For the second year in a row, the Mississippi State offense outgained LSU. For the second year in a row, the Bulldog defense held the Tiger offense to right around 265 total yards.
And for the second year in a row, the Bulldogs recorded a minus-4 turnover margin and squandered an opportunity to win.
Head coach Dan Mullen did not find any positives in the team’s performance.
“I don’t think we played very well. [LSU] controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Mullen said. “You’re not going to win any football games turning the ball over in that fashion.”
The Tigers got off to a quick start, but the Bulldog defense held the Tigers to field goals in the first two drives.
Trailing 6-0, quarterback Chris Relf led the Bulldogs to the LSU 36 before being picked off by LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson.
Rather than blame Relf, Mullen credited Peterson for making a good play and said he wished receiver Arceto Clark had been able to make a big play.
“I would like to see Chris lead the receiver across the field a little more, but [Peterson] went up and made a heck of a play on our receiver,” Mullen said. “Peterson went up and got it. Arceto was like, ‘He bumped me and took the ball away from me.’ And I said, ‘Yeah? Bump him and take the ball away from him.’ That’s what I expect our young receivers to do — go take those balls away from DBs.”
The Bulldog defense again stood tall after the interception, holding the Tigers to another field goal. It would barely take three minutes for the turnover bug to bite again, however, as Relf was picked off by cornerback Morris Claiborne. This time, Mullen blamed the offensive line for allowing the Tiger defense to get so much pressure on Relf.
“Complete blown assignment by the offensive line. They let a guy run clean through the A-gap,” Mullen said. “Chris threw it, trying to make a play and get it to somebody, but that one is 100 percent on the offensive line.”
Again, however, the MSU defense held strong, and the Tigers managed only a field goal for a 12-0 lead at halftime. Senior linebacker K.J. Wright said the strong defensive performance of the first half was not surprising to him.
The Bulldogs began the second half moving the ball on the ground before Relf was injured in an apparent helmet-to-helmet collision. Relf walked off the field but did not re-enter the game.
Freshman Tyler Russell finished the drive for the Bulldogs, who scored on Vick Ballard’s one-yard run and cut the lead to 12-7. Russell said he was not intimidated by entering the game so suddenly.
“I think Coach Mullen does a good job at preparing me and Chris to play. I knew sometime in this game I was going to get my opportunity play; I just didn’t know when,” Russell said. “You’ve just got to be ready because it’s one play and you’re in there.”
The good feelings did not last long, however, as Sean Brauchle’s kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving LSU the ball at the 40.
Mullen said he felt the botched kickoff took some momentum away from the Bulldogs.
“We scored right away to start the second half,” Mullen said. “Then our kicker walks out and kicks it straight out of bounds. Those are things that championship programs don’t do. When they seize momentum, they don’t just hand it over to the other team.”
Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz praised the defensive effort but blamed the loss on third quarter defensive breakdowns.
“I felt like when we helped LSU, LSU moved the ball. I thought when we did what we were supposed to do, we made it hard on them,” Diaz said. “There were a couple plays in the third quarter where we weren’t where we were supposed to be, and LSU’s going to punish you if you’re not where you’re supposed to be.”
Russell threw two more interceptions in the fourth quarter, erasing any hope of a Bulldog comeback, or even a chance to close the gap. Mullen praised Russell’s play regardless, blaming the interceptions on his own playcalling and other players misreading the defense and not blocking.
With the loss, Bulldogs fell to 6-9 in the Mullen era. The Bulldogs have lost the turnover battle in eight of the nine losses, and four of the losses can be blamed primarily on turnovers.
The importance of winning the turnover battle is not lost on Mullen.
“You can’t turn the ball over and win in the Southeastern Conference. Not gonna happen,” Mullen said. “You take the turnovers away, and that game might even come down to the last possession.”