South Alabama stuns Mississippi State 21-20 after missed FG

Mississippi State put up more yards than South Alabama, 382 to 379, but the Jaguars dominated the time of possession, holding onto the ball for a total of 36:41.

“We just didn’t execute real well at times”, he said.

Mississippi State knew 2016 would be somewhat of a rebuilding season – after all, the Bulldogs lost the best player in school history in Dak Prescott and several key contributors off last season’s 9-4 team. “We didn’t start as fast as we wanted, but we dang sure finished strong”.

South Alabama travels one state over as a big underdog, and looks to pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets of the early season thus far. The Mississippi State Bulldogs dropped their 2016 season opener 21-20 to the visiting South Alabama Jaguars on Saturday afternoon earning themselves an 0-1 start to the year with a brutal home loss out of the gate.

Two days after Appalachian State – another Sun Belt program – nearly toppled No. 9 Tennessee before losing in overtime, South Alabama kicked off a season that follows a year full of wild endings.

Multiple Jaguars said they weren’t surprised at the outcome – even if most everyone else was.

“They didn’t show us anything spectacular on film for us to change our gameplan”, Everett said.

South Alabama coach Joey Jones said he was proud to give the Sun Belt a high-profile non-conference victory.

Preseason camp wasn’t kind to Mississippi State’s veteran cornerbacks.

South Alabama sophomore Gavin Patterson clanked a 25-yard field-goal attempt off the right upright with seven seconds left in the half.

The fourth-down pass completion culminated the Jaguars’ comeback from a 17-0 halftime deficit.

MULLEN’S A VETERAN: Mississippi State’s coach Mullen is entering his eighth season with the Bulldogs, which makes him the third-longest tenured coach in the league behind LSU’s Les Miles and Alabama’s Nick Saban.