INSIDE SLANT
Forget, for a moment, the fact that Vanderbilt's offense has some big-time question marks. What Mississippi State's defense did to the Commodores in a 15-3 win in Nashville is still very significant.
A week after getting ripped up for 589 yards in a 49-24 loss at Auburn, the Bulldogs allowed just 157 yards to Vanderbilt. In the meantime, State's work-in-progress offense managed enough points to give the Bulldogs reason to douse their coach, Dan Mullen, with a sports drink even before the clock hit zero at Vanderbilt Stadium.
Not only did State's defense bounce back, it bounced back with one of its best defensive performances in recent memory.
This helps going forward, as it is a much-needed injection of confidence to a defense, and an entire team, that was reeling after Auburn. State enters a three-game homestand that includes three of the top 27 teams in the country, according to Sunday's Associated Press poll.
It's uncertain where the next win will come from, but it's far from a desperate situation in the Mississippi State locker room now.
Thanks to its defense, State ended its crucial three-game season-opening stretch at 2-1, which is a record the Bulldogs would have taken in the preseason.
NOTES, QUOTES--State leads the Vanderbilt series 12-7-2. MSU has a losing record against every other Southeastern Conference foe.
--Saturday's victory marked the first road win for State since Oct. 27, 2007, at Kentucky. That's a span of eight straight road losses.
--In State's last two games against Vanderbilt, the Commodores have managed to collect only 264 yards of offense combined.
--State held an opponent without a touchdown for the first time since it lost to Auburn 3-2 last year.
GAME BALL GOES TO: RB Anthony Dixon -- His 123 yards on 21 carries paced State, but a 40-yard run in the fourth quarter set the stage for the Tyson Lee touchdown run that clinched the game. The game marked Dixon's 10th 100-yard game.
KEEP AN EYE ON: WR Brandon Heavens -- The true freshman caught two passes but ran three times, indicating that State's staff thinks he is quite the playmaker.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "You couldn't be prouder for our defense." -- MSU coach Dan Mullen in The Clarion-Ledger.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
LOOKING GOOD: What a difference a week makes, huh? State's defense shored up its problems against Vanderbilt on Saturday night, though the Commodores gave it quite a bit of assistance. But State showed some changes from within after a week in which its players said they took the previous week's performance -- 589 yards given up to Auburn in a 49-24 loss -- personal. Coach Dan Mullen said State needed to be more aggressive, and it was. Perhaps the brightest spot was that junior college transfer Pernell McPhee got his first career sack.
STILL NEEDS WORK: Fifteen points probably won't cut it against any of the next three opponents. While the offense was OK by some standards, the Bulldogs didn't punch the ball into the end zone nearly as often as they would have liked. The microcosm came at the end of the second quarter, when Tyson Lee took a sack to let time expire, squandering a promising situation to tack on points before halftime. That said, the offense came through when State needed it and thrived when Anthony Dixon was running full-throttle.
ROSTER REPORT:
--RB Robert Elliott had a fumble near State's goal line on his only carry of the night.
--QB Tyler Russell, LB Terrell Johnson and DE Brandon Cooper didn't play because of what a spokesman described as an illness. All three are reserve players, and Russell appears headed toward a redshirt season.
--DB Maurice Langston was reinstated to State's team last week after a drug charge against him was downgraded and he agreed to a deferred plea agreement. Langston remains suspended, though, and did not travel with the team to Nashville.
Previous Report: 09/16/2009
|
|
 |
