Dominant win allows younger Bulldogs chance to shine

There were a few goals for Mississippi State coming into Saturday evening’s matchup with Alcorn State and the Bulldogs seemed to check all of those boxes.

Winning the game was at the top of the priority list for Jeff Lebby, but he wanted his team to attack the week with energy and not form a hangover after an emotional 24-20 victory over Arizona State from last week. On top of just simply winning the game, the Bulldogs needed to dominate it in a way that players in the first unit earned an early trip to the bench and everyone stayed healthy.

By all accounts, every one of those boxes were checked for the Bulldogs. Lebby wasn’t totally pleased with the execution across the board, but they leave with a satisfying 63-0 win.

Despite the few things that Lebby wants to clean up, the Bulldogs appeared locked in from the start. Blake Shapen led touchdown drives on each of the first four possessions and even hit Jordan Mosley for a 73-yard score on the second play of the game. A 42-0 halftime lead made for some great opportunities for younger players the rest of the way.

“For our guys, the message at halftime was that regardless of who is in the game, the expectations are for guys to go execute at a high level,” Lebby said. There were fourth string guys in there, guys that are 100% redshirting that played the last 15 plays for us defensively. Our guys played fast, they played with an edge and they had fun playing. I love having the ability to reward those guys as we’re in the middle of it right now.”

Six different backs get opportunities on Saturday

Lebby’s offense had its most productive rushing performance of the season to this point as they effectively ran over the Braves for 282 yards on 36 carries. Along the way, the Bulldogs showed the strength of the offense in that running back room as six different backs carried the football.

After Fluff Bothwell’s strong first half that included 12 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns, the Bulldogs had four carries for 50 yards and a score for Xavier Gayten and Seth Davis made his return to the backfield for the first time since suffering a gruesome leg injury against Ole Miss in 2023. Davis found paydirt in the fourth quarter with a 25-yard score and finished with 31 yards on two carries.

“It felt good seeing those guys eat,” Bothwell said. “They practice hard every day just like us, so to see them get in and get what they deserve was awesome.”

There was also a lot to like from the Bulldog quarterbacks on Saturday.

Shapen was an efficient 10-of-14 for 173 yards, two touchdowns and worked around an interception, but Lebby wanted plenty of reps for his backup QBs and got it. Highly touted freshman Kamario Taylor had his first pass attempt as a Bulldog on a toss from Shapen that turned into a 42-yard touchdown to Brenen Thompson in the first quarter.

The Macon native was 2-of-3 for 46 yards and that passing score in his first extended time at QB and he added three carries for 40 yards for good measure. Florida State transfer Luke Kromenhoek had a 13-yard passing completion and his first score as a Bulldog on a three-yard run making for a solid day for all three signal callers.

“They’ve got to go play. That was the whole goal was me being able to call the game to let those guys play and not just hand the ball off,” Lebby said. “Plenty of good things. We’re going to go watch the tape and it’s not going to be near as good maybe as it feels. We’re going to have to coach these guys really hard this week.”

In addition to the work from the passers and rushers, Lebby got moments for young receivers like Sanfrisco Magee, Bull Mitchell and Gracen Harris. Young linemen got in the game as well on offense.

Defensive backups also got work as Ray Thomas made his debut and finished with four tackles and 1.0 TFL and Dwight Lewis had his first big moment as the transfer cornerback scooped up a fumble and nearly returned it for six points. Others like touted freshman linebacker Tyler Lockhart also got some run in the game.

It was much needed for a team trying to build depth and continue to push toward the future. Now, they’ll look to keep winning as the schedule gets tougher and tougher.

“The development piece is huge, the comradery piece is huge,” Lebby said. “I think just letting guys go have fun and go play the game when all they do is work every single day. Everybody’s got their role and we talk about going to own their role. It was special and I’m proud of our guys.”