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Three things Mississippi State football must do to win the 2018 Egg Bowl

By Ethan Lee

OXFORD, MS - NOVEMBER 26: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs drops back to pass in the first half of a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS - NOVEMBER 26: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs drops back to pass in the first half of a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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STARKVILLE, MS – NOVEMBER 17: Dontavian Lee #28 celebrates with Osirus Mitchell #87 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs after scoring a touchdown in the second half of a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Davis Wade Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. The Bulldogs defeated the Razorbacks 52-6. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

The Mississippi State football team must maintain its composure on the road in an intense rivalry game.

When the Bulldogs take the field on Thursday, they must be able to control their emotions and prevent mental errors that would become costly mistakes. This is a problem that the Mississippi State football team has been dealing with throughout most of the 2018 season, but has certainly plagued MSU while on the road in SEC play.

In Mississippi State’s first road trip of the season up to Lexington, Kentucky, this issue cost the Bulldogs a realistic shot of beating the Wildcats. MSU committed 16 penalties that cost the Bulldogs 139 yards against the Kentucky Wildcats. The Bulldogs lost that game 28-7.

Mississippi State never quite reached that absurd total again throughout the season (or at least it hasn’t yet), but MSU did still have some penalty issues in its other SEC road losses. Against LSU the Bulldogs had 5 penalties for 45 yards in a game that they lost 19-3. When the Bulldogs played Alabama, MSU committed 7 penalties for 50 yards and was shutout 24-0.

Of course, Alabama didn’t have any penalties and there were several calls against MSU that were objectively horrible, but that’s a different post for another time.

The Mississippi State football team must be able to stay calm against Ole Miss and prevent costly mistakes. If the Bulldogs want to make sure that they win by a large margin, then they can’t do anything that would jeopardize any drive or scoring opportunity.

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