Mississippi State Destroys Vanderbilt In Nashville, Behind Will Rogers

We talked all week about Vanderbilt building off the close loss to South Carolina last weekend and coming out strong against Mississippi State. Well, you could throw that out the window after the first half, as the Bulldogs led 24-3. Another dreadful home performance from the Dores, and a nice little road victory for the Bulldogs.

We should've already known that Mike Leach was going to pass the football as much as he could against this Vanderbilt defense, I just didn't expect 57 attempts. Will Rogers was 41-57 for 385 yards and 4 TD's, as they routed Vanderbilt 45-6.

Will Rogers broke his own career streak, with 13 consecutive completions to start the game.

We knew the Dores would struggle in this game against the pass, but they really took the word "struggle" to a new level. The Bulldogs has 29 first downs on the night, compared to 5 from Vanderbilt. Think about this one for a second, Vanderbilt only rushed for 9 total yards in the game, as they again struggled to get anything going offensively. Mike Wright was 12-17 for 122 yards and 1 interception for the Commodores.

As for Mississippi State, they were coming off a 49-9 loss to Alabama last weekend, so trying to put up as many points as possible was expected. I honestly thought this was a game Vandy could hang in with, maybe taking it to the 4th quarter. Boy, was I wrong. It was a career night for Will Rogers, with his 4 TD's, leading the Bulldogs, who are now 4-3 on the season.

Tonight was the 17th straight SEC loss for Vanderbilt, as the bad play continues, under first year head coach Clark Lea. The only points Vanderbilt could muster today were two field goals, one from 27-yards and another from 41-yards. One positive to take away from the Vanderbilt defense is the two interceptions, which is the 4th straight game they've had multiple interceptions.

It's going to continue being a struggle for Vanderbilt, as Ken Seals is still injured, which leaves Mike Wright for the Dores. Things will get worse for the Vanderbilt defense next week, with Connor Bazelak and Missouri coming to town,

Mike Leach took the time to discuss his favorite Halloween candy after the game, so we know where his head was at postgame. This was a nice bounce-back performance from his team, after struggling to gain 1 yard against Alabama last weekend.

As for Mississippi State, they will host Kentucky next weekend, as they look to continue their strong passing game against a rested Wildcats defense.