The Mississippi State Bulldogs went to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and lost, 31-16. The Mississippi State football team looked to have the game in their hands early in the first half but could not finish.
Here are my early post-game thoughts:
Mississippi State will beat themselves this season.
The 2022 Mississippi State football team will lose games due to their own mistakes this season. The Mississippi State Bulldogs handled the LSU Tigers in the first half of tonight’s football game, but the Bulldogs could not hold on due to their own mistakes.
Austin Williams’ fumble killed all the momentum.
This is one of those mistakes that beat the Bulldogs. The Mississippi State Bulldogs were leading the game before Austin Williams fumbled the punt return vs. the Tigers. This was the turning point of the game, and the Bulldogs suffered after they turned the ball back over to the Tigers.
The offense has to find ways to keep moving.
The Mike Leach offense looked rough whenever they needed to move the ball down the field. Will Rogers and company could not seem to move the ball when they needed to. The offensive line did not look good tonight. Will Rogers was being pressured nearly every play, but still managed to get the ball out several times.
The defense has to find a way to get off the field.
Whenever the Bulldogs were down by one point, 17-6, the Bulldogs had 4 chances to get their defense off the field, and they could not do it. This killed every bit of momentum that the Mississippi State Bulldogs had going into the second half.
The holding call on Bookie Watson cost us the game.
On a kickoff return, Tulu Griffin ran the ball back to the LSU 10-yard line, but the Bulldogs were called for a holding call that brought them back to the Mississippi State 15-yard line. If the Bulldogs have scored on this possession, they would have had several opportunities to win in Death Valley.