In a game that included seven interceptions, the Northwestern Wildcats snapped Mississippi State’s five-game bowl win streak and saw its nine-game bowl losing streak come to an end.
The Cats finished with their first 10-win season since 1995, defeating the Bulldogs 34-20. Head coach Dan Mullen said his team was focused and battled back but made critical mistakes at the end of the game.
“Obviously, bowl trips tend to be more fun when you come out on top,” Mullen said. “We had a great time here this week, but we talked about adjusting back to the speed of the game, and you know at times we did some very good things during the day-to-day.  At times we made a lot of big mistakes.”
The first half was a tale of two stories as Northwestern jumped out to a 13-0 lead, but MSU came back to make it 13-10 by the end of the half.
State’s first four possessions ended with an interception, interception, punt and interception. Northwestern’s final four possessions ended in an interception, punt, punt and punt.
After throwing only six interceptions all season, Tyler Russell threw three in the first half, including one right after Denico Autry intercepted Wildcat quarterback Kain Colter to the NW 15-yard line.
Russell received some help on the ground from LaDarius Perkins and Josh Robinson. Robinson, who became the backup after Nick Griffin tore his ACL, reeled off a career-long 59-yard run to set up a Devon Bell field goal to put the Dogs on the board.
But Russell bounced back and threw a fade to the back of the end zone for Arceto Clark, who made an incredible catch for his first touchdown of the season. With that touchdown, Clark became the first MSU non-quarterback to ever score a touchdown in three bowl games.
Mullen said he made Russell go back to the locker room after his third interception to splash some water on his face, readjust his pads and get re-hyped up in the tunnel.
“I think he started off the game very poorly,” Mullen said. “I think he was shaken, and I just wanted to calm him down and say, ‘hey, get a blank slate, clear it, go in the locker room and come out and start this one from scratch,’  and he did a really nice job.”
Northwestern started the second half with the ball, but the Cats did not keep it for long. Nickoe Whitley made his first of two interceptions, setting up MSU for a 47-yard field goal to tie the game at 13.
From then on, State could not get into a rhythm offensively. On the other side of the ball, Autry said despite his interception, the Cats maintained a rhythm throughout the game.
“He threw the ball right into my hands, and I just ran,” Autry said. “We kind of got behind a little bit and couldn’t keep up.”
After a touchdown pass from Russell to Malcolm Johnson when it appeared MSU could have a game-tying drive, Russell threw his fourth interception of the day, resulting in NW ball on the State five-yard line. A touchdown run by Venric Mark finished the scoring for the day, as the Cats went up 34-20.
Perkins, who eclipsed the 1,000 yard rushing mark with 91 yards on the day, said it was not a question of wanting to win the game but of just not coming out on top.
“We had fun out here. When it was time to lock in and focus, we did,” Perkins said. “Losing sucks, but it’s life, and you have to move on after things like that.”
In his final game as a Bulldog, Jim Thorpe Award winner Johnthan Banks was injured in the first half and tried to come back but could not make it. He had a laceration, or what Mullen called a “massive gash” on his left leg.
Cameron Lawrence finished his MSU career with nine tackles on the day to lead the Dogs.