LSU Game Report Card

Sep 21, 2013; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs mascot Bully rides on his dog house to lead the team out to the field before the game against the Troy Trojans at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

Special Teams: A

WE MADE TWO FIELD GOALS! Yes, we actually made two field goals and won the game by 5 points. Let that sink in for a minute. If we don’t hit those field goals, we probably don’t win this game. No, they weren’t 40+ yard attempts, but I can live with that. I’m happy knowing that if we get the ball inside the red zone, that we might not have to score a touchdown to put points on the board. Despite everything else, this might be the most important development of the game for Mississippi State. We have to make some field goals this year to win important games, and we did that Saturday night.

On other fronts, Devon Bell continues to show that he should have been a punter all along. He had some nice kicks all night long. His most important one came on his last punt. LSU was bringing the house with less than 30 seconds to play and he just needed to get it out of there. Yes, it flew out of the end zone, but we just needed to get the punt away. He also boomed most of his kickoffs into the back of the end zone and forced touchbacks.

The one issue I had was a fair catch that Jarmoral Graham made on the four yard line. Outside of that, the Mississippi State special teams had one of their best performances in a long time.