Shapen, Mississippi State take control from the outset and dominate Alcorn State 56-0

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State scored on its first four possessions to jump out to a big lead and roll Alcorn State 63-0 on Saturday.

The win got the Bulldogs to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2018 with it being the first shutout since 2017 by the MSU defense.

The Bulldog offense was efficient all game but especially with its starting unit as Blake Shapen went 10 for 14 for 173 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Shapen threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Mosley on the second play of the game and it was all Bulldogs from there.

“There will be a ton of things to clean up, but I loved our energy,” head coach Jeff Lebby said. “I thought that part of it was probably the best. We didn’t execute well at times offensively, but defensively we were able to create turnovers and take advantage of it to be able to get away with a win.”

It was the best game of the year on the ground for the Bulldogs as the team rushed for 282 yards and had 7.8 yards on the ground.

Fluff Bothwell also helped set the tone offensively as the sophomore running back rushed 12 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns before hitting the bench late in the second quarter.

“It felt good getting fed early,” Bothwell said. “Really I was just trying to improve on last week and be more detailed in the run game and get better every week.”

Anthony Evans led the team with four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown while returning three punts for 97 yards. Brenen Thompson had two catches for 52 yards and a score fresh off of his breakout performance against Arizona State.

Freshman quarterback Kamario Taylor wowed the fans in the first quarter getting a toss from Shapen and throwing a 42-yard score to Thompson. Taylor finished 2 of 3 for 46 yards and the passing score and rushed three times for 40 yards. Former Florida State QB Luke Kromenhoek had his first touchdown as a Bulldog.

The Bulldogs (2-0) outgained the Braves 514-155 with a 282-68 edge on the ground. MSU was 4 of 6 on 3rd downs and 2 of 2 on 4th down while averaging 9.5 yards per play. The defense forced three turnovers.

Even during the dominant win, Lebby wasn’t satisfied.

“There was still a lot of frustrations on those first few drives,” Lebby said. “Like the first play of the game... Blake getting hit and shouldn’t have been touched. On the fourth drive, he gets hit and that should have never happened. Those are things that we’ve got to clean up and he can’t take unnecessary shots, but I did love our guys’ energy. I thought our guys were really focused on doing their job and taking advantage of the moment.”

BIG PICTURE:

Alcorn State: The Braves got a nice check from Mississippi State.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs got an emotional win a week ago against Arizona State and were due a letdown. It was an FCS opponent, but the Bulldogs handled themselves the right way, got a blowout win and appear to come away relatively healthy.

UP NEXT:

Alcorn State has a bye week before traveling to Arkansas Pine-Bluff on September 27.

Mississippi State hosts Northern Illinois on September 20.

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