Mississippi State football is off to a 2-1 start through the first three weeks of the college football season. The Mississippi State Bulldogs won their first two games of the season vs. non-conference opponents, the Memphis Tigers and the Arizona Wildcats. The Bulldogs suffered their first loss this past Saturday in Tiger Stadium vs. the LSU tigers, 31-16.
Thoughts about the 2022 Mississippi State football team can change weekly, just ask Brian Hadad from Thunder and Lightning. Here is the report card for the Mississippi State Bulldogs through the first three weeks of college football:
Offense – B-
The first few drives of the game vs. LSU did not look bad, but it looked as if LSU figured out the Mississippi State football offensive game plan. This sounds strange, but I don’t think we threw the ball enough on Saturday night. Mike Leach ran the ball 17 times, and the Tiger defense knew when it was coming every single time. The Bulldogs have to find a better 3rd and short play than running Dillon Johson up the gut every time.
Defense – B
I am giving this team a B because I think Saturday night’s loss vs. the Tigers was not due to the defense. I feel as if the defense played well enough to win the game, but the offense and special teams could not give the defense a rest. The LSU Tigers didn’t seem to have much going on offense in the first half, but whenever Tiger Stadium started to get rowdy due to Mississippi State’s mistakes, they began to find ways to get first downs. Now, Zach Arnett and the Mississippi State defense have to find a way to get off the field whenever you create several 3rd and 4th down situations and they did not do that in the second half on Saturday night.
Special Teams – D
Everyone knows that special teams can win or lose ballgames. Welp, this past Saturday, special teams lost the game for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. After veteran wide receiver muffed the punt late in the 3rd quarter, you could feel the air being deflated from the Mississippi State football team. This was the play of the game for the LSU Tigers and a significant reason why they won the game.
Not only did that happen on Saturday, but once again we missed the first extra point of the game. I was in shock because that makes 3 total missed extra points through 3 games. Mississippi State is averaging a missed extra point per game. This results in grade D for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.