Mississippi State
10-1 , 6-1
Vanderbilt
3-8 , 0-7
No. 4 Mississippi State Dominates Commodores 51-0 To Move To 10-1
November 23, 2014 | Football
STARKVILLE, MIss. - Mississippi State (10-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) cruised past Vanderbilt (3-8, 0-7) 51-0 on Senior Night in Davis Wade Stadium Saturday.
“I'm so happy for our seniors to get sent out with a big win like we had here tonight,” head coach Dan Mullen said.
The big win came in response to MSU's first loss of the season as the Bulldogs answered with their biggest conference win since beating Ole Miss by 65 in 1915. It was the first conference shutout since 1999 against South Carolina.
Mullen said he was curious how his team would react after last week's loss and falling from the top spot.
“I couldn't be happier with how our guys responded,” Mullen said. “We have an awful lot still to play for.”
The Bulldogs out-gained the Commodores 502-228 offensively, holding Vandy to 27 yards on the ground as State racked up four tackles for loss and forced three turnovers.
Senior offensive lineman Ben Beckwith summed it up well.
“We pretty much dominated all night up front,” he said.
Junior quarterback Dak Prescott finished the game 16-of-21 passing for 193 yards and three touchdowns, also rushing for 30 yards and a score. Joe Morrow set careers highs for receptions (5), yards (79) and touchdowns (2) in the contest.
Senior linebacker Christian Holmes was the star on defense, highlighted by his 50-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
“The strip-six was a huge play and really kinda broke the game open,” Mullen said.
MSU plays Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS next Saturday in Oxford to end the 2014 regular season.
“This is always the biggest game of the year for us,” Mullen said. “It's all about this week, it's all about this game.”
Team Stats
VANDY 0, MS 6
MS - Malcolm Johnson 9 yd pass from Dak Prescott (Evan Sobiesk kickfailed) 7 plays, 79 yards, TOP 1:55
VANDY 0, MS 13
MS - Joe Morrow 27 yd pass from Dak Prescott (Evan Sobiesk kick) 3 plays, 48 yards, TOP 1:16
VANDY 0, MS 20
MS - C.Holmes 51 yd fumble recovery (Evan Sobiesk kick)
VANDY 0, MS 27
MS - Josh Robinson 14 yd pass from Dak Prescott (Evan Sobiesk kick) 8 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:32
VANDY 0, MS 34
MS - Dak Prescott 4 yd run (Evan Sobiesk kick), 10 plays, 44 yards, TOP 4:24
VANDY 0, MS 37
MS - Evan Sobiesk 34 yd field goal 4 plays, 9 yards, TOP 1:34
VANDY 0, MS 44
MS - Ashton Shumpert 3 yd run (Evan Sobiesk kick), 9 plays, 76 yards, TOP 3:25
VANDY 0, MS 51
MS - Joe Morrow 9 yd pass from Damian Williams (Evan Sobiesk kick) 9 plays, 59 yards, TOP 3:04
