What we learned about Mississippi State after second-straight loss

Mississippi State enters its bye week with concerns about depth, protection, and health after a tough loss to No. 5 Texas A&M.

Mississippi State Defensive Lineman Trevion Williams (#23) during the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Kyle Field in College Station, TX. | Mississippi State Athletics

Well, that wasn’t a very fun weekend for Mississippi State’s teams going against top 10 ranked teams.

Its soccer team lost to No.7 Arkansas, the volleyball team lost to No. 2 Texas and, perhaps most concerning, the football team lost to No. 5 Texas A&M.

What makes the Bulldogs’ 31-9 loss to the Aggies concerning is several reasons, two of the biggest being injuries and the offensive line’s overall performance.

After six weeks of games against all levels of competition from FCS to top tier SEC teams, we have a better understanding of how good this Mississippi State teams is.

And, yes, the last two weeks have been a reality check.

As we turn the page from the Aggies to the Bulldogs’ bye week, here are some final thoughts from Saturday’s game, as well as some thoughts about this week.

Injuries

The bye couldn’t come at a better time.

Every team suffers injuries, so Mississippi State having to deal with injured players isn’t surprising. The problem, though, is there isn’t a lot of depth to replace these injured players.

Albert Reese IV wasn’t available against Texas A&M and Luke Work started at right tackle. It didn’t go well and its clear the Bulldogs need Reese back.

The defense didn’t miss Isaac Smith as much as the offense missed Reese and I don’t know if one player would prevent the defense from getting worn out like it did. But Smith does make the defense a whole lot better when he’s on the field.

The biggest injury concern is Fluff Bothwell. The sophomore running back had to be carted off the field Saturday. He leads the team in rushing with 465 yards and six touchdowns.

Not much is known about the injury other than he was immediately taken into the locker room for x-rays.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, there’s no press conference scheduled (not a complaint, just a statement) and coach Jeff Lebby’s preference to let the Student-Athlete Availability Reports “do the talking” we may not know the full severity for a while.

However, I do think whenever the press conference is held this week, Bothwell’s status will be the first question asked and I do think Lebby will provide a real update.

But Mississippi State will be in big trouble if one, two or three of those players miss significant time.

Offensive line has a problem

Quarterback Blake Shapen has been sacked 10 times in the last two games. Considering Shapen’s injury history, that’s way too much.

Yes, injuries to both tackles that started the first game of the season has played a role. But one of the offseason goals was to get bigger and better on the offensive line.

We’ve already established this group is bigger. But the answer to “better” is starting to swing towards no.

It hasn’t been all bad. Canon Boone has started every game at center and Zack Owens has started every game at eighter left or right guard.

The Bulldogs did run for 203 yards against Tennessee and Shapen had only been sacked six times in the first four games.

But when the broadcast is able to show multiple times Texas A&M defenders have a free lane to rush Shapen, the problems go beyond injuries.

Luckily, fixing pass blocking assignment mistakes is fixable and Mississippi State has two weeks to work on it.

Penalties

I touched on this yesterday, so won’t spend a lot of time repeating that, but Mississippi State must continue to play disciplined like it did Saturday.

The Bulldogs, the second-most penalized team in FBS, had just three penalties against the Aggies.

Considering the other issues, Mississippi State can’t afford to also fight itself.

Defensive line play

I thought the defensive line played great against Texas A&M. They didn’t record a whole lot of stats, but they were disruptive.

The Bulldogs spent plenty of time in the Aggies’ backfield and it showed in the first half when Marcel Reed was off-target and off-rhythm.

After the struggles of this unit last season, it’s great to see it having some success.

The one caveat: it’s been four and a half games since Will Whitson has played in a game and he still leads the team in tackles for a loss and is tied for the lead in sacks.