Mississippi State bombs its way past No. 6 LSU, 44-34

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Mississippi St. Bulldogs play against the LSU Tigers during a game in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on September 26, 2020. (Photo by: Chris Parent / LSU Athletics)

The best way to describe LSU’s performance against Mississippi State can best be termed with one number – 2020!

It is a different year. It is a different season. It is a different team. On opening day, it was a very different result.

Ed Orgeron said he loved his defense and that it may be better than at any point than it was last season. Was he serious?

The day did not start well when Derek Stingley Jr. was declared out of the game with an illness. There goes your best player.

LSU had only five starters returning from its 2019 national championship team.

The Tigers were also without starting defensive tackle Glen Logan for undisclosed reasons.

LSU missed Kary Vincent in the deep. The Tigers missed Tyler Shelvin up front. They missed Ja’Marr Chase on offense.

They missed Joe Brady. They may have missed Dave Aranda as well.

It was an ominous beginning.

Myles Brennan had not started a game since 2016 at St. Stanislaus.

LSU had just three scoreless quarters all season long in 2019. The Tigers went scoreless in the first quarter against Mississippi State.

LSU punted on its first four possessions.

Death Valley was anything but its nickname. With just a smattering of fans in attendance, there was no intimidation factor.

As for the LSU pass defense without Stingley Jr., well, the Tigers got the COVID-19 protocols and practiced social distancing and did a great job of doing so.

As for the tackling of the LSU defense, they observed Phase 2 quite well with no contact.

The end result is that a 16-game win streak is over. So, too, is the hope of repeating as national champion, much less SEC champion.

LSU will face better, much better teams than Mississippi State.

Here are my Quick Takes from Mississipipi State’s 44-34 win over LSU.

**State won the toss and elected to receive.

**We saw the blitz principles of Bo Pelini’s attacking style. He dialed up blitzes on two of the first three plays and on the third, JaCoby Stevens sacked K.J. Costello, the transfer from Stanford, to force a punt. That would not be the shape of things to come.

**Trey Palmer was the punt return man in the absence of Derek Stingley Jr.

**Brennan read blitz on his first throw and hit Terrace Marshall on a slant for eight yards and a first down.

**Then, Brennan threw slightly behind Arik Gilbert but he still should have caught it. That resulted in an LSU punt.

**Mississippi State then drove 66 yards in 12 plays, taking 6:22 off the clock with Brandon Ruiz booting a 35-yard field goal to give State a 3-0 lead with 4:47 to play in the first quarter.

**Ali Gaye stopped the drive with a sack.

**As with its first drive, LSU made one first down on its second possession but was forced to punt again.

**Then, LSU went three-and-out on its third possession.

**The Tigers got a break when there was miscommunication on a shotgun snap, Costello was not ready for it and JaCoby Stevens recovered at the LSU 40-yard line.

**Once again, the offense sputtered. Terrace Marshall dropped a pass which could have been a huge gain and then he committed a false start penalty and LSU punted for the fourth time in four possessions.

**Zack Von Rosenberg punted State deep and the LSU defense came up with the big play as transfer Jabril Cox picked off Costello and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown to give LSU a 7-3 lead with 9:45 to play in the first half.

**A three-time FCS national champion at North Dakota State, Cox had six interceptions with his previous team.

**State came right back and drove 75 yards in six plays with Costello hitting a wide open Tyrell Shavers on a 31-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead with 7:45 to play in the half. On the play, Darren Evans, who was targeted the entire half, was beaten badly.

**Finally, LSU got it going offensively. Brennan hit freshman Arik Gilbert for 16 yards and hit Jaray Jenkins for 47 yards to the State 10-yard line.

**On third-and-goal from the two-yard line, Brennan, under pressure, simply threw one up. It looked to be for Palmer but Gilbert drifted back in the end zone, went up and caught it for a score to give LSU a 14-10 lead with 5:20 to play in the half. The drive covered 84 yards in eight plays, taking 2:19 off the clock.

**Undaunted, the Bulldogs responded by driving 75 yards in seven plays with Costello hitting Orirus Mitchell for 43 yards and a touchdown to give State a 17-14 lead with 2:27 to play in the first half. On the play, freshman Eli Ricks took a bad angle, trying to undercut the play, rather than staying with the receiver.

**Mississippi State amassed 303 yards to 146 for LSU in the first half. The Bulldogs had the ball for 19:40 to just 10:20 for the Tigers. State had 46 offensive snaps to just 31 for LSU. State led despite committing two turnovers to none for LSU.

**LSU took the second half kickoff and had a very nice drive with a bad ending. The Tigers reached the State 2-yard line and could not score, settling for a 26-yard field goal to tie the game 17-17 with 9:33 to play in the third quarter. The drive covered 67 yards in 15 plays.

**The Bulldogs got that back, driving Ruiz hitting a 24-yard field goal to give State a 20-17 lead with 6:24 to play in the third quarter. The drive covered 69 yards in nine plays, taking 3:10 off the clock.

**The Tigers bounced right back to take a 24-20 lead with 5:01 to play in the third quarter on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Brennan to Marshall, who beat his man in the deep middle. The throw was slightly underthrown but Marshall adjusted nicely to high point it and score, capping a five play, 75-yard drive.

**It did not last. On the next play from scrimmage, Costello hit a wide open Kylin Hill in the left flat. He was uncovered, a totally blown coverage. Then, Todd Harris whiffed completely on a tackle, near the sideline, and Hill raced 75 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-24 Bulldogs with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.

**Then, Brennan started what looked like a nice drive but had his arm hit and was intercepted by Esaias Furdge as the ball went right to him.

**State took advantage, driving 56 yards in five plays with Costello hitting Austin Williams with a nine-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs a 34-24 lead with 14:14 to play in the game.

**Just when it looked like LSU was about done, freshman Eli Ricks picked off Costello on a deep ball at the Bulldog 45-yard line with 11:53 to play in the game.

**It paid dividends quickly as three plays later, Brennan hit Marshall, who made a one-handed catch in the end zone, with a 33-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 34-31 with 11:01 to play in the game.

**Then, Stevens came up with another big play and turnover, strip-sacking Costello and recovering the fumble at the Bulldog 23-yard line with 10:54 to play in the game.

**LSU did not take full advantage, going three-and-out and Cade York tied it at 34-34 with a 40-yard field goal with 9:37 to play in the game.

**Then, Costello looked as though he had fumbled and Siaki Ika recovered for LSU but upon replay review, it was ruled an incomplete pass and it was the right call as his arm was coming forward.

**The Bulldogs responded by taking a 37-34 lead as Ruiz nailed a 43-yard field goal with 7:27 left to take a 37-34 lead, capping a seven play, 50-yard drive in 2:10.

**State got a stop and then put the game away as Costello hit Mitchell on a 24-yard touchdown pas to give the Bulldogs a 44-34 lead with 3:39 to play. The drive covered 71 yards in seven plays.

While transfers on the LSU side were going to be a big part of the story, the biggest story regarding a transfer in this one was Costello, who arrived in Starkville from Stanford.

Costello set an SEC record for the most passing yards in a game, smashing Eric Zeier’s record of 27 years, dating to 1993 when he threw for 544 yards against Southern Miss for Georgia.

All Costello did was go 36-of-60 for 623 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. LSU put him on the map, in the Heisman Trophy conversation after one game.

Brennan was not bad for LSU. I saw a decent, somewhat encouraging debut. He finished 27-of-46 for 345 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which came on a desperation throw on the final play of the game.

It is hard to not play for three years and expect him to be great, to be Joe Burrow. No one is going to be Burrow, not now, not anytime soon, perhaps not ever.

Brennan also does not have the supporting cast Burrow had.

Still, he must learn to make better reads, must keep the ball on the read play when it is wide open for him, must be more consistently accurate. He has to have a clock and not hold the ball too long, as he did frequently.

Starting left tackle Dare Rosenthal went down late in the game, adding injury to insult.

LSU’s offensive line has to block better and protect Brennan better.

For one week, the Air-Raid offense of Mike Leach owned the SEC. Of course, he should have recognized the game, having coached 10 years in the Big XII at Texas Tech.

This was your classic Big XII game breaking out in SEC country. It was not a pretty sight. For those who have ridiculed Big XII defenses for years now, LSU looked the part of a near perfect Big XII defense Saturday. The Tigers could not cover anyone. They could not tackle anyone.

Had the Bulldogs not committed four turnovers, this one would not have been close.

This LSU team has a long, long way to go to even contend in the SEC West this season, based on what we saw Saturday.

Then again, without 13 players drafted into the NFL, players opting out, including one of the very best players in the nation and two key defensive starters out, we should not have been too surprised, though I must admit I was.

What a difference a season makes.

Right about now, the Starkville ‘Dogs need more cowbell. Where is Will Ferrell when you need him as LSU fans, players and coaches need some comic relief about now. The Reaper showed up at Tiger Stadium.

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Born and raised in the New Orleans area, CCSE CEO Ken Trahan has been a sports media fixture in the community for nearly four decades. Ken started NewOrleans.com/Sports with Bill Hammack and Don Jones in 2008. In 2011, the site became SportsNOLA.com. On August 1, 2017, Ken helped launch CrescentCitySports.com. Having accumulated national awards/recognition (National Sports Media Association, National Football…

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