Mississippi State ekes past shorthanded Vanderbilt

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Will Rogers threw for 226 yards and a touchdown, and Mississippi State’s defense combined for five turnovers to narrowly eke out a 24-17 victory over visiting Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Mississippi State (2-4, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) finally won its first home game under first-year coach Mike Leach after losing their first two attempts to Arkansas and Texas A&M last month.

Vanderbilt (0-5, 0-5) had 478 yards of total offense, more than twice Mississippi State’s total, but ultimately couldn’t overcome its turnover woes. Due to a crippling mix of COVID-19 infections, injuries and suspensions, the Commodores dressed only 58 scholarship players for the game. The SEC minimum is 53.

The Bulldogs led 17-0 at the half, but Ken Seals connected with Chris Piece for a two-yard score late in the third quarter to give the Commodores their first touchdown against Mississippi State since Oct. 11, 2008. Then Keyon Henry-Brooks found a seam in the middle of the field and broke a 27-yard touchdown run on the next drive, and just like that, Vanderbilt was knocking on the door.

But the Commodores’ next two drives? An interception and a fumble, both deep in Mississippi State territory. A few plays later Jo’quavious Marks punched the last of those turnovers in for another Bulldog touchdown, effectively ending the threat.

Rogers, a true freshman, was 35-of-46 in his first career start replacing senior Stanford transfer K.J. Costello at quarterback. Malik Heath had nine catches and 79 receiving yards to lead the team.

For Vanderbilt, Cam Johnson had a game-high 114 receiving yards on 10 catches. Pierce and Henry-Brooks combined for another 173 receiving yards, and Henry-Brooks rushed for 115 more.

THE TAKEAWAY

Vanderbilt: The hard-fought road loss may have been the Commodores last best chance to avoid a winless season. The schedule only gets harder from here.

Mississippi State: After beating defending national champion LSU in Baton Rouge to open the season, then losing four games in a row, Mike Leach finally got his team back in the win column. But there will be little to celebrate in Starkville on the offensive side of the ball. The Bulldogs racked up just 204 total yards and finished with -22 rushing yards.

UP NEXT

Vanderbilt heads to Kentucky on Saturday.

Mississippi State hosts Auburn on Saturday.

_____

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25