2015 Mississippi State Football Rewind: Missouri

Nov 5, 2015; Columbia, MO, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Fred Ross (8) runs the ball in for a touchdown against the Missouri Tigers during the first half at Faurot Field. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the season is over, we take a look back at each game and how it played out.

The Setup

The Mississippi State Bulldogs headed to Columbia after a bye week on a Thursday night, Mississippi State was favored because Missouri had a horrible, no good, very bad offense. The defense was good, but the offense was as bad as they came.

Arguably the most intriguing aspect to this game was the weather. Torrential rains were in the forecast, and you never know how that will affect either team. It was something we were definitely keeping an eye on.

Mississippi State was expected to win, but no one was sure how easy a victory would be because the Missouri defense usually made life difficult for the opposition.

Key Stats and Final Score

• Mississippi State Yards
  • Passing: 303
  • Rushing: 204
• MissouriYards
  • Passing: 127
  • Rushing: 215
• Mississippi State Stand Out Performances
  • Dak Prescott: 27/40, 303 Passing Yards, 4 Touchdowns
  • Fred Ross: 11 Receptions, 115 Yards, 1 Touchdown
  • De’Runnya Wilson: 4 Receptions, 102 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
• Missouri Stand Out Performances
  • Tyler Hunt: 6 Carries, 85 Yards
  • Ish Witter: 12 Carries, 81 Yards
• Final Score: Mississippi State 31, Missouri 13

What we thought at the time

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For once, Mississippi State would never trail in this game. But it still wasn’t a fantastic start for the Bulldogs. Despite the ineptness of the Missouri offense, the Tigers were only trailing by a point at half time. And to top it off, Missouri scored their first offensive touchdown in approximately a month against the Bulldogs.

There is one major caveat to all of this. THERE WAS SO MUCH RAIN!! Missouri was benefiting from the monsoon like conditions much more than the Bulldogs. Once the rain stopped, Missouri didn’t do much with the exception of one long run from Tyler Hunt that went for 72 yards because of some really bad tackling.

The third quarter is when Mississippi State put the game away. Two touchdown passes by Dak Prescott and a Westin Graves field goal extended the lead to 18 points. Dan Mullen did as he has a tendency to do with a big lead in the 4th quarter, turned on the cruise control and coasted to an SEC road win.

What we should have thought now the season is over

The panic over Missouri’s success running the football was somewhat justified. Mississippi State was giving up a lot of yards on the ground, but they weren’t giving up a lot of points. It was an ominous sign for what was to come in the following week.