The MSU defense that held the mighty Auburn Tigers to a field goal in week three was nowhere to be found Saturday as Georgia Tech rolled up 500 yards in its 38-7 cakewalk over the Bulldogs.
“[Georgia Tech] won the game and beat us in every phase of the game today pretty much from start to finish,” MSU head coach Sylvester Croom said. “I’m real disappointed in the way we performed today.”
The Yellow Jackets executed their triple-option attack to perfection, averaging more than eight yards per carry on the ground and rushing for 438 yards total.
Croom said State’s failure to stop Georgia Tech’s offense wasn’t due to a lack of preparation or Tech running something State wasn’t expecting.
“They didn’t do anything different,” Croom said. “They didn’t do anything we hadn’t worked against, absolutely nothing. Obviously we didn’t do what we’re supposed to. That’s the bottom line.”
Tech wasted no time getting the scoring started, taking the opening kickoff and marching 79 yards in 11 plays in just over five minutes without attempting a pass.
The first two times the Yellow Jackets opted to pass were extremely successful. Each was complete for 20 yards. The second was good for Tech’s second touchdown of the day.
“We didn’t throw the ball much because the way they [Mississippi State] were lining up, we didn’t need to,” Tech head coach Paul Johnson said in a press conference following the game.
Georgia Tech’s offense did most of its damage without starting quarterback Josh Nesbitt, whose day ended during the first drive of the game due to injury. Backup quarterback and true freshman Jaybo Shaw handled most of the snaps, but redshirt freshman Bryce Dykes and redshirt senior Calvin Booker each played some at the position in mop-up time.
MSU’s first drive ended in disaster when sophomore center J.C. Brignone’s snap sailed over the head of sophomore quarterback Wesley Carroll.
“I think he must have thought I was under center,” Carroll said. “That’s something we have to correct. We can’t let that happen, especially in a crucial situation.”
The Bulldog offense picked up over 400 yards offense on the day but couldn’t manage to finish its drives. State had four turnovers in addition to three failed fourth-down conversions.
The Bulldogs’ first five drives, all in the first half, ended in a fumble, a missed field goal, a failed fourth-down conversion and back-to-back interceptions, respectively.
The Bulldogs had four maintained drives of more than 60 yards and another that went for 49 yards, but only one of State’s drives ended in points.
State’s failure to finish drives could have been due in part to junior running back Anthony Dixon not being fully recovered from a groin injury.
Dixon described his health as “about 80 percent.”
In MSU’s second drive of the game, Dixon broke a 71-yard run to the Georgia Tech nine-yard line.
“[If healthy,] I would have stretched it out on them,” Dixon said of his long run. “I would have been in the end zone, no doubt.”
Dixon’s 94 yards pushed him over the 2,000-yard mark for his career. Dixon is the 10th MSU player to reach that milestone. His 13 carries moved him to 512 total attempts, making him the fifth MSU rusher with more than 500 carries.
Offensively, one bright spot of MSU’s day was junior wideout Brandon McRae’s career-high 10 catches for 102 yards, also a career high. MSU’s lone score of the day came on a rushing touchdown by redshirt freshman Robert Elliott.