU, but in another year or two, they will make their mark. LSU is a hard team to beat. Always. Auburn comes out fighting because of all the bullshit that surronds us every year. Hard to beat that too. MSU wil come into their own. They have a great coach who is gonna to lead them to many a victory. Mark my words. In a couple of years, they will be playing for the championship. :)
Back to the basics on both sides of the ball. I can assure you both teams are nursing bruises today. Backing what dudebro said Miss St played hard, with the number of players that got hurt, the second and third stringers that were in there playing against a unreal defense, yea St hung in as long as they could. I haven’t wrote them off, still scares me to think we have ya’ll coming up. Last year was to tight, took 2 ot’s to do it. Getting better every year. Just a bad year to be in the West or good if the cards are falling right. I personally see LSU as THE team to beat this year.