Going into game one of the 2016 season, there were a lot of questions about how Mississippi State football would fair after Dak Prescott.
After game one, MSU was left with more questions than answers in their 21-20 loss to South Alabama. Head Coach Dan Mullen talked about the loss in postgame.
“We had some opportunities to win that we didn’t take advantage of,” Mullen said. “You have to make plays to win the game. For us, we have young players out there playing and they have to learn to step up and be able to make the plays to win.”
People were excited to see the quarterback battle going into the game. In the first half it seemed all but settled as Damian Williams was playing well and led MSU to a 17-0 lead at halftime. To contrast, Nick Fitzgerald fizzled out early, going 0-3 passing on his two series after starting the game.
Overall the entire first half went as planned for MSU. Williams looked the real deal, going ten for eleven passing with 80 yards and a touchdown. The defensive line looked dominant. Holding USA to five yards total rushing, A.J. Jefferson was in form leading the team with three tackles for loss and a sack at halftime. All was going to plan.
After halftime, MSU came out very flat. The offense stagnated, going one for five on third downs in the second half. The defense line was not the dominant force it was earlier in the game, generating almost no pressure. Williams had a rough third quarter, going ten for seventeen in the second half with only a meager 63 yards. Wide receiver Fred Ross felt that they came out dead in the second half.
“As an offense, we came out and we did not have that same intensity,” Ross said. “So you can see the consequences from that.”
USA scored and then scored another time. A seventeen point lead had become just a six point lead with six minutes left in the game and USA ball. The Jaguars would go on a nine play 71-yard drive to take the lead 21-20 with just 57 seconds left for MSU.
The Bulldogs had good field position, starting the drive at the 35-yard line. The offense came to life once again. Driving down the field and giving State fans the false hope that MSU might avoid heartbreak. The Bulldogs got down to the 11-yard line with nine seconds left when it was all said and done.
Junior kicker Westin Graves trotted on the field to take a 28-yard field goal attempt for the game. He lined up, kicked the football and the ball hit the left upright and bounced down to the turf. Mullen, for the first time in his career, has a bad loss on his record, meaning this was the first loss Mullen has suffered that he was predicted to win. A.J. Jefferson talked on his feelings after the kick.
“I just feel like these things happen, and that is something he can fix and work on,” Jefferson said. “You cannot simulate that during practice, with that pressure being on you at the end of the game down by a point.”
The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday as they start SEC play. SEC Nation is in town and will be in the Junction Saturday morning. They take on the South Carolina Gamecocks at 6 p.m.
