Mississippi State fans know plenty about pain and suffering. Their Bulldogs have brought them plenty over the decades across all sports, especially football.
But what happened Saturday evening in Starkville may truly be as tormenting as ever. The Bulldogs, playing their best game of football in several seasons, led 38-21 over No. 22 Texas with 12:29 left in the game. They looked certain to win the game and snap their 15-game SEC losing streak.
What followed was almost unfathomable. The Longhorns would score 17-straight in those final minutes, highlighted by a 79-yard punt return touchdown to tie the game with 1:47 left. The game would ultimately go to overtime, where Texas would quickly take a 45-38 lead. The Bulldogs would not answer, and rather than earn an emphatic victory, they collapsed for their 16th-straight conference loss.
Mississippi State is now 4-4 on the season, 0-4 in the SEC.
Insanely stupid penalties came back to haunt Mississippi State
We can talk about the punt return. We can talk about the fourth quarter defense. We can talk about the offense not putting the game away (and will). But ultimately, Mississippi State committing the stupidest possible penalty at the worst possible time did them in.
With State up 17 in the fourth, they stopped the Longhorns on a fourth-down at the Texas 34. It should've been MSU ball deep in Texas territory, in range for a score to put the game away. But DE Deonte Anderson roughed Arch Manning well after his pass attempt. The flag gave Texas a first down, and they would ultimately reach the endzone.
That play turned all the momentum in favor of Texas, and they didn't look back. A mind-numbing error cost them. Oh, and lets not forget the personal foul on Kedrick Bingley-Jones on a second quarter Texas field goal that allowed the Longhorns to turn three points into seven. That proved quite consequential as well. This team is incapable of getting out of their own way, and the constant errors reflect coaching.
The inability to run the football prevented the Bulldogs from putting the game away
38 points against a terrible Texas offense should have been enough. But once Texas got into a groove, it became clear the Bulldogs would need to, at the very least, sustain drives long enough to run out the clock.
They were incapable of this, however, because of how poor their run game was against the Longhorns. Adjusting for sacks, State ran the ball 12 times for 34 yards in the second-half, an average of just 2.8 yards per rush. They could not move ahead against the Texas front on the ground at all.
As a result, they had to revert to the passing game to move the ball. Knowing this, Texas began sending pressure on nearly every dropback, getting home six times in the second-half and overtime. That shut down the State offense, preventing them from killing clock and furthering their lead.
This loss may be a dagger for Mississippi State
After an exhilarating 4-0 start, Mississippi State has now lost four-straight with three of those losses coming in agonizing fashion. None were more excruciating than this. To blow a 17-point fourth quarter lead at home is as bad as it gets.
This was as epic a collapse as is imaginable, and its the exact type of loss that seems certain to stick with the team, especially after coming up short so many times before. The gut-wrenching losses are wearing on everyone, and this one feels like the final nail in the coffin.
It's not being dramatic to think this team will struggle to win a single game the rest of the way, and yes, that's including at Arkansas even after their loss to Auburn. Truthfully, that seems like the most likely outcome.
And beyond the team, the fanbase has been lost. It's going to take a miracle to get anyone back on board with this program right now. Why would anyone have any sort of belief in them? This season has gone from being full of promise to being a complete disaster in the span of just a few weeks.