Not often does the losing team’s running back rush for over 200 yards, but Alabama-Birmingham’s Reggie Lindsey guaranteed that would happen when he returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown as Mississippi State (1-5) dropped its fifth consecutive game of the season in a 27-13 homecoming loss to the UAB Blazers (4-1).
After winning 10 straight games over Conference USA opponents from 1994-2002, the Bulldogs have gone 2-4 the past two seasons versus teams from C-USA.
Despite the loss, State’s running game finally got going. Most of the Bulldogs’ 255 rushing yards came from junior running back Jerious Norwood, who racked up a career-high 201 yards on 24 carries for an 8.4-yard average, but had no touchdowns.
“I feel like I played pretty good,” Norwood said. “The offensive line blocked good. They did their job.”
The offensive line may have played its best game all year and in its poorest condition. At the beginning of the season the depth at offensive line was poor, but compounded with injury, midway through the season it is as thin as the crowd at Scott Field Saturday afternoon.
After the game, starting guard Brian Anderson said that only one substitution was made the entire game to one offensive lineman. After spraining an ankle last Saturday, Anderson played every offensive down versus UAB.
“He’s not a great player, but every fiber of his body is put into it every day,” said head coach Sylvester Croom. “When I see kids continue to do that, I know were losing, but I know we’re going in the right direction.”
The Dawgs out-rushed UAB by more than 65 yards, but State’s passing game never got into gear. The Bulldogs had three dropped passes that would have been three first downs.
“When you run the ball like that you should be able to throw the ball whenever you want to,” a frustrated Croom said. “We had some passes open that we didn’t hit and we had some that were thrown right on the money that we didn’t catch.”
Mississippi State drove inside the Blazer’s 35-yard line on their first three possessions of the game, but the Bulldogs came away with just three points. On the first series of the game Keith Andrews drilled a 48-yarder to put the Bulldogs up 3-0, marking the first time MSU scored on its opening possession all season.
UAB quarterback Darrell Hackney answered State’s score when he threw a 52-yard touchdown strike to a wide-open Roddy White on the second play of the series.
White finished the game with more receiving yards (123) than MSU quarterback Kyle York threw for. The 6-foot-3 senior also pulled in two touchdowns and led all receivers with seven catches.
The Bulldogs drove down to the UAB 30-yard line on their second possession, but came up empty handed when running back Jason Jude’s rush attempt on a fourth-and-two gained nothing.
State then amassed a seven play, 51-yard drive to the Blazer 19-yard line. Andrews 37-yard attempt hit the right upright and fell short of the cross bar.
On the ensuing drive UAB kicker Nick Hayes made a 28-yard field goal that stretched the Blazer’s lead to seven with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
The West Coast offense’s feared passing attack was anything but against the Blazers. The Bulldogs have passed for only 325 yards in the last two games and thrown four interceptions and a single touchdown.
York finished 10 of 20 for 99 yards and threw the lone MSU touchdown when he hit tight end Eric Butler from eight yards out to tie the game at 10 with four minutes to go in the first half.
Instead of being dropped for sacks, UAB quarterback Darrell Hackney threw off Bulldog defenders and escaped from the pocket on 10 different occasions.
“I don’t know if we’re missing the tackles or they’re just running through us,” Croom said. “Some of it’s their skill versus our skill.”
Hackney threw for only 150 yards, but the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder completed 68 percent of his passes.
The Blazer’s came out with a “run it down your throat” mentality in the second half. They amassed 100 yards rushing in the final two quarters, after just 64 yards of rushing in the first half.
Each one of the Blazers’ sophomore running backs averaged over four yards a carry. Corey White led UAB with 70 yards on 15 carries, while bruising back Dan Burks followed with 65 yards on 11 attempts.
“My attitude going into the game was if they beat us, beat us throwing,” Croom said in his post game press conference. “I’m very disappointed that we can’t shut the run down and until we figure out a way to shut the run down we got no chance to beat anybody.”
On the legs of Burks and White, the Blazers drove 80 yards on seven plays to open the second half. For a second time Hackney and White hooked up for an 18-yard touchdown strike making the score 17-10.
The Bulldogs drove deep inside Blazer territory again, early in the fourth quarter, but on third-and-10 York was sacked for a nine-yard loss and State had to settle for yet another Andrews’ field goal. The 42-yard kick made the score 17-13 with 9:21 remaining in the game.
The turning point in the game came midway through the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs were forced to punt from their own 40-yard line.
Lindsey caught Brooks Crabtree’s line-drive punt, which beat the MSU coverage team down the field, in stride and broke free down the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown to seal the Blazer’s victory over State.