Mississippi State went on the road and put up a great fight against the nation's top-ranked team, Texas. However, the Bulldogs ultimately fell 35-13 to the Longhorns.
MSU was within eight points late in the third quarter before Texas got a late score in the period ahead of a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. made his first career start for State, threw for 144 yards and ran for a touchdown, and running backs Johnnie Daniels and Davon Booth combined to rush for 134 yards. Meanwhile the MSU defense limited Texas to only 14 points until the final play of the third quarter to give the Bulldogs a chance at victory. But Texas signal caller Arch Manning ran and passed for scores down the stretch and Longhorn running back Isaiah Bond also found the end zone to turn away State's hopes.
Kyle Ferrie hit a pair of second-quarter field goals to keep MSU step-for-step with Texas in the first half. The Bulldog kicker connected from 45 and 32 yards out, and as a result, State trailed just 14-6 at halftime. That score held until Manning's one-yard touchdown rush to conclude the third quarter.
Texas then gave itself a bit more cushion on a 27-yard scoring toss from Manning early in the fourth. Van Buren later answered with a 12-yard touchdown run to pull State closer, but it wasn't enough for the Dawgs.
Next Up for MSU…
Mississippi State will have a weekend off before a road game at Georgia on Saturday, October 12. Both the TV network and kickoff time for the contest will be announced at a later date, however the game will start in a window somewhere between 2:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.