For the first time since 2014, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are 4-0. After an uninspiring first half effort that saw the Bulldogs lead just 14-10, they played much better coming out of the break to pull away for a 38-10 win.
Mississippi State's run game finds its groove
State did not see the same success through the air they experienced in the first three weeks, and the result was several stagnant possessions offensively. But what the Bulldogs were able to do was lean on their rushing attack against Northern Illinois. State ran for 292 yards on 6.0 yards per carry. Fluff Bothwell had his first 100-yard rushing game as a Bulldog, Davon Booth found the endzone twice, Anthony Evans III and Brenen Thompson had success on jet sweeps, and Xavier Gayten had some nice runs. Even Blake Shapen had a big day on the ground with 51 yards. If the Bulldogs can build off this performance on the ground, it'll help their offense out significantly moving forward.
Isaac Smith's interception was the turning point in win
State opened up the second-half with a TD drive to push the lead to 21-10, but NIU looked poised to respond, marching deep into Bulldog territory on the next possession. That's when the leader of the MSU defense stepped up, as Isaac Smith made a great, toe-tapping grab on an endzone fade ball to give the ball back to the Bulldogs. State would then go on a long field goal drive to go up by two TDs, an ultimately comfortable margin against a middling Husky offense. The first pick of Smith's career couldn't have come at a better time.
Bulldogs cannot afford to continue playing so sloppily
While you'll always take a four TD victory, State didn't exactly play well in this game. Self-inflicted wounds kept the game in doubt far longer than it should have. They committed 11 penalties for 103 yards. Blake Shapen missed on multiple wide open deep shots downfield that could have blown the game open. And even defensively, there were several lapses in positioning and tackling that allowed NIU to move the ball more than you would've liked to have seen. And some of these issues aren't exclusive to this game. They can get away with that in the non-conference, but those mistakes are going to lead to losses in SEC play if they aren't quickly fixed.