MSU comes up just short at Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. – The speakers at Sanford Stadium blasted The Who’s “Baba O’riley” moments before Saturday night’s game between Mississippi State and No. 11 Georgia.
You know, the song that fantasizes about a teenage wasteland.
Mississippi State’s teenagers did anything but waste the opportunity they were given on Dooley Field, though. The visiting Bulldogs went into the game as 25-point underdogs, according to BETMGM, and were severely shorthanded with only 49 scholarship players making the trip to Athens.
The SEC has mandated that teams can postpone a game if they have less than 53. Mississippi State made the trip to Athens anyway with the intention of giving the home ‘Dogs everything they could handle.
And they did.
Georgia ultimately won, 31-24, but Mississippi State opened some eyes in going to-to-toe with a team many thought would run away with the game far sooner than it did. All three of Mississippi State’s touchdowns were scored by true freshmen – teenagers, if you will.
Here are five takeaways from Mississippi State’s impressive performance, albeit in losing fashion.
Jaden Walley breaks out
Jaden Walley has been consistent all season.
The true freshman wide receiver caught at least two passes in five straight games after not catching any in the season opener against LSU. He took it to another level against Georgia.
Walley caught Mississippi State’s first pass of the game and didn’t stop there. Far from it. He finished the night with seven receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown.
His best play of the night was a corner-post caught over his right shoulder while he was running toward the right sideline. The Georgia defensive back he blew by tried to bring him down along the sideline, but Walley ran away from him on a 51-yard touchdown to put Mississippi State ahead 17-10 late in the first half.
Will Rogers has career start
Walley would not have had the night he did without the man who threw him the ball.
True freshman quarterback Will Rogers notched the second start of his career, and it was a good one. He set the tone by going 9-of-11 for 63 yards on Mississippi State’s opening drive. The visiting Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead after an inaugural drive that spanned over eight minutes.
Rogers finished the night 41-of-52 for 336 yards and one touchdown. He was efficient and far more prolific than he has been all season. He couldn’t do it all himself, though.
Offensive line provides new opportunities
Walley and Rogers were as effective as they were in large part because of the way Mississippi State’s offensive line played.
It’s been no secret the big Bulldogs up front have had a hard time pass blocking in the air raid offense. Saturday, the unit looked like a well-oiled machine.
Mississippi State did not allow a sack in the first half. MSU came into the game ranked No. 12 in the SEC, having given up 19 in the first six games of the season. Georgia eventually recorded two sacks, including one on Mississippi State’s last offensive play of the game. On fourth and five from near midfield, Georgia got through to Rogers to ice it.
The O-line gave wide receivers time to develop their routes and find soft spots in Georgia’s zone defense, and Rogers put the ball on the money more times than not.
Georgia’s defense stayed in the zone for most of the game despite coach Kirby Smart saying in the week leading up to the game that he would not be afraid to play more man coverage than Mississippi State has seen since the LSU game.
Rogers and company worked the ball down the field for much of the night. Mississippi State had three drives that reached double digits in plays. MSU also had four scoring drives of 70-plus yards.
Mississippi State converted 7-of-13 (53.8%) on third down. At one point, Mississippi State was 7-of-9 (77.8) on the money down. MSU came into the game No. 13 in the SEC in third-down conversion percentage at 32.3%.
Defense gives up big plays…
It wasn’t a banner night for the Bulldog defense.
Mississippi State gave up eight passing plays of 15-plus yards. True freshman Jermaine Burton and sophomore George Pickens were on the receiving end of most of them.
Burton went off for eight catches, 197 yards and two touchdowns. Pickens had eight receptions for 87 yards and one score. The two constantly got behind the Mississippi State secondary, and sophomore quarterback JT Daniels made MSU pay.
Daniels, making his first start at Georgia after transferring in from Southern California, dueled it out with Rogers in going 28-of-38 for 401 yards and four touchdowns.
Georgia scored two touchdowns on 40-plus yard passes, the second gave the Bulldogs a 31-24 lead with less than 10 minutes left in the game. The 40-yarder to sophomore Kearis Jackson, who burned MSU sophomore safety Shawn Preston Jr. on the play, put the home team on top for good.
… but stops Georgia’s ground game
Georgia’s offense was boom or bust. Daniels had no problem finding Burton and Pickens deep down the field, but UGA had plenty of problems operating its normal offense. Mississippi State held Georgia to six rushing yards on 16 attempts through three quarters. Georgia finished the night with 23 attempts for eight yards.
Sophomore running back Zamir White came into the night ranked sixth in the SEC in rushing with 509 yards. The Mississippi State defense bottled him up for 11 carries and 21 yards.daniels was credited for three rushes and -21 yards, all of which was lost on three sacks.