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)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/38a3b2730e5c68671788a5b0326bff8e61f9dee1ff56ad0a44636e11733aad97.jpg)
1991 Liberty Bowl: MSU football falls flat in Memphis vs. Air Force Falcons
Another decade’s worth of football and the Bulldogs finally made it back to a bowl game. After 10 years of not getting to play in the postseason, the Mississippi State football team went to Memphis to play the Air Force Falcons in the Liberty Bowl.
The game didn’t exactly start off well for the Bulldogs as Air Force jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and the Falcons didn’t look back. Air Force attempted just two passes and the Falcons completed half of them.
Other than that, Air Force was content to run the ball and then run it some more and then run it even more after that. In total, Air Force ran for 318 yards off of 69 rushing attempts. And the Falcons scored 38 points.
As for MSU? Well, uh, Jackie Sherrill’s Bulldogs scored 15 points.
If you’re doing the math here, you’ll know that Mississippi State lost this game. By a not so close score of 38-15.
It wasn’t fun for MSU football fans on this day in Memphis. It’s safe to call this a pretty rude welcome back to postseason play for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. This isn’t exactly the sort of bowl game State fans wanted at the end of a decade of bowl game drought.