Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Mississippi State Football: 3 overreactions to loss vs. Kansas State

By Steven Hamner

BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 20: Head coach Joe Moorhead of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during the first half against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 20: Head coach Joe Moorhead of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during the first half against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
NEW ORLEANS, LA – AUGUST 31: Wide receiver Austin Williams #85 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter of their game against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns at Mercedes Benz Superdome on August 31, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – AUGUST 31: Wide receiver Austin Williams #85 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter of their game against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns at Mercedes Benz Superdome on August 31, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /

2. Special teams lost Mississippi State the game

Mississippi State’s special team play yesterday was less than stellar, which is actually a nice way to put it. There were several punts that Kansas State defenders got their hands on, but the huge play in the game came when the Wildcats returned a kickoff for a touchdown to tie the game at 24. Kansas State was eventually able to take the lead after.

So while the Mississippi State special teams needs go back to the drawing board and make some improvements, it was not the reason why they lost despite some of those plays sticking out.

Mississippi State actually had a big play of their own on one of the punts that Kansas State got their hands on. The Kansas State return man muffed the punt and Mississippi State recovered the ball and putting them in a great situation.

The Bulldogs just weren’t able to make the big play when it mattered or get the stops on defense they needed. They had over 80 yards more of total yards than Kansas State as well as dominated in the time of possession category as they had the ball for six minutes longer than the Wildcats. They each had the same amount of turnovers as well.

So while special teams hurt Mississippi State, it actually hurt Kansas State as well. It came down to Mississippi State not making the play or getting the stop when it mattered.

Home/Mississippi State Bulldogs