The Mississippi State passing game is just fine.

One week after an uncharacteristically poor performance in a 31-16 loss at LSU, Will Rogers and the Bulldogs receivers set the tone in the 45-14 victory against Bowling Green on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium.

Rogers threw touchdown passes to cap his first 2 drives to help State race to a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Both of those drives required less than 2 minutes. Despite the speed with which State drove to the end zone, it still wound up possessing the ball for nearly 11 minutes in the period

That’s because the defense allowed just 19 yards while forcing a 3-and-out on each of Bowling Green’s 3 possessions in the period.

The Bulldogs (3-1), who held a 13-0 lead late in the second quarter before collapsing against LSU, kept rolling against the overmatched Falcons (1-3). That’s mostly because Rogers and the passing game kept rolling until he turned things over to freshman Sawyer Robertson during the 4th quarter.

Rogers tied his own school record with 6 touchdown passes. He had his 7th 400-yard passing game (409) and completed 39 of 50.

It was drastically different from what happened a week earlier.

Against LSU, Rogers completed just 24 of 42 for a mere 214 yards. He had just 1 touchdown, added 1 interception and was sacked 4 times.

The completions and the yards were the fewest for Rogers since the Armed Forces Bowl at the end of the 2020 season. The completion percentage (57.1) was the lowest of his career.

But on Saturday the biggest challenge Rogers faced was choosing which of his open receivers to throw to.

Caleb Ducking was the only Bulldog with multiple touchdown catches (2), finishing with 7 receptions for 96 yards. The other TDs came from Simeon Price (the 1st of his career), Jamire Calvin, Lideatrick Griffin and Jaden Walley. Seven other Bulldogs caught passes from Rogers.

And it wasn’t just the passing game that bounced back on Saturday. The whole State team got back on track.

The offense that had just 145 total yards in the second half against LSU had 278 in the first half Saturday and finished with 465.

State played without running back Jo’quavious Marks, but Dillon Johnson took care of the productivity from the running back position. He had 57 yards on 4 rushes and caught 4 passes for 21 yards.

His 40-yard run in the 3rd quarter was the longest in head coach Mike Leach’s 3 seasons, surpassing the 37-yarder Marks had for a touchdown against LSU.

The defense, which gave up 271 in the second half, including 175 in the fourth quarter, against LSU, gave up just 250 (including 78 rushing).

The special teams, which had a game-turning muffed punt late in the third quarter against LSU, avoided critical breakdowns and Ben Raybon chipped in a 53-yard field goal (1 yard shorter than the school record) for good measure.

State was even perfect (6 for 6) on extra points, which might not seem like a big deal but it missed 1 against LSU and 2 a week earlier against Arizona.

The Mid-American Conference opponent did not have its starting quarterback or its head coach.

Camden Orth, starting in place of Matt McDonald, completed 17 of 28 for 172 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interception.

Head coach Scott Loeffler did not make the trip because of a “personal health matter,” according to the school. Bowling Green said he should be back next week.

Speaking of next week, that’s when State returns to SEC play by hosting Texas A&M.

The improvement shown Saturday isn’t necessarily indicative of what might happen against the Aggies, just as the impressive performance in wins against Memphis and Arizona weren’t indicative of what was going to happen against LSU.

But, generally speaking, the Bulldogs go as their passing game goes. And on Saturday everything went the way it was designed to go.