Adjustments help Bulldogs get to 4-0 for first time in decade

There was some familiarity with how Saturday’s game played out for Mississippi State and it wasn’t at all like what the team and fans had grown accustomed to seeing a year ago.

Around this time a year ago, State was embarrassed against a MAC school as Toledo came in and dominated the Bulldogs in every facet of the game. Another MAC squad was trying to do the same thing this season with Northern Illinois giving the Bulldogs a jolt in the first half.

This State team is turning a new page. They took a lackadaisical 14-10 first half against the Huskies and turned it into second half domination in a 38-10 game. It was one of those games where the Bulldogs leave having to clean up plenty of things, but they took care of business as they should.

Running back Fluff Bothwell gave a bit of the blueprint after the first game of the season. When State and Southern Miss were in a tight ball game at the half thanks to self-inflicted wounds, Bothwell and the running backs were met by quarterback Blake Shapen in the locker room.

The message was clear and concise from the field general – the offense just had to execute and continue to stay on task. Those similar messages have been ringing through the heads of everyone on the team this season and the results has been a 4-0 start to the year.

“We come into the locker room at halftime and nobody is worried about what the score is, we just know that we’ve got to be better at some things and go out and execute,” Shapen said. “We have a good group of guys that are able to wipe the slate clean and be able to move forward. We do a good job of not worrying about the scoreboard and you look at the best teams in the country, they do a good job of that.”

State still has much to clean up ahead of SEC schedule

Not being worried about the score doesn’t mean that the team isn’t ignoring its own flaws.

State has been abysmal through four games when it comes to penalties and tacked on to that on Saturday with 11 penalties for 104 yards. Jeff Lebby used that and the Bulldogs’ quick three-and-out possessions that come and go as parts of the game that have to be eliminated.

Shapen admittedly did not have his best game. The senior was just 12-of-20 and missed at least five big plays on the deep ball on passes that were overthrown. He landed a couple of those in the second half and finished with 160 yards and a score, but the misses out there have to be cleaned up.

There were also some issues in the run game defensively early in the game before the Bulldogs started to get more production out of its group. They surrendered 125 yards and 4.6 yards rushing to a good running attack. On the flip side, State had as much production as anyone has in years against NIU’s stout rush defense with 292 yards rushing including a 100-yard performance from Bothwell.

In the end, it was a decisive victory and it complete phase one of the Bulldogs’ season with a perfect 4-0 record. As history has shown, that’s nothing for anyone to sneeze at as the Bulldogs are perfect through four games for the first time since 2014 and just the eighth time in school history.

To keep the train rolling and have an even bigger 2025, this week is crucial for State. No. 15 Tennessee (3-1) comes to town with a vaunted offense and some playmakers on the defensive side of the ball to change the game. The Bulldogs have already come so far and they’re not ready to stop after a successful first part of the schedule.

“It means a lot. For us to be at this point right now and be able to accomplish our second goal, is a big deal,” Lebby said of the 4-0 start. “(Saturday) was about going 1-0 and having the ability to be undefeated in non-conference was our second goal from a team goal standpoint. Now, we’re going to settled back in and get ready for next Saturday.”