5 infuriating stats from Mississippi State football’s loss to Auburn
By Ethan Lee
0 – The number of sacks on Mississippi State recorded on defense
Zach Arnett is a really sharp college football mind. I’m not defending him when it comes to looking at how this season has played out up to this point, but Arnett was a great defensive coordinator who has proven time and time again that his defenses can shut down great offenses.
Just look at the Egg Bowl last year.
But things are different this season. And Mississippi State very clearly isn’t great on defense. Arnett no longer seems to be running that side of the ball.
And it’s evident that there are problems there.
The Mississippi State defense failed to record a single sack of Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne. There really wasn’t much consistent pressure on the Tigers’ QB all throughout this game. As a result? Well, Thorne, who has been exceptionally meh all season long, managed to complete 77 percent of his passes.
THAT’S BAD!
This is only the second game that Thorne has thrown for more than 200 yards in a game. Against everyone else outside of Samford (not exactly great company for MSU to have here), Thorne was limited to 141 or fewer passing yards.
He completed 77 percent of his passes vs. MSU (a season high) for 230 yards (his second highest amount this year) and three touchdowns (again, a season high).
AND MSU DIDN’T SACK HIM ONCE.