Mississippi State may not have been able to pull off an upset over No. 15 Tennessee on Saturday, but one thing is for sure and that’s the Bulldogs will be no pushover during SEC play like they were a season ago.
Head coach Jeff Lebby’s team had a lead on four occasions in what turned into an overtime shootout in Starkville with the Volunteers winning 41-34.
Here’s how the entire game played out.
Scoring summary
Mississippi State (4-1, 0-1 SEC) struck first with a five-yard touchdown run by Fluff Bothwell after the Bulldogs forced a muffed punt early in the first quarter.
Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) countered with a 38-yard field goal off the foot of Max Gilbert to make it a 7-3 game. The Volunteers then took their first lead of the day when Colton Hood intercepted a Blake Shapen pass and returned it all the way with just less than five minutes left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs responded with a lengthy 15-play drive that ended in Davon Booth finding the end zone on a five-yard run to retake the lead and make it a 14-10 game. A 51-yard field goal by Kyle Ferrie on their next possession extended Mississippi State’s lead to 17-10 with less than nine minutes to play in the second quarter.
Tennessee immediately countered with quarterback Joey Aguilar connecting with Chris Brazzell II on a 15-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 17-17. The score remained until halftime.
In the second half, Tennessee got the ball first and turned it into another Gilbert field goal to go up 20-17. Mississippi State’s Bothwell then scored his second touchdown of the day to put the Bulldogs back up, 24-20, going into the fourth quarter.
Following a successful fake punt by Mississippi State early in the fourth, the very next play saw Shapen get strip-sacked and Joshua Josephs return the fumble 28 yards to give the Volunteers a 27-24 lead with 13:29 remaining. The Bulldogs immediately tied the game, 27-27, with another field goal from Ferrie.
Shapen found his first touchdown of the day when connecting with tight end Seydou Traore with 8:04 remaining to make for a 34-27 lead. Tennessee’s Aguilar on the next drive scampered into the end zone for a six-yard score to tie the game at 34-34 and send it into overtime.
The first play of overtime saw Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop scoring and then a goal-line stop for the Volunteer defense ended the game at 41-34.
What the coach said
Lebby, who coached under now-Tennessee frontman Josh Heupel at UCF, was disappointed after the loss but thought his team executed the game plan set for them.
“Tennessee was throwing the ball really, really well as we said earlier in the week. They wanted to get the run game going, and we found some ways to limit them,” Lebby said.
Lebby also commended the crowd at Davis Wade Stadium, the final attendance count being 60,417 with cowbells being rung the entire time.
“It was really, really hard for them to come play in,” he said.
Numbers never lie
Despite allowing nearly 500 yards of total offense, Mississippi State’s defense forced three turnovers – a fumble and two interceptions – while notching two sacks and four tackles for loss. The first half was especially impressive, allowing Tennessee only 38 yards on the ground.
With his fourth-quarter touchdown pass, Shapen extended his streak to 20 games with a score through the air. It’s the second-longest active streak in the country, trailing Iowa State’s Rocco Becht (22 games). Shapen finished the day 18 of 29 passing for 180 yards with the one touchdown and one interception.
Mississippi State’s rushing attack was strong with 198 yards and three touchdowns. Bothwell led the way with 134 yards and two scores. On defense, Zakari Tillman filled the stat sheet with six tackles, one sack, and one interception. Branden Jennings had a team-high 10 tackles while Jahron Manning snagged an interception.
For Tennessee, Aguilar was 24 of 40 passing for 335 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He and Bishop each had rushing touchdowns while Brazell had a receiving touchdown. The conference’s leading tackler, Arion Carter, had another massive performance with 17 takedowns.
Next up
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs will travel to Texas A&M next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on the SEC Network and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
Tennessee: The Volunteers will have a bye week.
