Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Falls to No. 14 Texas A&M: What Went Wrong for the Bulldogs

Mississippi State’s offense and defense faltered in a 34-24 loss to Texas A&M, showing key areas the Bulldogs must improve to start winning games

Taylor Hodges

Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Dezz Ricks (10) breaks up a pass intended for Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi (1) during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field.
Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Dezz Ricks (10) breaks up a pass intended for Mississippi State Bulldogs wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi (1) during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. / Matt Bush-Imagn Images
In this story:

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State football isn’t winning games, but there are signs the program has much brighter days in its future.

But what may or may not happen in the future will only go so far in making up for the losses this season. Mississippi State is starting to play well enough to threaten highly-ranked teams, but needs to improve in key areas if it wants to stop threatening and start winning games.

Some of those areas showed up in Saturday’s loss to No. 14 Texas A&M. Here are some of the things that went wrong for Mississippi State on Saturday against the Aggies.

Mississippi State Offense: What went wrong?

Time of possession. The Bulldogs had possession for 29 minutes and 52 seconds, which was only 16 seconds less than Texas A&M’s time of possession. Coach Jeff Lebby’s offense is supposed to play fast and that’s fine when the offense is scoring points more times than not when it has the ball. The Bulldogs aren’t doing that. Either that fact has to change or the Bulldogs rely more on long drives that eat up a bunch of time.

Mississippi State Defense: What went wrong?

Pass rush. It’s not that the Bulldogs’ pass rush is ineffective. It’s non-existent. Mississippi State has just five sacks this season and has gone sackless in four of its seven games. That includes Saturday against Texas A&M and, to make matters more dire, the Bulldogs registered just two quarterback hurries. Every great defense has an ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks and Mississippi State doesn’t have that ability.

Mississippi State Special Teams: What went wrong?

Nothing. Kyle Ferrie made all three of his field goals. All three of Nick Barr-Mira’s landed inside the 20-yard line and one punt had a direct impact on the Bulldogs’ scoring a touchdown. There was only one opportunity for a kick or punt return, but there’s not much Mississippi State can do about that. All in all, a great game for the special teams.

Read More Mississippi State Bulldogs On SI:

5 Reasons Mississippi State Fans Should Stay Optimistic After 34-24 Loss to Texas A&M

Mississippi State Falls to Texas A&M: Bulldogs Show Resilience in Close 34-24 Loss

Published
Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

Home/Football