Mississippi State made the statement win of the weekend with their 37-7 dismantling of LSU.
Saturday night marked a lot of firsts for both LSU and Mississippi State football. For LSU, their Saturday night showdown in Starkville marked the team’s first conference game of the season under first year head coach Ed Orgeron and I’m not sure if it could have gone any worse.
Dan Mullen and the Mississippi State Bulldogs bludgeoned the Tigers in front of a rowdy, cowbell-clanging crowd at Davis Wade Stadium.
For Mississippi State, it was the first time the Bulldogs have beaten the LSU Tigers in Starkville in 18 years. It was also the Bulldogs’ largest margin of victory between the two teams in a series that dates all the way back to 1896.
Let’s take a look at some significant storylines from Mississippi State’s historic 37-7 beat down of the LSU Tigers.
KEY STORYLINES
LSU PENALTY WOES CONTINUE
Penalties plagued Ed Orgeron and his young team in their first two matchups against BYU and Chattanooga. But, the Tigers were able to rely on their superior talent to help mitigate the impact of such disastrous mistakes. However, on Saturday night the penalties caught up with them.
The Tigers were flagged for nine penalties (112 penalty yards) throughout the game and their first penalty — an offensive pass interference — negated a long touchdown strike in the first quarter. The Tigers were also called for two targeting penalties that subsequently resulted in the ejections of senior LB Donnie Alexander and freshman DE Neil Farrell.
The Tigers’ 30 penalties are tied for the third most in the country, while their 272 penalty yards are the sixth most in the country. Oregeron has to do a better job of instilling some discipline into his team.
MISSISSIPPI STATE MANHANDLED LSU
This storyline is extremely telling. LSU’s defensive line is already a thin group as the team’s best defensive lineman — former 5-star recruit, Rashard Lawrence, — wasn’t able to suit up and senior defensive end Frank Herron wasn’t active for undisclosed reasons. Mississippi State’s offensive line continued to push LSU’s defensive front backwards, opening up running lanes for Aeris Williams and Nick Fitzgerald. Williams carved out 146 yards on the LSU defense and Fitzgerald rushed for 88 more.
Mississippi State’s offensive line not only did an excellent job of creating push, but they did a great job protecting Fitzgerald in the pocket. Pre-season All-American pass rusher Arden Key made his 2017 debut on Saturday night for the Tigers, but was held in check for most of the game, only recording a half sack to go along with his three tackles.
And on the flip side, LSU’s young, inexperienced offensive line struggled to generate much running room for Derrius Guice. Mississippi State defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham, often considered to be a very aggressive play caller for the exotic blitzes he’s been known to dial up, rarely had to reach into his bag of tricks as Jeffrey Simmons and his cohorts were able to create pressure on relatively simple play calls.
TAKEAWAYS
Mississippi State
Oh, what a difference a year makes. Last year, Fitzgerald struggled to do anything against the LSU defense and was promptly benched in favor of Damian Williams. Well, on Saturday night, Fitzgerald had his way with the Tigers. Whether it was through the air or on the ground, Fitzgerald displayed why he’s one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the country, accumulating 268 yards of total offense and four touchdowns.
Mississippi State’s defense a year ago was nothing short of an afterthought. The offseason acquisition of Grantham changed that narrative. This Bulldogs’ defense stifled Matt Canada’s flashy, motion-based spread attack, sending shockwaves across the college football landscape. The rest of the SEC better watch out because Dan Mullen and the Mississippi State football program are for real.
LSU
The Matt Canada offense that LSU fans have been drooling over looked very average on Saturday night. One of the staples of Canada’s offense is that defenses aren’t able to load the box to protect against the run, or else they get burned downfield on a pass play.
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The play action pass has been effective for the offense thus far, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday night. The main reason being that Danny Etling didn’t present much of a threat to Grantham and State’s defense. Often times, on third and short plays especially, the box was loaded, making it extremely difficult for Guice and Darrell Williams to find any running room.
Etling didn’t look comfortable in the pocket, and on many occasions his receivers dropped very catchable passes. The offense flopped on national television. Plain and simple. Dave Aranda usually has his ducks in a row, but the defense displayed it’s fair share of problems as well. From coverage breakdowns to missed tackles, the LSU defense looked really average and that’s unusual considering how effective the unit has been since Aranda’s arrival in 2016. The team has a number of issues to correct. Orgeron, Canada, and Aranda better get their act together or else it’s going to be a long season for the purple and gold.