Suddenly very little is working for Mississippi State

It has been a twisting and turning route that Mississippi State has taken to its open date.

The underside line is the Bulldogs are 5-3 and 2-3 within the SEC after a 30-6 beating by the hands of No. 6 Alabama on Saturday night time in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alongside the best way, State flirted with being in a significantly better place than the one it sits in because it awaits Auburn’s go to to Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 5.

Not way back – 2 weeks the truth is – State was 5-1 and every victory had come by 18 or extra factors. Two of these lopsided wins helped speed up the demise of Texas A&M and Arkansas.

The Bulldogs received themselves ranked, climbed as excessive as No. 16 and had been nonetheless sitting at No. 24 on Saturday.

However the ugly loss to Alabama was preceded by an unpleasant loss at Kentucky and immediately this season appears a lot totally different than it did only a few weeks in the past.

Right here’s what working and what’s not working for State:

What’s working:

The protection

It hasn’t been nice, however it was good early and it has prevented the previous 2 losses from being even uglier than they had been.

The Bulldogs held Alabama, which scored 49 factors per week earlier in a loss to undefeated Tennessee, to 290 complete yards, together with simply 29 speeding yards. The Tide scored simply 6 factors within the 2nd half.

Probably the most factors State has given up in a victory is 24 and the previous 2 weeks the protection has obtained nearly no assist from the offense. Within the loss to Kentucky, Emmanuel Forbes’ pick-6 offered as many touchdowns because the offense offered.

Usually talking, State has performed ok protection to have a greater report than its has.

The kickoff returns

The Bulldogs entered the sport Saturday tied with Kentucky for one of the best kickoff-return common (30.27) within the SEC.

They didn’t attain that mark in opposition to Bama, averaging 24.3 yards on 4 returns. However their common beginning area place after 7 kickoffs was their 27, which was 5 yards higher than their common place to begin on 5 possessions that didn’t begin after a kickoff.

That’s not a lot to brag about, however that’s the place State is correct now.

What’s not working:

The passing recreation

This actually means the offense as a result of if the passing recreation isn’t working the offense isn’t going to work.

The operating recreation truly has been higher (in comparison with final season) as a complement to the passing recreation for a lot of the season, however it’s simply not sufficient of head coach Mike Leach’s system to be a lot of issue when the passing recreation isn’t clicking.

And the passing recreation isn’t clicking in any respect.

State threw the ball 61 instances in opposition to Bama and had simply 30 completions and 231 yards to indicate for it.

The Bulldogs didn’t keep away from a shutout till Jo’quavious Marks ran 1 yard for a landing as time expired.

The self-discipline

Leach has the third most-penalized group within the SEC. And it’s getting worse.

State went into Saturday’s recreation having been penalized 48 instances (7 a recreation) for a median of 71 yards a recreation.

Then got here 10 penalties for 100 yards in opposition to the Tide, one week after being penalized 13 instances for 109 yards in opposition to Kentucky.

Mississippi State has not managed any sustained success through the previous 2 video games and a giant consider that’s penalties always getting in the best way.

The place-kicking

State has missed 4 PATs this season and its conversion share of 87.9 ranks final within the SEC. The excellent news is the truth that it had simply 6 factors to indicate for its landing in opposition to Bama was not because of one other missed kick, however as a result of there was no time left to strive a conversion after Marks’ landing.

As for area objective share, the Bulldogs don’t rank final within the SEC like they did final season. Their 71.4 p.c fee ranks seventh.