Mississippi State
1-0
Southern Miss
0-1
Bulldogs Open 2015 With 34-16 Win At In-State Rival Southern Miss
September 06, 2015 | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Mississippi State (1-0) beat Southern Miss (0-1) 34-16 on Saturday night, opening the 2015 season with a road victory.
Turnovers stalled the Bulldogs early, allowing USM to double MSU's time of possession for the night, but State's offense picked up in the second half as MSU pulled away for the victory.
“We've got a lot work on before we compete in SEC games,” head coach Dan Mullen said. “We did a lot of good things and a lot of bad things.”
After miscues early in the first quarter, MSU finally jumped on the board when junior running back Brandon Holloway returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, giving MSU a 7-3 lead with 5:26 left in the first quarter.
USM dominated time of possession early as MSU only had the ball for 1:48 in the first quarter, but as the game balanced MSU pulled ahead, ultimately out-gaining USM 442-413.
State's attack was balanced with 237 yards through the air and 205 yards on the ground. Of note was the performance of senior quarterback Dak Prescott who finished 22-38 passing for 237 yards and two touchdowns, also rushing for 72 yards and one touchdown on eight carries. His two touchdowns gave him the all-time lead in career touchdowns in MSU history with 43.
Defensively, junior linebacker Richie Brown had a game-high 11 tackles, while junior defensive end A.J. Jefferson was second with seven tackles, including two sacks. It was the play of the front seven and the defensive line in particular that helped MSU turn the game around, starting with a goal-line stand at the end of the first half.
“We really needed that,” junior defensive end Chris Jones said. “That changed the game.”
MSU gave up 311 yards passing, but it did so without senior cornerback and captain Taveze Calhoun who missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Mullen said Calhoun possibly could have played Saturday, but the trainers wanted to rest him. MSU expects Calhoun to return to action next week.
MSU hosts LSU on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN in Davis Wade Stadium. It will be the season opener for the Tigers, who were scheduled to have opened their season against McNeese State Saturday night in Baton Rouge, but rain and lightning delays that began just minutes after kickoff ultimately forced cancellation of the game.
Team Stats
MS 0, USM 3
USM - BRAUCHLE, S. 31 yd field goal 4 plays, -3 yards, TOP 1:39
MS 7, USM 3
MS - B.Holloway 100 yd kickoff return (Westin Graves kick)
MS 7, USM 10
USM - WASHINGTON, J. 19 yd pass from MULLENS, Nick (BRAUCHLE, S. kick) 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:06
MS 14, USM 10
MS - Justin Johnson 5 yd pass from Dak Prescott (Westin Graves kick) 5 plays, 21 yards, TOP 1:28
MS 21, USM 10
MS - Gus Walley 4 yd pass from Dak Prescott (Westin Graves kick) 9 plays, 95 yards, TOP 2:45
MS 24, USM 10
MS - Westin Graves 38 yd field goal 6 plays, 19 yards, TOP 1:22
MS 24, USM 13
USM - BRAUCHLE, S. 27 yd field goal 5 plays, 64 yards, TOP 1:59
MS 27, USM 13
MS - Westin Graves 37 yd field goal 13 plays, 53 yards, TOP 4:35
MS 27, USM 16
USM - BRAUCHLE, S. 27 yd field goal 13 plays, 68 yards, TOP 6:01
MS 34, USM 16
MS - Dak Prescott 7 yd run (Westin Graves kick), 6 plays, 82 yards, TOP 1:40
