Newton’s third law of motion says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
In football, there is a reaction, but it isn’t always equal. Saturday night offered maroon-clad fans a chance to see how head coach Sylvester Croom’s Bulldogs would react.
After an inadvertant whistle caused a replay of a failed third down attempt by the Tulane Green Wave, Croom got mad at the call. With his players’ backs to the goal, one responded.
Tulane converted the do-over and made it to the Mississippi State 6-yard line with less than a minute left in the first half.
On the next play Tulane QB Lester Ricard floated a wobbling pass into the end zone. MSU linebacker Clarence McDougal lept into the air and snatched the ball to send both teams back to the locker room still knotted at zero.
“The interception that kept them from scoring at the end of the half was huge,” Croom said. “One of the things that we emphasized to our players was that we wanted to keep them off the scoreboard just before the half.”
Tulane received the ball to start the second half but didn’t keep it long. Bulldog safety Darren Williams intercepted Ricard’s third down pass and returned it 19 yards to the 13-yard line.
Two plays later Jerious Norwood scored on a nine-yard touchdown run.
Quarterback Omarr Conner and Norwood became productive in the second half after sluggish starts. Conner was only five of 12 for 39 yards at the half, but finished nine of 17 for 102 yards and a touchdown. Norwood picked up 90 yards in the second half to finish with 112 yards on 20 carries.
Norwood’s totals earned him SEC Offensive Player of the Week.
“It felt like the whole team was clicking together,” Norwood said. “We played as a unit tonight.”
The Bulldogs second score came when Conner hit tight end Eric Butler 11 yards out to cap a 7-play 54-yard drive with 8:21 left in the third quarter.
“I was able to get underneath the defender and get out into the open field,” Butler said. “I saw Omarr rolling out and we made eye contact and he threw it.”
The Green Wave’s only score came on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Ricard to Bush early in the fourth quarter. Ricard ended the night completing 16 of 30 passes for 135 yards.
The Bulldogs’ defense not only held Tulane to one score, but State held Tulane to just 205 yards of total offense.
The last time MSU held an opponent to less than 300 yards in a game was against Kentucky in 2002. That day the Dawgs limited the Wildcats to 266 yards.
MSU’s offense responded to Tulane’s only score with a six-play, 85 yard touchdown drive fueled by a 43-yard scamper from Norwood and a five-yard touchdown run by Fred Reid.
The Dawgs held Tulane to a three-and-out on the Green Wave’s next possession.
State got the ball back up 21-7 and chewed the clock with a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ate 5:28.
Fullback Darnell Jones scored on an 11-yard run that prepared the Green Wave for the mausoleum.
Newton might say the Bulldogs reacted just fine.