Another hard-fought game. Another tough loss.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs fell to 2-3 on the season after losing 24-10 to Georgia on a cool, clear day in Athens. For the Bulldogs, the weather was the only thing to cheer about. An unsuccessful opening drive led to the Bulldogs being forced to punt from their own 26-yard line, and Georgia took advantage of  the good field position provided by a long Brandon Boykin punt return. Georgia started at MSU’s 33 yard line and promptly scored a touchdown as quarterback Aaron Murray connected with tight end Orson Charles for a 21-yard touchdown.  It would be a lead the Georgia Bulldogs would never relinquish.
 MSU used its short passing game to drive the field on its next position and kick a field goal, but it proved to be the only points the MSU offense would score in the game. After pinning MSU deep in their own territory and forcing them to punt, Georgia was once again the recipient of great field position as MSU punter Baker Swedenburg punted for only 11 yards. Shortly thereafter, Murray hit Malcolm Mitchell for a six yard touchdown pass, and Georgia led 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.
  Late in the second quarter, following an interception by MSU linebacker Cam Lawrence, the Bulldogs of MSU seemed ready to finally score a  touchdown against the stout Georgia defense. MSU took over at Georgia’s 28 yard line and MSU quarterback Chris Relf connected with junior wide receiver Chris Smith down to the Georgia 21. On the next play, disaster struck. Relf threw a perfect pass to Smith inside the five yard line, but Smith could not make the grab and the ball was intercepted by Georgia’s Sanders Commings, who returned it 16 yards to the Georgia 19. Georgia would proceed to go on an 81 yard scoring drive that would result in them taking a 21-3 lead into halftime that would prove to be insurmountable.
  The significance of this momentum shift was not lost on MSU head coach Dan Mullen
“It is a huge momentum play,” Mullen said. “We come out and do things that we don’t do. We give them two short fields from the kicking game to score on and they get momentum. We come down, drive and score, and we come back and respond to go to 14-10. Chris throws a great pass, makes a great read, good fake, guys open. We don’t make the catch and turn the ball over. It is those little things that have to be cleaned up. You can’t execute sometime. You can’t have 10 guys execute. You need 11 on every snap.”
 The second half proved to be even uglier than the first half for both teams. Georgia kicker Blair Walsh would connect on a 28-yard field goal late in the third quarter, but it would prove to be the only offensive points scored by either team in the second half.
If there was a positive for MSU in the game, it was the play of its defense in the second half. After allowing UGA freshman running back Isaiah Crowell to rush for 90 yards on 12 carries in the first half, the MSU defense held him to only 19 yards on 10 carries in the second half. MSU’s defense would also provide the team’s only touchdown of the game as junior cornerback Darius Slay intercepted Murray for his first pick of the year and returned it 72 yards for a score.
For Slay, a Georgia native, it was a dream come true.
“It felt good to come back home and make some big plays,” Slay said. “I got a lot of family out there supporting me, and my teammates are supporting me. They were all hyped and ready for me to play.”
MSU defensive coordinator Chris Wilson was proud of the way the defense played in the second half.
“You saw that there is the talent there to be a really solid defense in the SEC,” Wilson said. “We know we can play with anyone in the country. In the SEC, it comes down to making those plays at critical times.”
If MSU’s offense continues  to struggle, the defense will need to continue making big plays. For the second consecutive conference game the Bulldogs of MSU failed to have more than 300 yards of offense as UGA held MSU to 213 total yards. Relf finished the game 19-32 for 157 yards and two interceptions and rushed for 31 yards on 15 carries. MSU’s running game was once again stymied as it only managed to get 56 yards on 34 carries.
Georgia’s offense was not much better as it only managed 315 total yards of offense. Murray had arguably his worst game as a starter going 13-25 for 160 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions. Crowell finished with 22 carries for 109 yards.
MSU now heads back to the drawing board as it prepares to play UAB this weekend and shake off the offensive woes that have haunted these Bulldogs the last three games.