19 Oct 2019

Bulldogs Continue to Flounder Offensively, Fall to LSU 36-13

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Photo courtesy of MSU Athletics
  • Story by SportsTalk Mississippi Beat Reporter Brian Hadad

Mississippi State showed a much better effort on Saturday against LSU, looking like a team with much more energy and effort than last week’s defeat at Tennessee. Despite that, the Bulldogs were unable to much of anything against the second ranked Tigers, as Joe Burrow threw for over 400 yards and 4 touchdowns en route to a 36-13 win at Davis Wade Stadium.

State made the game interesting for the first quarter and a half, holding LSU’s prolific offense to three field goals, then scoring to make it a 9-7 game. From there, the Tigers would score four touchdowns on their next five possessions, putting the game out of reach for a Bulldog offense that was under 300 yards total before the final drive of the game. State falls to 3-4, 1-3 in the SEC, and will travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M next weekend.

THE PLAYER

Garrett Shrader had started a game previously for Mississippi State, but at the time, it was only because Tommy Stevens was injured. In his first game since being named starter, Shrader showed a lot of the flashes that have Mississippi State fans excited about his future. In particular on the Bulldogs first scoring drive, Shrader was fantastic, hitting some open receivers, then gashing the Tiger defense for six points. He still has a lot of work to do, as he threw two interceptions and made some poor decisions in certain situations, but the fact remains Shrader has as much potential as any true freshman in the country.

THE PLAY

Mississippi State was down 8 with the ball near midfield when Shrader threw this interception. You can’t put all of the blame on the quarterback here, as that is a superhuman play by LSU’s Jacoby Stevens, but the Tigers would immediately capitalize, going 55 yards in 5 plays to push their lead to 22-7 and effectively end the contest. Coach Joe Moorhead’s analysis of this play will be interesting, as it’s not the worst throw in so much as its an incredible play. But it was where the momentum swung to the Tigers, and there was no climbing back for the Bulldogs from this point.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Mississippi State heads to the Lone Star state on Saturday for a showdown with Texas A&M. State has won 4 of the last 5 meetings with the Aggies, including a 35-14 win in 2017 on their last trip to College Station. Kickoff is set for 11 AM as the Bulldogs try and get their season turned back around.

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