Mississippi State took a trip to Arizona late on Saturday night, with the game kicking off after 11 p.m. Eastern time.

It was a familiar return to Pac-12 After Dark for coach Mike Leach, who experienced plenty of those games during his time at Washington State.

Though the upstart Wildcats kept things close for much of the first half, the Bulldogs proved to be too much to handle, pulling away after the intermission to cruise to a 39-17 victory.

QB Will Rogers was magnificent, throwing for 313 yards and 4 touchdowns to set the tone for Mississippi State. Here was a beautiful pass to Caleb Ducking to give the Bulldogs the lead:

No one is better at fitting the ball into tight windows in the red zone, as Rogers proved once again here:

 

The Mississippi State offense is humming along right now. We’ll see if that continues against LSU in Week 3.

The defense also made plenty of big plays, snagging 3 interceptions and almost grabbing a couple others against Arizona QB Jayden de Laura. Mississippi State will be a tough out in the SEC West, with that gauntlet of a schedule beginning next weekend in Baton Rouge against Brian Kelly and the Tigers for Mike Leach and his feisty squad.