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Inside the numbers: Mississippi State-Wake Forest first half stats

Paul Jones Mississippi State Bulldogsby: Paul Jones01/03/26PaulJonesOn3

Mississippi State and Wake Forest have reached halftime at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and Wake Forest has a 15-9 advantage.

Mississippi State got on the board on the first series of the game. The drive jumpstarted with a 51-yard catch by Brenen Thompson but State had to settle for a 33 yard field goal by Kyle Ferrie with 12:55 left in the first quarter.

Wake Forest quickly responded on the next play when Korell Bartley returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, The Demon Deacons added the two-point pass and led 8-3 with 12:33 remaining in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs added another Ferrie field goal, this time from 50 yards out, with 7:12 remaining in the opening quarter to cut the Wake Forest lead to 8-6.

The Demon Deacons’ offense found the end zone for the first time moments later. Robby Ashford connected with Kamrean Johnson for a 14-yard touchdown and Wake Forest extended the lead to 15-6 with 3:49 remaining in the first quarter.

After a lull in scoring, Ferrie added his third field goal of the half and his 23-yarder cut the Wake Forest lead to 15-9 with 6:15 remaining in the half.

Mississippi State had 229 yards of offense in the half and 156 came through the air. The Bulldogs were 2 of 9 on third down and had three penalties for 25 yards. State held the ball for 17:27 of the first half.

Wake Forest had 160 yards of offense and 101 of that came in the passing game. The Demon Deacons were 4 of 8 on third down and had six penalties for 50 yards. Wake Forest had the ball for 12:33 of the opening half.

Individually for State, KaMario Taylor was 7 of 14 for 147 yards and also led State on the ground with 13 carries for 51 yards. Thompson led the State receivers with three catches for 91 yards.

For Wake Forest, Ashford was 8 of 18 for 101 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Ashford also paced the ground game with 27 yards rushing while Carlos Hernandez had five catches for 64 yards.

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