Mississippi State at LSU: Thoughts at the half
Mississippi State and LSU just headed to halftime with the score 17-14 in favor of the Bulldogs as MSU has put the defending national champs on upset alert. Here are a few quick thoughts and notes from the first two quarters.
Will Rogers isn't there. If you missed it earlier, the Mississippi State backup quarterback didn't make the trip to Baton Rouge, sources confirmed to Cowbell Corner. No official word on why. It hasn't mattered yet, but Jalen Mayden is State's backup quarterback if it were to come to that at some point.
Zach Arnett's defense...Holy cow. OK, I'll admit it. I was skeptical this Mississippi State defense would be good. And it's only two quarters of defense, so the jury is certainly still out, but man oh man, what a start. The group gave up just 146 first-half yards and only seven points (the other seven LSU points of course came courtesy of a pick-six).
Cole Smith has to fix things. Mississippi State's center has had a rough half. No other way to look at it. To this point, the Bulldogs have gotten around it, but he and K.J. Costello have got to get on the same page or a bad snap or some other mistake could make a difference in a game like this. Really surprised he remained in the game.
K.J. Costello might have a record-breaking day. He's already completed 21 of his 36 passes for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns. He's well over halfway to beating Dak Prescott's single-game MSU record for passing yardage (508). What a day for the Air Raid already.
Newcomers...Wow. Tyrell Shavers scored the first MSU touchdown with a long reception. Linebackers Jordan Davis and Tyrus Wheat have looked like beasts defensively. There are others too, but man, this half really couldn't have went much better for Mississippi State. Will the Dogs hang on and shock the college football world? Let's see.
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