Bulldogs use shut down effort against the Tigers
Mississippi State’s defense was still frustrated with the way last week’s game against Auburn started.
The Bulldogs wanted to come back with a more complete effort against another group of Tigers. Mission accomplished. MSU head coach Mike Leach felt like his unit set the tone early on Saturday on the way to a 55-10 shut down effort against Tennessee State at Davis Wade Stadium.
“Anytime you affect the backfield like our defensive line did, it’s going to be tough to do very much on offense,” Leach said.
Tennessee State failed to score in the first half and its only points came in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand.
It was much different than last week when the Bulldogs gave up 28 points in the first half against Auburn.
MSU played much better in the second half in limiting Auburn to only six more points and wanted to give a better showing this week.
“We had to make the corrections from last week,” Bulldog linebacker Jett Johnson said. “We didn’t play up to our standard last week. We wanted to correct that stuff, build upon the good stuff and I think there was maybe some rollover.”
MSU held Tennessee State to only 35 yards rushing and 170 through the air for 205 total.
The Bulldogs held the Tigers to minus 15 yards on their opening two drives of the game.
“Coach (Zach) Arnett challenged us this week to be fast, physical and aggressive,” Johnson said. “Coach Leach always says to respect somebody and fear nobody.
You play for Mississippi State and not the opponent. I think the defense did a great job today and really accepted the challenge.”
Johnson had a fumble recovery and eight tackles for MSU, while fellow linebacker Deshawn Page also had eight tackles. Tyrus Wheat had two sacks.