Mississippi State
7-4 , 4-3
Tennessee State
5-6 , 3-3
Bulldogs Roll To 55-10 Win Over Tennessee State
November 20, 2021 | Football
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State scored early and often, and the Bulldogs put forth a dominant defensive showing as MSU rolled to a 55-10 win over Tennessee State on Saturday.
The Maroon and White racked up 600 yards on the offensive side of the football and held the Tigers to just 205 yards to pave the way to victory.
Quarterback Will Rogers set a new MSU single-season record for passing yardage. The sophomore signal caller threw for 391 yards, pushing him to 4,113 for the year. Rogers surpassed Dak Prescott's previous single-season high of 3,793 yards.
Rogers also set a new single-season record for touchdown passes. He threw five of them on Saturday, giving him 34 in 2021.
Three of Rogers' scoring tosses went to receiver Austin Williams. Williams finished with 75 receiving yards and his three touchdown catches tied a single-game State record.
Williams' fellow receiver, Makai Polk, also had a big day. Polk totaled 110 yards and had a touchdown. His nine catches tied him with Fred Ross for the most single-season receptions in school history (88).
Defensively, State was led by linebacker Tyrus Wheat and defensive tackle Nathan Pickering. The duo combined to rack up eight tackles, four sacks and five tackles for loss.
State put up 21 first-quarter points and never let up. Rogers sandwiched a pair of touchdown passes to Williams (a 21-yarder and a five-yarder) around a Jo'quavious Marks seven-yard scoring run to build the Bulldog lead.
MSU continued to increase the margin as the day went along. Malik Heath and Williams both caught second-quarter touchdown passes from Rogers. Heath had a 56-yard catch and run, and Williams crossed the goal line from 30 yards out.
Rogers found Polk in the end zone in the third quarter on a 50-yard pass, in addition to Dillon Johnson notching a 32-yard rushing touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Tennessee State scored its lone points of the day on a 43-yard field goal and a five-yard touchdown run, but Bulldog kicker Nolan McCord answered with a pair of field goals, a 33-yarder and a 43-yarder, to put the exclamation point on the MSU triumph.
The annual Battle for the Golden Egg awaits. Mississippi State welcomes instate rival Ole Miss to Starkville on Thanksgiving night. Kickoff between the Bulldogs and Rebels is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, Nov. 25. The game will be televised by ESPN.
Team Stats
TSU 0, MSU 7
MSU - Williams,Austin 21 yd pass from Rogers,Will (Mccord,Nolan kick) 5 plays, 60 yards, TOP 01:52
TSU 0, MSU 14
MSU - Marks,Jo'quavious 7 yd run (Mccord,Nolan kick), 6 plays, 31 yards, TOP 02:08
TSU 0, MSU 21
MSU - Williams,Austin 5 yd pass from Rogers,Will (Mccord,Nolan kick) 6 plays, 58 yards, TOP 02:43
TSU 0, MSU 28
MSU - Heath,Malik 56 yd pass from Rogers,Will (Mccord,Nolan kick) 6 plays, 86 yards, TOP 02:24
TSU 0, MSU 35
MSU - Williams,Austin 30 yd pass from Rogers,Will (Mccord,Nolan kick) 4 plays, 53 yards, TOP 01:08
TSU 0, MSU 42
MSU - Polk,Makai 50 yd pass from Rogers,Will (Mccord,Nolan kick) 5 plays, 89 yards, TOP 01:48
TSU 0, MSU 49
MSU - Johnson,Dillon 32 yd run (Mccord,Nolan kick), 6 plays, 85 yards, TOP 02:36
TSU 3, MSU 49
TSU - Lowery,James 43 yd field goal 4 plays, 4 yards, TOP 02:18
TSU 3, MSU 52
MSU - Mccord,Nolan 33 yd field goal 11 plays, 55 yards, TOP 04:03
TSU 10, MSU 52
TSU - Mitchell,Micheal 5 yd run (Lowery,James kick), 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 03:55
TSU 10, MSU 55
MSU - Mccord,Nolan 43 yd field goal 5 plays, 40 yards, TOP 02:27
