HOUSTON – It took just 16 seconds for the Mississippi State secondary to reveal that not much had changed in a week. The same defense that allowed 17 points in five minutes against Tulane made the trip to Houston.
Cougar freshman quarterback Kevin Kolb fired a deep pass to his go-to-guy Brandon Middleton to instantly wound the Bulldogs with a 74-yard touchdown. Middleton had so much space between the Dawgs and himself that he would have been in another state had the game been anywhere but Texas.
“You saw what happened. First half. First quarter. First play. We’re playing Quarters and have two guys who are supposed to be there … and we didn’t do that,” said MSU head coach Jackie Sherrill.
The sudden strike shaped the game into a six-shooter showdown.
Kolb proved to be a deadly gunslinger, going five for his first six and eventually hitting 20 of 29 targets for 321 yards and four touchdowns.
“Am I happy with the way we are playing pass defense? No. You’re not supposed to play like that,” Sherrill said. “I can’t answer (why the secondary played so poorly). If I had a crystal ball, we’d have the answer.”
The first three Cougar quick-draw scores required just 4:26 of possession time.
Meanwhile, the Dawgs misfired again and again. The deficit forced the Dawgs into passing more than they wanted.
“We have to quit blowing coverages because we are just shooting ourselves in the foot,” said linebacker T.J. Mawhinney. “It is frustrating to make the same mistakes.”
A turnover on downs, three punts, two interceptions and a fumble preceded State’s only touchdown of the first half.
“We got off to a slow start and made a few mistakes,” said center Blake Jones. “We played hard and began to wear them down.”
QB Kevin Fant led the team on a crisp six-play, 60-yard drive in 1:21.
The offense kept its rhythm after the break with a four-play, 80-yard drive in 1:24 and trimmed the margin to 28-14.
State attempted an onside kick that went out of bounds at the MSU 47.
Four plays later, Houston again bulls-eyed the end zone thanks to the great field position.
“We did the onside kick early,” recalled Sherrill. “It was there, we just didn’t execute.”
State added another touchdown on a 29-yard pass from Fant to his favorite target, Justin Jenkins.
“Kevin (Fant) had a good night,” said Jenkins. “He took some hits and still made some good throws.”
Defensive lineman Ronald Fields sacked Kolb on Houston’s next possession. Up 35-21, the Cougars had to punt, but State was unable to quickly reload.
Three straight MSU possessions ended in three straight interceptions.
“We shouldn’t have been in that situation-having to rely on the pass to make plays hurt us,” said Sherrill.
State recovered with 8:40 to go, down 42-21. Fant hit McKinley Scott for seven, Jenkins for 18, Scott for 14 and 14 more, and then Antonio Hargro for an 18-yard score.
Jenkins led the Bulldogs with nine catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns. Scott followed with six catches for 115 yards. Tight end Aaron Lumpkin added four catches for 41.
“Catching passes is not nice when you lose,” Lumpkin said. “It doesn’t matter how many passes you catch. Winning is what’s most important. We’re putting ourselves in situations that we can’t get out of.”
A 56-yard punt return by Nick Turner to the Houston 2 set the Dawgs up for Turner’s plunge into the end zone to make the game 42-35 with 4:29 remaining.
Despite limited attempts due to the deficit, Turner scored twice and posted 158 all-purpose yards.
Houston pounded the ball on the ground to successfully run out the clock.
Just like in the home opener against Oregon, a 28-point deficit loomed too large.
The schedule does not get easier for State. The Bulldogs host No. 7 LSU Saturday at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
At least 500 MSU fans gathered to show support for the Dawgs as the players went into the locker room. Fans cheered and rang cowbells as the players went through the metal double doors.
“We had great fan support,” said Jenkins. “I almost shed a tear when we were coming in the locker room and heard the fans ringing the cowbells and cheering us at 0-3. A lot of fans would have given up, but ours haven’t. We want to have a good showing against LSU for our fans.”