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Mississippi State bowl game history: Every bowl game the Bulldogs have played in

By Ethan Lee

TAMPA, FLORIDA - JANUARY 02: Nathaniel Watson #14, Will Rogers III #2, and Jett Johnson #44 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs wave a Mike flag in memory of Mike Leach after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 19-10 in the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on January 02, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - JANUARY 02: Nathaniel Watson #14, Will Rogers III #2, and Jett Johnson #44 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs wave a Mike flag in memory of Mike Leach after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 19-10 in the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on January 02, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead shakes hands with Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield after Louisville’s win in the Music City Bowl
Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead shakes hands with Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield after Louisville’s win in the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, Dec. 30, 2019.Af6i7038 /

2019 Music City Bowl: Miss. State football faces Louisville Cardinals once more

It was a bit of a mess leading into the 2019 Music City Bowl. Joe Moorhead was under plenty of criticism for the way the team was performing, but because a disastrous miracle of Ole Miss mistakes cost the Rebels the Egg Bowl, State turned its nose up at the idea of firing its head coach and instead decided to give him more time to see if he could turn things around.

Well… He wasn’t exactly given a ton of time to really get things fixed.

MSU was without quarterback Garrett Shrader because of something that happened at a practice that led to him being injured. And without a healthy Shrader, a struggling MSU offense had to turn to Tommy Stevens, who had been dealing with his own share of injuries and ups and downs all throughout the season.

On December 30, 2019, in Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, it looked like Mississippi State might actually find a way to win against Louisville once more.

Early on, Moorhead’s offense found some life and it appeared as if there would be a significant reduction in the amount of pressure and scrutiny that MSU’s head coach was facing. The Bulldogs found themselves up 14-0 and all was right in the world.

And then the Cardinals scored 31 unanswered points to take complete and total control of the game. State completely collapsed against Louisville. MSU was unable to slow the Cardinals down and the Bulldogs lost 38-28.

Mississippi State dropped to 6-7 on the season and the Bulldogs wound up moving on from Moorhead shortly after the game.

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