It wasn’t pretty, but it was what Mississippi State desperately needed to stop the bleeding.
MSU’s 30-21 win over Vanderbilt ended a winless drought of almost a year and snapped a nine-game Southeastern Conference losing streak dating back to November 2001.
“We’re going to celebrate the victory,” Justin Jenkins said. “It’s a big step for the rest of the season.”
“We’ve been in games we’ve lost, but we finally made plays for four quarters,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins posted big numbers with 118 yards on eight receptions and a touchdown.
The senior from Pearl leads the SEC in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game, and ranks fifth in the nation in receiving yards.
The wide receiver’s break-out performances have lit a spark in the Bulldog offense.
Another player who helped the MSU offense succeed was sophomore running back Jerious Norwood.
Thanks to a great week of practice Norwood got the starting job in place of Nick Turner. Norwood exhibited power and quickness on the first series when he bolted into the end zone from five yards out for his first career touchdown.
“This first win feels good and so does my first touchdown,” Norwood said. “I knew when I went through the first hole I was going to make the end zone.”
Norwood’s score was the Bulldogs’ first first quarter touchdown of the season.
On State’s next possession, consecutive 20-yard rushes by Norwood opened a passing lane for quarterback Kevin Fant’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Jenkins to cap a 75-yard drive and put the Dawgs up 14-0.
Fant completed 60 percent of his passes and threw for 215 yards.
“Kevin took care of things early. He handled the calls and the checks,” head coach Jackie Sherrill said.
Vanderbilt retaliated on the ensuing possession with a touchdown. On a third-and-thirteen at the MSU 33-yard line, Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler rolled right and found Chris Young behind an MSU secondary that bit on Cutler’s roll out.
The Bulldogs expanded the lead before halftime when Brent Smith kicked a 34-yard field goal to put State up 17-7.
Smith went three for three on field goals, including a 47-yard line drive late in the fourth quarter to build 30-21 lead.
“It didn’t feel right mechanically,” Smith said. “I didn’t see it go in because I was bent over, but it went and that’s what matters.”
Late in the third quarter MSU led 20-14 when Cutler floated a pass on a deep out.
Cornerback Odell Bradley broke on the ball, picked it clean, and returned it 42 yards to the Vandy 5.
“The interception by Odell was the biggest play,” linebacker T.J. Mawhinney said. “We scored again after that and the wind went out of their sails.”
However, Vandy had plenty of chances to come back in the fourth quarter.
Fant threw his only interception of the game with 10 minutes left. The turnover resulted Cutler’s second touchdown of the game and cut the Bulldogs’ lead to six.
“Jay had a great day of throwing the ball,” Vandy head coach Bobby Johnson said. “He made one bad throw when he was trying to make something happen. He’s a competitor who is trying his best to get us a win.”
State helped Vandy stay in the game by committing 11 penalties for 112 yards, including four personal fouls.
“You’re kinda getting upset at some of the penalties, but as aggressive as they were playing, sometimes you can overlook those, except for the little silly ones,” Sherrill said.
The Bulldog secondary continued to have problems with pass coverage.
Vandy couldn’t capitalize due to several dropped passes, including two that were in the end zone.
Cutler finished 22 of 35 for 295 yards and was sacked twice by the MSU defensive line.
“Our defensive line got pressure on them all day and kept the offensive line off of us. I was really proud of them,” Mawhinney said. “They got the game ball.”
Once again State gave the Commodores another chance with just over two minutes to go when Norwood had the ball stripped.
On a crucial fourth and 10 Cutler’s pass was knocked away by cornerback Eric Fuller to secure State’s first win of the season.
“The players have a long way to go,” Sherrill said. There’s still a lot of frustration, but this is a chance to move forward.” Sherrill said.