One of the most maddening cliches in sports is the one where players, coaches and executives say, “It is what it is.” It’s stupid for a variety of reasons, mostly because it’s an invitation on the part of the speaker to ignore any depth of thought and simply just accept whatever is taking place. Imagine using this awful cliche in other facets of life — “I don’t know why there’s so much money missing from the account. What? It is what it is!”

Of course, having said that, there was really no other way to assess Mississippi State’s trip to College Station on Saturday night — a 30-17 loss — except to say that. Even the normally animated Dan Mullen essentially said as much in the postgame — State played hard and hung in there, but Texas A&M was better, made more plays … and that was that.

5 TAKEAWAYS
• At the risk of being repetitive, whatever chances the Bulldogs had to win on Saturday hinged on a handful of “swing plays” that would have allowed them to build some momentum — or stop the Aggies’ momentum — throughout the game. For the most part, they made none of them. The worst came right before halftime. Trailing 17-10 late in the second quarter, State allowed A&M to go 64 yards in only five plays to make it a two-score game. They never really threatened beyond that, and when they did, it ended in a fumble at the Aggies’ goal line.
• Looking on the bright side, Mississippi State’s effort in the second half was commendable — after a fumble on the first drive of the second half, it looked for all the world like the Bulldogs were ready to fold up tents. But the defense figured out ways to limit Kyle Allen in the second half and kept the game reasonably competitive into the fourth quarter. There’s plenty there for building blocks.
• The question now turns to where State can go from here. Mullen said in the postgame that the SEC champ could have three losses, and that there’s no reason to declare his team out of the race for any titles. Of course, what else should he say? At this point, State is down a game to LSU, down a game to A&M and has yet to play Alabama or Ole Miss. It’s probably fair to say they’re no better than fourth in that line, no matter what happens from here on out. That’s not an insult — not in this division — but what Saturday should have showed us, in essence, is that State basically (God help me) is what it is. They’re good enough to be competitive. They’re good enough to win if they get a few breaks, but expecting them to compete for anything more meaningful than nine wins is folly at this point.

REPORT CARD
Offense: C- — Really this week’s performance wasn’t that much different than last week’s win at Auburn. Even the point total was the same, but the offense struggled to make the key plays throughout the game. The fumbles were killers. Equally fatal was the possession in which State took over down 10 early in the fourth quarter … and immediately went three-and-out.
Defense: C+ — Texas A&M’s second-half possessions: Field goal (off a short field following a State fumble), Punt, Downs, Punt, Punt, Punt, Field goal. They were never able to force a key turnover or put Kyle Allen under stress, but you could sense them improving as the game wore on.
Special Teams: C — Solid, unspectacular.
Coaching: C — OK, so this will probably make me sound like a reactionary yelling on Twitter, but at this point I am mildly confused as to why Dan Mullen seems to trust his quarterback’s decision-making so little. On a key third-and-6 in the fourth quarter, the Aggies were so sure Prescott was running a quarterback draw, they left two people in the box to spy on him. And they were right.

GAME BALLS
• Dak Prescott: 20-for-34, 210 yards; 18 carries, 96 yards, 1 TD
• Fred Ross: 11 receptions, 103 yards
• Malik Dear: 52-yard rushing TD
• Richie Brown: 12 tackles, one for loss

INJURY UPDATE
Safety Kendrick Market didn’t return to the field after injuring his leg in the first half. Receiver Gabe Myles also suffered a leg injury in the third quarter, and another receiver, Joe Morrow, was lost to an arm injury.