Mississippi State running back Jerious Norwood set the MSU single game rushing record Saturday afternoon. By the dejected look of most fans leaving the stadium that would be a difficult statistic to believe.
Norwood rushed for 257 yards on 24 attempts. He shattered the previous record of 237, set by James Johnson in 1998 against division rival Alabama.
“It’s a good thing and all,” Norwood said of his record-setting day, “but we needed a win. It’s not all about me.”
Despite Norwood’s incredible day, the Bulldogs lost 28-16, dropping their record to 2-5. The loss is the third Homecoming-game loss in the previous five years.
ܬHe was outstanding,ܬ MSU coach Sylvester Croom said. ܬHe gave us everything he had. He had a magnificent day, but he didnܬt get a whole lot of help.ܬ
The Houston Cougars (4-3, 2-2) came into Saturdayܬs contest with three wins on the year, a total that had already tied their number of wins for the previous season. They left with one more, while the Bulldogs (2-5, 0-4) were left scrambling to understand why they let a game with so many golden opportunities slip through their collective paws.
The Bulldogs were poised for a touchdown late in the first quarter with the ball on the Houston 17-yard line with two downs to work with. Both wound up being incomplete passes and the Bulldogs were forced to settle for a field goal.
Later, in the second quarter, Brandon Thornton got stuffed for a seven-yard loss at the Houston 23-yard line that forced another field goal.
“When we had chances to put points on the board and had guys open, we either didn‹¨t hit them or they didn’t make the catches,” Croom said. “When you play an explosive team like Houston and you miss opportunities to score touchdowns, it is going to come back to haunt you.”
The lack of red zone efficiency bit the Dawgs back as Houston quarterback Kevin Kolbܬs 39-yard pass set up a three-yard touchdown run by UH running back Jackie Battle, one of his two on the day, giving the Cougars the 7-6 edge on the scoreboard despite the total statistics heavily favoring MSU.
“We should have scored touchdowns on some of those drives,” MSU senior center Chris McNeil said. “If we would have capitalized, we probably would have won the game.”
Kolb completed 20 of his 29 passes for an efficient 216 yards while gaining 45 more yards on the ground.
“He came out and showed more speed that we thought he had,” defensive end Titus Brown said. “You just have to give him credit.”
With MSUܬs last three opponents being clearly some of the more talented teams in the Southeastern Conference, it has been difficult for players and coaches to gain perspective as to how much they have developed. This week, Croom seemed to see things clearly, and made no excuses for his young squad.
“Some of it is inexperience, but today that is not an excuse,” Croom said. “Everything they did in the game we were prepared for. We just didn’t make the plays. I know it is the same song different verse, but that is the reality of it.”
Norwood also caught a team-high four balls for the Bulldogs, lining up on several plays from the receiver position for the first time all season.
“Our game plan offensively was to try to get the ball to him in different parts of the field where they hadn’t seen him, try to get the ball to him in some space, where he can use his skills to our advantage,” Croom said. “Jerious is our best receiver right now, and Brandon Thornton is our next best receiver.”
The Bulldogs were again plagued by their special teams, giving up a punt return for a touchdown, and another for a return of 40 yards.
Croom called his team’s play on special teams sickening.
The kicking woes continued with less than six minutes to go in the game as the Bulldogs, trailing by five, stalled a Cougar drive in the red zone and forced them to attempt a field goal. However, cornerback Kevin Dockery collided with the kicker giving the Cougars the first down and eventually a touchdown, placing the game perpetually out of reach.
After the game, Croom expressed disagreement with the call.
“I thought the penalty was on them for grabbing (Dockery’s) facemask. Dockery was thrown into the kicker,” Croom said. “I asked the official about it, but he‹¨s not going to change it.”
Next week the Bulldogs hit the road for an SEC contest at Kentucky. After underperforming this week, Croom hopes to get back to practice and try to fix some of the errors. However, it is the pressurized game situations which Croom sees his team faltering, not in practice.
“I really thought we got better in practice this week, but we didn’t take the things from practice to the field,‹¨ Croom said. “(This week), we’re going to find out what kind of people we are.”