In a golden opportunity to win an SEC road game and keep their bowl hopes alive, the Mississippi State Bulldogs could not shake off the jet lag.
The Bulldogs (2-6, 0-5) lost a 13-7 decision against Kentucky (2-5, 1-3) Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium, unable to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit in what head coach Sylvester Croom called a pathetic performance. The loss eliminated State, once again, from the postseason in Croom’s second year at the helm.
“It’s the first time this year I’m embarrassed. We should’ve had that game in control after the first half,” Croom said. “This is a SEC road game, and we still have guys that it doesn’t bother them to lose. That’s the bottom line. I won’t call out names, but I know who they are and I won’t ever forget.”
The shaky MSU offense was forced to punt on five of its six first half possessions after only crossing into Wildcat territory twice. Senior halfback Jerious Norwood rushed for 124 yards on 20 carries, passing Walter Packer as MSU’s all-time leading career rusher.
This comes one week after Norwood broke James Johnson’s seven-year-old school record of 237 yards with his 255-yard performance against Houston.
“I guess that’s another record, the second-week straight. But like I said last week, we needed to win,” the senior halfback said. “I like to win; I don’t like to lose.”
The sluggish offense was reason for a change in Croom’s mind. After a one for six passing performance from seasoned starter Omarr Conner, Croom pulled the veteran in favor of freshman Mike Henig.
Henig performed well in the surprising situation, passing for over 200 yards on a 16 of 31 completion rate.
“I’ve been dreaming of that since I was in Pee-Wees,” Henig said. “I was excited. Overall I did pretty good with my progressions and found some open wide receivers.”
“He did a hell of a job,” said junior wide receiver Will Prosser, who caught five passes for 78 yards.
Henig directed the Dawgs on a 65-yard drive to open the second half, but fumbled a snap on the Kentucky four-yard line that ended the threat.
“I want to shoot myself in the head for the play on the goal line,” Henig said. “It’s all my fault.”
Henig mounted a redeeming effort on the following possession, marching the Bulldogs downfield once again, this time for a Brandon Thornton touchdown run, pulling the squad within six points of the Wildcats.
That margin would hold, however, as five of the next seven Bulldog drives ended in punts, and the most promising–a 12-play drive to the Kentucky nine that started on the Bulldogs’ own goal line-in a missed field goal.
“This was a winnable game for us,” Prosser said. “It’s a game we’re supposed to play hard and win, and we had our opportunities. We didn’t capitalize.”
Croom apparently liked what he saw from Henig, as he has named him the starter for this weekend’s game against No. 4 Alabama (8-0, 5-0) in Starkville.