BYU football suffered its sixth straight loss of the 2017 season in a trip to Starkville. Here are three takeaways from the Cougars defeat at Mississippi State.
Entering the 2017 season, BYU had high hopes of a strong campaign as they returned a veteran defense and a quarterback with starting experience. The schedule lined up in a way that made it possible to force the College Football Playoff to consider the Cougars for a New Year’s Six bowl or even a top-four spot.
Of course, consideration by the selection committee required winning. Victory has been in short supply for BYU this season, as the Cougars have now dropped six straight after falling 35-10 to Mississippi State. Only a Week 0 survival of FCS Portland State is keeping Kalani Sitake‘s team from a winless campaign. Will they get a single victory over an FBS opponent this season?
That question is becoming more and more legitimate by the week, as the Cougars continue dropping chances to win. BYU now has to win all of its last five games to reach postseason eligibility. Though injuries have contributed greatly to the downturn in Provo, there are plenty of reasons why the Cougars continue to fall flat each week.
What did we learn from another rough loss for BYU in Week 7? Keep reading for three takeaways from the Cougars loss in Starkville to rising Mississippi State.
1. BYU pushed around on defense by Mississippi State rushing attack
There were few bright spots for the BYU defense on Saturday. Dayan Ghanwoloku picked off two Nick Fitzgerald passes and had two long returns. The second interception set up a Cougars touchdown, and kept Mississippi State from opening up an even bigger deficit against the visitors.
In general, the secondary was able to hold up its end of the bargain on defense. Fitzgerald went 19-of-30 for 241 passing yards. He did throw two touchdown passes, but the interceptions kept him from putting up bigger numbers against the Cougars. But Fitzgerald has never been exclusively a passer, and he was a key contributor to a big rushing day by Mississippi State.
The Cougars gave up over 300 total yards on the ground to the Bulldogs, who averaged nearly six yards per carry as a team. Aeris Williams led the way on the ground, finishing with 114 yards and two scores as the feature back. Fitzgerald hefted a big part of the rushing load as well, racking up 103 yards on 15 carries while adding two rushing scores to his passing touchdowns.
BYU entered the day allowing an average of 167 yards on the ground, right around average for FBS teams. They exited Starkville with an exposed front seven that is susceptible to giving up big yards against decent rushing teams.
2. BYU had no running game to speak of against the Bulldogs
Tanner Mangum cannot be expected to do everything for BYU on offense. The Cougars quarterback was 16-of-26 for 145 yards and a touchdown, but it wasn’t enough to pull off an upset against an SEC opponent on the road. He threw a fourth-quarter interception, ending any glimmer of hope BYU had of a comeback.
But Mangum was already doomed to suffer yet another defeat in his first full year as a starter long before throwing that pick on a desperate fourth-down shot downfield. That was because he got absolutely no relief from a Cougars ground game that failed to generate any momentum running the ball.
Nobody managed to gain even 10 yards on a carry for the Cougars. Brayden El-Bakri led the way with 20 yards on five runs. Ula Toluatu was similarly ineffective, finishing with 15 yards on his eight carries. As a team, BYU finished with just 29 total yards rushing and averaged just 1.7 yards per carry.
The schedule eases up over the next month, and getting to a bowl game is still possible. No more games remain for the Cougars against Power Five competition. But even beating their remaining Group of Five opponents will be tough for BYU if they continue to struggle running the ball.
3. Mississippi State rebounds from back-to-back losses, will be SEC spoiler
Let’s talk for a second about the team that took down BYU. Mississippi State had a brief moment in the AP Top 25 after knocking off LSU convincingly in September. Then back-to-back blowout losses against Georgia and Auburn sent the Bulldogs tumbling right back out of the polls, and it looked like midnight bells had pealed for the Cinderella story in the SEC West.
Given how bad BYU has been this season, it is dangerous to read too much into the win over the Cougars. But Mississippi State demonstrated a solid ability to move the ball downfield and put points on the board. The Bulldogs compiled over 500 yards of total offense with consistent gains, churning out tough yards and keeping the chains moving.
With four drives of 10 or more plays, the Bulldogs enjoyed a significant advantage in time of possession. It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, as Mississippi State gave away three turnovers to lose the takeaway battle. But that only prevented Dan Mullen‘s team from racking up an even bigger margin of victory.
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After showing that they can dominate even on an off day, Mississippi State looks once again like a spoiler in the SEC West. While they won’t win the division, they have a legitimate chance to make life miserable for a couple of contenders over the next six weeks.