Mississippi State Report Card vs. LSU

C. It’s no surprise or disappointment that MSU had trouble running the ball against LSU’s defense at times. Three and outs will happen against that kind of talent across the ball. State did a good job, however, of moving the ball into LSU territory and in a position to succeed.<p class=. . . OFFENSE

B. The first half was tough, but Sirmon’s D really held up and gave the offense every opportunity to win in the second half.<p>Leonard Fournette is a beast so it’s hard to gripe about missed tackles on him, but there were still too many in general for the game. It’s hard to come back from a 20-0 hole, so I give the defense a C- in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, however, I give them an A+. They forced a number of three and outs, forced a fumble and turnover on downs.</p><p>Overall, really good job by the defense. The secondary had holes but they weren’t terrible, and the D-line played pretty well.</p>. . . DEFENSE

A-. You really can’t ask for much more here. Westin Graves hit both of his field goals and was pretty good on kickoffs (switching with Logan Cooke there for some reason). Punts were pretty good, and while there wasn’t much of anything on returns that has to do with excellent kicking by LSU. They blocked an extra point which was good too. The only down spot was the running into the kicker penalty which shouldn’t have been one, but if Johnathan Calvin isn’t that close to him it doesn’t get called.. . . SPECIAL TEAMS

. COACHING . C-. Everyone sees that Holloway cannot run the ball up the middle, yet Mullen continues to do it. Finally, in the second half he put Aeries Williams and Ashton Shumpert in there and they moved the pile as we all knew would happen. Then on the last drive he hands off to Holloway for a wasted play.<p>In a critical 2nd half drive, MSU was really moving the ball well with Shumpert, then all of the sudden Coach Mullen decides to start throwing the ball. The first down pass was dropped by Fred Ross but he still didn’t go back to the run, and the drive ended. You have to scratch your head at these moves. Mullen made the right call by staying with Williams who had the hot hand, but unfortunately it seems he’s only good for two drives and then he falls flat.</p><p>Why did we punt four times from inside LSU territory? Three of them happened in the 2nd half when we were way behind in the game. On the road as a heavy underdog what’s there to lose, especially when you’re already down in the second half. You don’t have to go for it every time but at least a couple of times. If we could have gotten just one field goal on one of those trips maybe it’s a different outcome. </p>.