Report Card: Mississippi State misses its mark in loss to Ole Miss
By Ethan Levine
Published:
OFFENSE: C
Mississippi State may have posted 445 yards of offense in Saturday’s loss, but the MSU offense was merely average against the ferocious Ole Miss Landshark defense. The Bulldogs were able to deceptively inflate their offensive numbers thanks to an 11 minute edge in time of possession, which only occurred due to how quickly the Ole Miss offense scored when it had the ball.
As a result, the Bulldogs were able to run 22 more plays than Ole Miss, yet they amassed 87 fewer yards than the Rebels by game’s end.
Mississippi State entered Saturday’s game averaging 5.45 yards per carry in the run game, yet it mustered just 3.5 yards per carry in the loss to Ole Miss. Likewise, Dak Prescott threw for 282 yards and a touchdown, but he completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes in doing so.
The Bulldogs’ 17 points marked just the third time all season they failed to score at least 30 points and the second time in 2014 they failed to score at least 20 points. Mississippi State held its own on offense against the nation’s No 1 scoring defense, but at the end of the day holding its own simply wasn’t good enough.
DEFENSE: D
The Mississippi State defense entered Week 14 having allowed more explosive plays than any other team in the SEC, and the Bulldogs’ susceptibility to allowing big plays came back to haunt them in Saturday’s loss.
The Bulldogs allowed Ole Miss to post 532 yards of total offense on Saturday, but they allowed the Rebels to amass more than 360 of those yards on just eight of their 62 plays from scrimmage. Every time Mississippi State got within one score on the scoreboard, the defense allowed a big play that extended the Ole Miss lead.
It cut the Rebels’ lead to seven points in the third quarter, then gave up a 91-yard touchdown run to Jaylen Walton; it cut the lead back to seven later in the second half only to allow Jordan Wilkins to connect on a 31-yard halfback pass to Cody Core to put Ole Miss up 14 points for good.
Mississippi State also allowed a struggling Ole Miss run game to post 205 yards and three touchdowns at 6.6 yards per carry, marking it’s best rushing output in SEC play.
So while the Bulldogs defense wasn’t a complete failure Saturday night, it was pretty darn close.
Related: Egg Bowl game highlights (video)
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Mississippi State can thank punter Devon Bell for its promising special teams grade following Saturday’s loss. Bell was called upon eight times against Ole Miss and averaged more than 45 yards per punt, landing four punts inside the Ole Miss 20 yard line without a single touchback. His ability to flip field position is what kept Mississippi State afloat during a handful of difficult stretches on Saturday, and his contributions did not go unnoticed.
As for the rest of the special teams, it was a rather uneventful day. Mississippi State returned one kickoff for 21 yards and never logged a return on a punt. It was 2 of 2 on extra points and just 1 of 2 on field goals, although the miss can be credited to a bad hold by Prescott rather than a bad kick by kicker Evan Sobiesk.
That missed kick is the only thing keeping the Bulldogs from an A in this phase of the game, but Bell’s contributions were so critical it allowed the special teams to maintain a B on this week’s report card.
COACHING: C-
Dan Mullen and his coaching staff failed to rise to the occasion in Saturday’s Egg Bowl, as the Ole Miss sideline was full of energy while the Mississippi State sideline appeared flat from start to finish.
To make matters worse, Mullen ripped his defensive coaching staff following the loss, saying they did a “terrible job” against the Rebels. Mullen is normally in high spirits and has remained unflappable for most of the season, but he let his emotions get the best of him Saturday in an all-around frustrating loss for Mississippi State.
Mullen has had worse coaching performances against ranked teams throughout his Mississippi State tenure, but he was far from at his best on Saturday.
OVERALL: D
Mississippi State let a golden opportunity slip through its hands in Saturday’s loss, missing a chance at an SEC West title and a potential berth in the College Football Playoff at the end of the season.
The Bulldogs looked uninspired on Saturday and they were out-played from start to finish by their arch-rivals from Oxford. The entire game was a giant dud for the Bulldogs, which is why they earn a D for their performance in this year’s Egg Bowl.
It’s safe to say this loss is going to linger in Starkville for a long, long time.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
