In their first road test of the season, the Bulldogs of Mississippi State University traveled to Mobile, Alabama Saturday and defeated the South Alabama Jaguars 35-3 in front of their first-ever home sellout crowd. MSU now prepares to travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for what is sure to be a rowdy crowd cheering for the LSU Tigers. This will be the first time since 1999 that the two teams will face each other wilthout a loss.
The MSU offense struggled early against the Jaguars, as it failed to score on four of their first five possessions. Leading 7-3 in the second quarter, the Bulldogs scored three touchdowns on three straight possessions and never looked back as the Dogs torched an inferior Jaguar defense.
Quarterback Dak Prescott did it all in the victory as he finished the game with 201 passing yards and a touchdown and 148 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Prescott also caught a spectacular 24-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter from senior wide receiver Jameon Lewis. The MSU offense continues to look impressive, as it has scored 35 points or more in each of the first three games of the season for the first time since 1944.
The Bulldog defense held South Alabama to three points and forced three turnovers. The defense was led again by senior defensive end Preston Smith who had two sacks, a forced fumble and a blocked field goal. MSU Head Coach Dan Mullen said he was glad to get the win on the road.
“We did the things we needed to do to get a win in a hostile environment on the road,” Mullen said.
The performances in the first three games of the season by the MSU offense and defense have been impressive. However, make no mistake, these teams are not on the same level as SEC competition, and nowhere near the challenge of the Louisiana State Tigers in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers are 3-0 this season and No. 8 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. LSU opened the season against a strong non-conference opponent in the Wisconsin Badgers. The Tigers trailed 24-7 in the third quarter of that game and have been dominant ever since. LSU scored 21 unanswered points to win its home opener against Wisconsin 28-24 in Houston, Texas. The Tigers then played two non-conference games at home against Sam Houston State and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. They won both of those games by a combined score of 87-0. The LSU defense has now shutout its opponents in 10-straight quarters and scored 108 unanswered points since trailing to Wisconsin in the opener.
Sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings has put up some rather underwhelming numbers replacing last season’s reliable quarterback Zach Mettenberger. Jennings ranks No. 9 in the SEC in passing yards with only 566 yards, and Jennings’ 51.9 completion percentage ranks No. 12 in the SEC. Although, he is not as flashy as MSU quarterback Dak Prescott, Jennings has gotten the job done this year for the Tigers. It will be interesting to see how Jennings does in his first SEC game as a starter.
Tiger Stadium, also known as Death Valley, is home to the LSU Tigers, and it is one of the toughest places for an away team to get a win in college football. In its last 30 home games, LSU is 29-1. That one loss came on Nov. 2, 2012 against the Alabama Crimson Tide. That Alabama team won the 2013 National Championship.
LSU has not only been dominant at home, but it have been dominant against MSU. The Tigers have now defeated the Bulldogs 14 years in a row. On Oct. 23, 1999, MSU defeated LSU 17-16 at Davis Wade Stadium on a last-minute drive capped by Rod Gibson’s one-yard score on fourth-and-goal. The Bulldogs have not been able to get a victory against LSU since. MSU has done even worse at Tiger Stadium. The last time the Bulldogs beat LSU at Tiger Stadium was in 1991. That is before most of the students on the two campuses were born.
This will be without a doubt the toughest game to date for the 2014 MSU football team and possibly the toughest of the whole season. Dak Prescott and the MSU offense will have a chance to prove they are one of the best offensives in the country, or it will just be another year that LSU continues to humble a young Bulldog team.
Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m.