Mississippi State Bulldogs

Mississippi State Report Card vs. UMass

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

OFFENSE

But there were numerous dropped balls, sloppy play and the offensive line missed so many blocks in the first half I’m not sure I can count that high.

Finally we saw what I assume Holloway has done in practice – break through the middle of the line for a long run. He did it a couple of times. That doesn’t mean we need to see it vs. SEC teams but at least he finally had a good game with 80 yards on 10 carries.

Really nice games from Fred Ross and Donald Gray. Gabe Myles has earned himself a seat on the bench with all the drops this year. Deddrick Thomas looked good in his place.

DEFENSE

All they really gave up in the first half was an 83 yard TD run and one drive mid-way through the 2nd quarter. The rest of the time it was three and outs. In the 2nd half they gave up a lot of yardage and let UMass get back into the game.

They did, however, get three turnovers. One was a pick-six.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Special teams are like officials. If we don’t notice them they did a good job. I’m okay with not getting any big returns so long as there aren’t any big mistakes. This game was pretty ho-hum.

COACHING

There are some personnel decisions I disagree with on offense and defense, but whatever. The real measure of this coaching staff with come over the next two weeks. The game against Auburn at Davis Wade on October 8th is HUGE. It’s another “must win” for MSU’s bowl chances, and the Dawgs have two weeks to prepare. They need to come out a lot sharper than they were in this game.