COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Even though Mississippi State found itself down in the second half, the Bulldogs were able to shift some momentum to their side.
The Bulldogs were looking to get back in the game against Texas A&M and were driving and looking for points, but fumbles ended drives and squashed all hope for MSU.
At the beginning of the second half, junior wide receiver De’Runnya Wilson hauled in a pass from Dak Prescott and got as far as 17 yards from the line of scrimmage before Donovan Wilson forced it out and and fumbled the recovery. The Aggies converted the turnover into a Taylor Bertolet 24-yard field goal to increase their lead to 27-10 with 10 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
On the next drive for the Bulldogs, redshirt freshman running back and former West Point standout Aeris Williams rushed for 10 yards to set the Bulldogs up with a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line. But on the very next play, Williams fumbled and the Aggies took over, squandering a good chance to score from MSU.
In the end, turnovers doomed the No. 21 Bulldogs as they fell 30-17 to No. 14 Texas A&M at Kyle Field.
“All the little things you have to do to win a game, we didn’t do them,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said. “You’re just not going to win that way, it’s just not going to happen.”
Entering the contest, the Bulldogs had fumbled the ball six times and lost five of them. MSU was minus-2 in the turnover margin, as the Bulldogs had not recovered a fumble and only had three interceptions.
In the only other two Southeastern Conference games MSU has played this season against LSU and Auburn, the Bulldogs had turned the ball over just once. That came last week at Auburn when Gus Walley lost a fumble. Will Redmond intercepted a Sean White pass in the first quarter last week for the only forced turnover by the Bulldogs in SEC play.
Last season, MSU was even in the turnover margin as they finished with a 10-3 overall record and a 6-2 mark in SEC play.
“It’s just another game where I think we stopped ourselves,” Prescott said. “Nothing they were doing that was stopping us or making it hard to move the ball, we were just making self-inflicted mistakes.”
MSU only managed 406 yards of total offense – 210 passing and 196 rushing.
Along with the miscues on offense, the Bulldogs also had five three-and-outs. The biggest one came right before halftime. MSU’s defense was able to hold A&M to a Bertolet missed 49-yard field goal with 1:58 remaining in the first half. On the ensuing drive, MSU ran the ball once and Prescott threw two incomplete passes and the Bulldogs were forced to punt.
Texas A&M started at its own 36-yard line, but marched 64 yards on five plays in just 54 seconds to score a touchdown. Tra Carson scored a 1-yard touchdown and the Aggies led 24-10 at intermission.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs shook off the miscues and Prescott scored a 5-yard touchdown with 12:24 remaining to pull the Bulldogs within 10 at 27-17.
The MSU defense held on the next A&M drive, but the Bulldog offense went three-and-out again and the Aggies stretched the lead to 13 with a 30-yard Bertolet field goal.
The Bulldogs tried to rally two years ago in College Station. They trailed 51-27 early in the fourth quarter, but scored two touchdowns down the stretch to only lose 51-41.
Prescott completed 20 of 34 passes for 210 yards. He rushed for 96 yards on a season-high 18 carries and the lone touchdown.
The Aggies took an early 7-0 lead when Kyle Allen found Ricky Seals-Jones for a 1-yard touchdown. The Aggies totaled 516 yards of offense – 322 passing and 194 rushing. Allen completed 25 of 41 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 65 yards on 12 carries.
MSU got a 38-yard field goal from Westin Graves on its first possession, but Allen found Damion Ratley for a 29-yard touchdown and Bertolet hit a 55-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 17-3 with 13:11 left in the first half.
MSU redshirt freshman Malik Dear scored a 52-yard touchdown with 11:33 left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 17-10.
The Aggies never turned the ball over.
“They did all the things they needed to do to win the game, all the things we didn’t do that you need to do to win football games,” Mullen said. “They played better than we did and when that happens, they’re going to win the the football game.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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