Good teams beat the teams they should beat -- and that’s exactly what Mississippi State did Saturday afternoon.
In dominating fashion, I might add.
By the 7-minute mark of the fourth-quarter, Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers had already come off the field as his day was done. Rogers threw the football 58 times, completing 42 of them for 386 yards with four touchdowns to two interceptions. A complete day on offense for Mike Leach’s Bulldogs.
Today’s win certainly provides us with a good feeling at the halfway mark of the 2021 season.
Three takeaways from Mississippi State’s 45-6 win over Vanderbilt.
1. QB Will Rogers throws a career-high four touchdown passes.
Rogers and the Bulldogs offense looked in rhythm from the start this afternoon. And Leach’s prolific Air Raid scheme was on full display with Rogers throwing the football almost 60 times in just three and a half quarters. Both wide receivers Makai Polk and Jaden Walley continue to show their playmaking ability in this offense, which should only improve through the remainder of the season.
Rogers spread the ball around efficiently with 13 different MSU players recording a reception in this one.
The competition on defense is what it is, but as I mentioned earlier. You cannot control who you play, but you can control how you play. The Bulldogs took full control over Vanderbilt from whistle to whistle.
2. Mississippi State’s defense holds Vanderbilt to 155 total yards.
The Bulldogs didn’t only dominate today’s game on the offensive side of the ball. MSU’s defense balled out in a big way too.
Vanderbilt’s offense was held to just 155 yards and six points. The Bulldogs front seven didn’t allow Vanderbilt to get much of anything going on the ground, allowing just nine yards rushing all game. The secondary did their part even without being truly tested through the air, they played consistently on every drive and didn’t give up any plays that would give Vanderbilt’s offense into a groove.
Leach couldn’t have asked for much more out of his defensive unit today.
3. QB Will Rogers must improve in this area if the Bulldogs want to finish the season strong
As good as Rogers and the offense played for the most part, there’s still one glaring hole that seems to cause problems for the offense -- turnovers.
Rogers threw two interceptions in today’s outing, and both were thrown at points in the game where Mississippi State should’ve taken a larger lead over a less-talented Vanderbilt team.
From what I’ve seen from Rogers, the turnovers can definitely be improved upon if he can build more confidence in his reads. Far too often Rogers finds himself trying to force a play that simply isn’t there, or he’s not seeing the field the way his receivers are.
If Rogers can continue to run the offense the way Leach wants – and cuts down on the timely turnovers, the offense could continue to get better over the second half of the season.
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