South Alabama gets biggest win in program history, upsets Mississippi State 21-20

Mississippi State’s first game in the post-Dak Prescott era ended with a clank.

After South Alabama took a one-point lead with 57 seconds left, MSU marched down the field into what looked like easy game-winning field goal range. It wasn’t. Westin Graves’ 28-yard field goal bounced off the upright with five seconds left and South Alabama held on for a 21-20 upset in Starkville.

	Dr. Saturday @YahooDrSaturday
Here’s the Mississippi State miss. USA wins 21-20. pic.twitter.com/j06nVaWrhk 12:27 PM - 3 Sep 2016

The game started off well enough for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State led 17-0 and had a 20-7 lead entering the fourth quarter. Things fell apart from there as they tend to do when defenses give up 99-yard drives.

South Alabama went 99 yards in 10 plays in a drive that started in the third quarter and ended in the fourth. It was capped by a four-yard TD run by running back Tyreis Thomas, who started the drive with a 37-yard scamper.

QB Dallas Davis, who threw for 285 yards, tossed the go-ahead touchdown to wide receiver Gerald Everett with less than a minute left. That drive started after Graves missed a 46-yard field goal with 6:03 left. Had it gone in, USA would have been forced to score twice to take the lead.

 

South Alabama QB Dallas Davis threw for 285 yards and two TDs. (AP Photo)

It’s the first win for a Sun Belt team over an SEC opponent since 2013, when Western Kentucky knocked off Kentucky on the season’s opening weekend. And it’s safe to say that it’s the biggest win in South Alabama history.

2016 is the Jaguars’ fifth year at the FBS level and only once – in 2014 – has USA gone to a bowl. That game, a loss, came on the heels of a 6-6 season that included a 35-3 loss to Mississippi State.

MSU QB Damian Williams finished the game 20-28 passing for just 143 yards and a touchdown. While he led the team in rushing with 12 carries for 93 yards, his longest completion was 19 yards. It’s hard to take teams’ attention off the running game when you can’t go down the field.

Without Prescott, the team’s all-time leading passer and presumed Week 1 starter for the Dallas Cowboys in Tony Romo’s absence, this season was already set to be a rebuilding year in Starkville. It’s now fair to wonder if the construction project is bigger than anticipated.

MSU brought back 11 starters but also lost four of its starting front seven on defense from a year ago. South Alabama didn’t turn the ball over on Saturday and held the ball for nearly 37 minutes. No turnovers and two-thirds of the game spent on the field probably won’t work vs. South Carolina in Week 2 and definitely not against LSU in Week 3.