Baton Rouge, LA (SportsNetwork.com) – Taking on the nation’s eighth-ranked
team in front of a record crowd at one of college football’s most intimidating
venues wasn’t too much of a challenge for Dak Prescott and the Mississippi
State Bulldogs.
Prescott delivered a lights-out performance in the night air of Tiger Stadium,
throwing for two touchdowns and running for another as the Bulldogs shocked
LSU with a 34-29 win that put Mississippi State back on the national map.
Mississippi State (4-0, 1-0 SEC) racked up 570 total yards and held the Tigers
to a 2-of-13 success rate on third downs en route to its first victory in the
series since 1999 — and first in Baton Rouge in 23 years. The Bulldogs led
34-10 early in the fourth quarter, then held on after LSU scored 19 unanswered
points over the final 13 minutes.
Prescott and running back Josh Robinson were major reasons why. The junior
quarterback completed 15-of-24 attempts for 268 yards and ran for 105 more on
22 carries, with Robinson chipping in a career-high 197 yards and a touchdown
on 16 rushes.
Jameon Lewis added 116 yards and a touchdown on five catches to help the
Bulldogs halt a 14-game losing streak to LSU. De’Runnya Wilson had four
receptions for 91 yards and a TD.
Backup quarterback Brandon Harris connected on two late touchdown passes to
Malachi Dupre to get LSU (3-1, 0-1) within striking distance, but had a Hail
Mary heave intercepted at the goal line as time expired as the Tigers’ 11-game
home win streak came to an end.
Dupre accumulated 120 yards on four catches and Travin Dural had 124 on six
receptions for the Tigers. Anthony Jennings finished with 157 yards on 13-
of-26 passing.
The announced attendance of 102,321 seemed to energize the visiting Bulldogs,
who held LSU without a first down on its first two drives while reaching the
end zone on their initial series.
Prescott went 4-for-4 on the opening sequence, a 6-play, 51-yard progression
which began with Malcolm Johnson’s 25-yard catch-and-run deep into LSU
territory and ended with Wilson outmuscling a Tiger defender for a 9-yard
touchdown grab with just over four minutes elapsed.
Sparked by Dupre’s 44-yard snare of a deep option pass by running back
Terrence Magee, LSU moved inside the Mississippi State 5-yard line on its
third possession of the night. The Bulldogs stuffed three straight running
plays, however, before Richie Brown stoned Jennings on a read option to turn
the Tigers over on downs.
The Bulldogs then stunned the Tigers with three straight big plays — a 26-
yard catch from Wilson, a 23-yard run by Robinson and Prescott’s down-the-seam
bullet to Wilson that resulted in a 44-yard gain to the LSU three. Robinson
powered in on the next snap to cap a 98-yard march and put Mississippi State
up 14-0 at the end of one quarter.
After another LSU drive went nowhere, Robinson broke loose up the middle for
a 66-yard run that ultimately set up Evan Sobiesk’s 27-yard field goal with
9:26 left in the half.
The Tigers were able to close the gap a bit prior to the intermission, as a
pair of Jennings completions to Dural led to Colby Delahoussaye’s 30-yard
field goal that trimmed the lead to 17-3.
LSU, which overcame a 17-point second-half deficit against Wisconsin in its
season opener, appeared primed to make another comeback when Kwon Alexander
stripped Prescott on the first play of the third quarter and Danielle Hunter
returned the fumble 25 yards for a touchdown that brought the capacity crowd
to its feet.
The momentum was short-lived, though. Just over two minutes after Hunter’s
score, Prescott busted through the line on a quarterback draw and eluded two
defenders en route to a stunning 56-yard touchdown run that restored the
Bulldogs’ 14-point advantage.
Prescott came through with another highlight-reel play on Mississippi State’s
next trip. The dual-threat quarterback side-stepped pressure on a 3rd-and-7,
rolled to his left, and hit a wide-open Lewis in stride for a 74-yard
touchdown and a commanding 31-10 lead with 9:35 remaining in the third
quarter.
LSU’s offense continued to sputter, and the Bulldogs increased the margin to
34-10 by putting together a 16-play, 88-yard drive capped by Sobiesk’s 28-yard
field goal 11 seconds into the fourth quarter.
A 49-yard strike from Jennings to Dural on the following possession positioned
Kenny Hilliard for a 1-yard run that jump-started the Tigers’ late rally.
Harris got LSU closer by hitting Dupre in stride down the left sideline for a
31-yard score with 1:55 left to play, though the Bulldogs prevented the 2-
point try to make it a 34-22 spread.
Mississippi State’s next offensive trip then resulted in disaster, as a high
shotgun snap sailed over Prescott’s head and LSU’s Dwayne Thomas recovered at
the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line. Dupre came down with a 30-yard catch in traffic
two plays later to suddenly pull the Tigers within 34-29 after the 2-point
attempt was again unsuccessful.
LSU got the ball back at its own 20 with 20 seconds to go and got as far as
the Mississippi State 46 before the Bulldogs’ Will Redmond picked off Harris’
final desperation heave.
Game Notes
LSU had a 24-game home winning streak in September snapped and lost for only
the fourth time in 47 night games at Tiger Stadium under Miles, who had been
9-0 all-time against the Bulldogs … Including the 2013 Liberty Bowl,
Mississippi State has amassed over 500 yards of offense in five straight games
… Robinson became the first Bulldogs running back to run for over 100 yards
against LSU since Anthony Dixon in 2009 … Harris went 6-of-9 for 140 yards
in relief of Jennings.
