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Mississippi State Report Card vs. South Carolina

By Josh Barnhill

Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Fred Ross (8) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Fred Ross (8) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Fred Ross (8) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Fred Ross (8) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

Here is Mississippi State’s report card grades for offense, defense, special teams and coaching.

B-.  I’m REALLY happy that a quarterback has emerged. Nick Fitzgerald looked as good as I ever imagined he would: 18 of 28 for 178 and 2 TD with 195 rushing yards. He had a couple of really long runs including a 74 yarder. He was fast – he found the open man, and he really only had one mistake: staring down the receiver got the ball intercepted.<p class=. . . OFFENSE

. DEFENSE . A-. <p>This group got after the ball. They played with intensity and got results. The D-line was in the South Carolina backfield all night. That not only delivered sacks and tackles for loss, but also was a huge help for a depleted secondary that didn’t have to cover their man for very long.</p><p>Three guys who didn’t play Week 1 had nice games in Week 2: Jamal Peters, Nick James and Jeffrey Simmons. All three of these guys should be impact players all year.</p><p>The second half defense wasn’t nearly as stout, but considering the lightning delay I’ll give them a bit of a pass for that.</p>.

. SPECIAL TEAMS . A. <p>Great game here. 2 for 2 on field goals, solid punts. Fred Ross was spectacular on punt returns. While the kickoffs didn’t all go out of the endzone like last week, they were kicked near the goal-line and most of the returns were stopped short of the 25.  </p>.

COACHING . B. <p>I have to give A TON of credit to the way Coach Mullen and his staff responded to last week’s loss. It was EXACTLY what I would have hoped for if you asked me what the perfect situation for this game would be. They got the team motivated and ready to go.</p><p>My gripe is with the offensive play-calling, centered only around Brandon Holloway hand-offs. What is with this? Seriously, we have five other running backs who are capable of running the ball between the tackles yet Mullen wants to try it with a 165 pound back who goes down when the first hand touches him. That play gains more than one yard one in 10 times – and that one time is a 7-8 yard gain. It doesn’t work.</p><p> </p>. .

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