Fluff Bothwell is hurt, and Mississippi State fans wonder why he was even in the game

Mississippi State football had an ugly performance Saturday night in College Station against No. 6 Texas A&M, losing 31-9. The Bulldog defense played as well as you could have asked for for about two and a half quarters before getting worn down. And what caused them to get worn down was the other side of the ball's inability to stay on the field.

With their starting tackles out, the Bulldog offense was totally inept against a ferocious Aggie pass rush, as they were under duress all night long. The result was the worst offensive performance by MSU since Jeff Lebby took over.

And just to really rub things in, State's best offensive player suffered what looked to be a very serious injury on a meaningless play late in the game.

In the closing minutes of the game, with the Bulldogs down by the final margin of 22 points, running back Fluff Bothwell took a checkdown from Blake Shapen in the backfield. It was completely covered up by the A&M defense, and as Bothwell was tackled, he went down awkwardly, suffering an apparent lower leg injury that did not at all look minor. He had to be carted off the field.

When asked about the extent of Bothwell's injury after the game, HC Jeff Lebby said, "Don't really know. They immediately took him in to get X-rays, so hopefully we have some sort of update here sooner than later."

We're still waiting on that update, but the consensus is the news will not be good for Bothwell and the Bulldogs. That would be a huge blow, as Fluff Bothwell has been the most productive player on the MSU offense so far this season with 465 rush yards and six scores.

Why was Fluff Bothwell even in the game?

The biggest question on the minds of Mississippi State fans right now is why Fluff Bothwell was still in the game at that point.

The final outcome was decided. There was no chance at a comeback. Making the final score more respectable and stat-padding is irrelevant. It's still going to be a loss. Why risk an injury to any of your starters at that point, especially when you're already dealing with serious injuries?

I'm sure the argument is to keep putting forth full effort till the final whistle and get needed reps in. And sure, this was a freak injury that doesn't happen 99% of the time.

But the specific reason you pull starters in that situation is to avoid the 1% outcome, and that outcome is exactly what Mississippi State got. And now they're left praying it wasn't as bad as it looked in the moment, but the odds seem high the Bulldog offense is about to have to function without its best player going forward.