Three Takeaways From Mississippi State’s Thrilling OT Victory Over Auburn

Mississippi State grew to become bowl eligible on Saturday night time with a 39-33 win over Auburn, however there are nonetheless some issues that the Bulldogs should clear up heading into the ultimate stretch of the season. 

The sport began off extremely nicely for the workforce, which went into the locker room with a 24-6 lead at halftime. Issues started to derail within the second half, and Auburn managed to drag off a large comeback. A number of loopy particular groups performs later, each groups had been twisted up at 33 factors apiece and headed to extra time. Mississippi State went on to win the sport on a dashing landing by Jo’quavious Marks. 

Listed below are three takeaways from the Bulldogs’ much-needed extra time victory in opposition to Auburn.

1. Veteran defenders have repeatedly stepped as much as the plate in powerful conditions.

Mississippi State’s protection did not get many probabilities to take a break on the sideline within the second half. Offensively, the workforce was unable to take care of lengthy drives and continued to feed Auburn extra momentum. The Tigers had strong subject place on a lot of their second-half drives, but had been stopped by a protection that restricted pink zone appearances to subject targets and made huge performs when it mattered most. The skilled linebackers trio of Nathaniel Watson, Jett Johnson and Tyrus Wheat mixed for 22 tackles, three sacks and 5.5 tackles-for-loss. Even in conditions by which the unit might have caved, it did not, and that is largely why the sport’s end result was a victory for the house workforce. 

2. Will Rogers have to be extra cautious with the soccer.

Rogers had fairly a couple of shut calls in opposition to a Tigers protection that hasn’t performed too nicely as of late. Except for two fumbles below stress, the junior signal-caller had an interception in a vital second. A number of different passes had been almost picked off, however drops from the defenders stored the ball with the Bulldogs. Georgia has one of many high defenses in the complete nation and Ole Miss is just not a workforce to mess with, so Rogers might want to work on defending the soccer if he expects to offer his workforce an opportunity of victory in these upcoming video games. 

3. The particular groups unit should discover consistency from week to week.

MSU’s particular groups unit has had a rollercoaster of a season courting again to the workforce’s opening recreation in opposition to Memphis. Saturday’s recreation was no completely different — Massimo Biscardi had the most important night time of his profession in Maroon and White with an extended subject objective to ship the sport into extra time, however each of the workforce’s punters had many misplaced kicks that gave Auburn favorable subject place. In previous video games, that state of affairs has been reversed, with punters rising to the event and kickers struggling. Even the returners on particular groups have had shaky moments within the midst of landing returns, with muffed punts and nearly-fumbled kick returns hurting the workforce. Mississippi State should attempt to be extra well-rounded on that aspect of the ball to be able to proceed competing via the ultimate few video games of the season.