Mississippi State
7-6 , 4-4
Texas Tech
7-6 , 3-6
State’s Season Concludes With Liberty Bowl Loss
December 28, 2021 | Football
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Playing in a postseason game for the 12th straight season, Mississippi State saw its 2021 campaign conclude with a 34-7 loss to Texas Tech in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs finished the year with an overall record of 7-6, including three wins over opponents ranked in the final College Football Playoff Top 25.
MSU was unable to add to its solid season Tuesday. The Red Raiders put together a scoring drive on the game's opening series and the Bulldogs played from behind the rest of the evening.
Texas Tech built itself a 10-0 lead through one quarter before State answered. Early in the second quarter, the Bulldogs constructed a 10-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a 17-yard touchdown pass from Will Rogers to Rara Thomas. That cut the State deficit to 10-7, but it ended up being MSU's lone score of the day.
The Red Raiders added a field goal later in the period to take a 13-7 lead into halftime, then added on after the intermission.
In the third quarter, Texas Tech found the end zone twice to increase its advantage to 27-7. A fourth quarter Red Raider touchdown capped the scoring.
Rogers led the Mississippi State offense with 282 passing yards with a touchdown. Along the way, he became MSU's new single-season record holder for total offense, eclipsing Dak Prescott's previous high. Rogers was selected as MSU's Outstanding Offensive Player of the Game.
Makai Polk also made history on Tuesday. He hit the 100-catch mark for the season, becoming only the fifth player in Southeastern Conference history to do so.
On the defensive side, Fred Peters was chosen as State's Outstanding Defensive Player of the Game. The safety finished the Liberty Bowl with a team-high 12 tackles, including a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup.
Team Stats
TTU 7, MSU 0
TTU - Brooks,Tahj 19 yd run (Garibay,Jonathan kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:20
TTU 10, MSU 0
TTU - Garibay,Jonathan 31 yd field goal 14 plays, 79 yards, TOP 06:24
TTU 10, MSU 7
MSU - Thomas,Rara 17 yd pass from Rogers,Will (Mccord,Nolan kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:55
TTU 13, MSU 7
TTU - Garibay,Jonathan 26 yd field goal 4 plays, 6 yards, TOP 00:18
TTU 20, MSU 7
TTU - Smith,Donovan 1 yd run (Garibay,Jonathan kick), 4 plays, 95 yards, TOP 01:00
TTU 27, MSU 7
TTU - Sparkman,J.J. 14 yd pass from Smith,Donovan (Garibay,Jonathan kick) 9 plays, 60 yards, TOP 04:04
TTU 34, MSU 7
TTU - Thompson,SaRodorick 1 yd run (Garibay,Jonathan kick), 8 plays, 85 yards, TOP 03:42
