Mississippi State’s familiar problems surface in Duke’s Mayo Bowl loss

Kamario Taylor showed flashes of promise, but Mississippi State’s familiar issues proved too much in a Duke’s Mayo Bowl loss to Wake Forest.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons defensive back Jaxon Mull (12) celebrates his score against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Below you will find our main story written before the two-minute warning, but what happened at the end warrants mention.

Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor was carted off the field with a lower leg injury with 1:52 left in the Duke's Mayo Bowl and the Bulldogs trailing 43-29.

It's way too early to know how serious of an injury it is. We'll let that news break whenever it does.

But considering Taylor left the game three times previously with injuries and different ailments, questions will be asked why the most important Bulldog for the future of the program was taking hits in a bowl game that wasn't winnable.

That was a very awkward landing for Kamario Taylor. He walked off the field on his own, but at some point why risk a serious injury by playing him more?

— Mississippi State On SI (@DawgsonSI) January 3, 2026

We'll get into that storyline later, but for now, as the clock strikes zero, there's now a dark cloud above Starkville.

Original Story

Mississippi State received a gift of an opportunity to play in a bowl game and receive all the benefits that come with playing in a bowl game.

Let’s hope all the benefits other than winning a bowl game were productive for the Bulldogs.

Wake Forest didn’t dominate the Bulldogs, but made sure to showcase plenty of Mississippi State’s problems in a 43-29 win in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

• The Bulldogs defense gave up 150 rushing yards with a 4.5 yards per carry to the Demon Deacons;
• Quarterback Kamario Taylor was sacked four times;
• The offense managed 108 rushing yards on 40 carries (2.7 ypc); and
• The only defensive back for Mississippi State to have a good game was Kelley Jones because Wake Forest avoided throwing in his direction the entire game.

For anyone that’s watched all 12 games the Bulldogs have played this year, none of that was surprising.

Mississippi State has struggled to protect its quarterbacks and open up running lanes for the run game. The defense once again was one of the worst in the FBS at stopping run plays and opposing offenses targeted anyone other than Jones on pass plays.

It’s not all bad for the Bulldogs, though. They outgained Wake Forest in the first half with 205 yards of total offense. But they only had three field goals to show for it.

As far as the game goes, Mississippi State’s inability to turn any of those field goals into touchdowns is a big reason why it lost the game.

Big picture-wise, Taylor showed flashes of why there’s a lot of hype and optimism around his future in Starkville. He was able to run the ball well on designed runs and avoid big losses and sacks in the passing game.

Taylor also showed he has the arm strength to complete the big passes required in Jeff Lebby’s offense, especially on the first play of the game. Somewhat predictably, or at least unsurprisingly, Taylor threw a deep pass to Brenen Thompson on a go route for 51 yards. (Mississippi State has taken several big shots early in games this year.)

Taylor also showed his toughness and willingness to put his body on the line for Mississippi State. He left the game twice with cramps in his hands and once after landing awkwardly on his neck. But he came back to score a rushing touchdown while upside down.

Mississippi State made it a three-point game when Taylor completed a 42-yard pass to Sanfrisco Magee for a touchdown. But Wake Forest responded with a 10-play, 63-yard drive that ate up six minutes of game time.

The Bulldogs blocked the ensuing PAT and Jones returned it for two points, putting them down by just seven points instead of nine.

However, Mississippi State couldn’t take advantage. The Bulldogs lost seven yards on the first play of the next drive and a fourth-and-six try was prevented because of a delay of game penalty.

That forced the Bulldogs to punt and despite forcing a third-and-long, Wake Forest scored a 62-yard shovel pass touchdown to go ahead 43-29 and put the game away.

Biggest takeaway

The most important lesson we learned was more of a reinforcement of something already known: Mississippi State has to get better in the trenches.

The Bulldogs’ defense did better getting into Wake Forest’s backfield, but had to run a lot of blitzes to do so. Having more disruptive players on the defensive line would reduce the need for blitzes and, just as importantly, re-establish Mississippi State as D-Line University.

Offensively, the Bulldogs just need to get better. Blake Shapen took a beating in two seasons in Starkville. Taylor might be able to avoid more of those hits, but it’s not sustainable. Injuries do happen to even the best players.

Also, the run game needs to do better than 2.7 yards per carry. A better offensive line would give Fluff Bothwell a chance to run over defensive backs rather than linemen and linebackers.