Tigers fall in regular-season finale to Mississippi State 51-32

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Will Rogers threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns to lead Mississippi State to a 51-32 victory over Missouri on Saturday.

After weeks of floundering offensively, Mississippi State (3-7, 3-7 Southeastern Conference) finally got many of their young weapons working in tandem. The Bulldogs racked up 446 yards of total offense in the game, including a season-high 151 yards on the ground. Their previous high was 87 yards in a loss to Arkansas in the second game of the year.

Missouri (5-5, 5-5) logged 342 yards of total offense, but many of them after the outcome of the game was already decided, and they turned the ball over four times. This is the second-straight .500 finish for the Tigers.

Mississippi State led 27-10 at the half and Jo’quavious Marks punched in another score on the opening drive of the third quarter. Marks had 12 rushes for 70 yards. Jaden Walley led all receivers with five catches for 129 yards. Rogers was 21 of 36 and threw one interception.

For the Tigers, Conner Bazelak was 22 of 38 for 225 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Larry Rountree led all rushers with 121 yards and two touchdowns.

THE TAKEAWAY

Missouri: Eli Drinkwitz, the other first-year head coach in this game, finishes the season on a two-game losing streak, but is still ahead of schedule with a third-place finish in the SEC East and wins over Western Division foes LSU and Arkansas.

Mississippi State: If the Bulldogs can improve their running game enough to keep defenses honest, as they did tonight, the Air Raid might just be a winning ticket in the SEC. More than half of the team’s offensive production this year has come from true freshmen.

UP NEXT

Both teams are expected to receive bowl invites on Sunday.