Skip to main content
Mississippi State

QUICK RECAP: Mississippi State rolls Alcorn State, 63-0

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk4 hours agoRobbieFaulkOn3
anthony evans7
Photo by Jared Thomas, Maroon and White Daily

While the stakes weren’t nearly as high against Alcorn State as it was one week ago against No. 12 Arizona State, Saturday was still an important night for Mississippi State.

Jeff Lebby’s team has dealt with plenty of adversity, but the Bulldogs haven’t attacked a week coming off of a big victory. Saturday showed that MSU could handle business the right way as the Bulldogs came out and dominated Alcorn, 63-0.

 It was an FCS opponent, the Bulldogs took care of business. The offense put up big numbers, the defense grabbed its first shutout since 2017 and the team appeared to come away healthy.

“There will be a ton of things to clean up, but I loved our energy,” Lebby said. “I thought that part of it was probably the best. We didn’t execute well at times offensively, but defensively we were able to create turnovers and take advantage of it to be able to get away with a win.”

Though there is plenty to clean up in Lebby’s eyes, the Bulldog offense was efficient all game. Blake Shapen went 10 for 14 for 173 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in just one half of football.

 Shapen threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Mosley on the second play of the game and it was all Bulldogs from there.State scored on nine of its 11 possessions that did not include the end of the half or end of the game.

“There was still a lot of frustrations on those first few drives,” Lebby said. “Like the first play of the game Blake getting hit and shouldn’t have been touched. On the fourth drive, he gets hit and that should have never happened. Those are things that we’ve got to clean up and he can’t take unnecessary shots, but I did love our guys’ energy. I thought our guys were really focused on doing their job and taking advantage of the moment.”

It was the best game of the year on the ground for the Bulldogs as the team rushed for 282 yards and had 7.8 yards on the ground.

Fluff Bothwell also helped set the tone there as the sophomore running back rushed 12 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns before hitting the bench late in the second quarter.

“It felt good getting fed early,” Bothwell said. “Really I was just trying to improve on last week and be more detailed in the run game and get better every week.”

Anthony Evans led the team with four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown while returning three punts for 97 yards. Brenen Thompson had two catches for 52 yards and a score fresh off of his breakout performance against Arizona State.

Freshman quarterback Kamario Taylor wowed the fans in the first quarter getting a toss from Shapen and throwing a 42-yard score to Thompson. Taylor finished 2 of 3 for 46 yards and the passing score and rushed three times for 40 yards. Former Florida State QB Luke Kromenhoek had his first touchdown as a Bulldog.

The Bulldogs (2-0) outgained the Braves 514-155 with a 282-68 edge on the ground. MSU was 4 of 6 on 3rd downs and 2 of 2 on 4th down while averaging 9.5 yards per play. The defense forced three turnovers.

It’s the first time since 2018 that the Bulldogs have begun the season 3-0 with a chance to get to 4-0 for the first time since 2014 with a win next week. That opponent will be a Northern Illinois team that marched into South Bend, Ind., last season and stunned eventual runners up for a national championship, Notre Dame.

“We needed (to win games) and I think everybody was aware of that. It’s given us the opportunity to build on something and now it’s given us an opportunity to have another one at Davis Wade next Saturday at 3 o’clock against a good football team,” Lebby said. “That is the biggest game of the year for us because it’s going to be the next game of the year. That is a game next Saturday that I think our guys are going to be excited to play.”  

You may also like