Missouri Tigers vs Mississippi State Bulldogs Match Player Stats On Dec 19, 2020

Will Rogers passed for 295 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Mississippi State Bulldogs past the visiting Missouri Tigers 51-32 on Saturday.

Jaden Walley caught five passes for 129 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs (3-7, 3-3 SEC), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Larry Rountree III rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers (5-5, 5-5), who lost their second straight game. Connor Bazelak passed for 225 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bulldogs intercepted him three times.

Mississippi State lost middle linebacker Erroll Thompson to a targeting call on the game's second play from scrimmage. That penalty propelled the Tigers to a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Rountree's 18-yard scoring run.

The Bulldogs tied the game 7-7 after Tigers punt returner Cade Musser muffed a fair catch attempt at the Missouri 11-yard line and long snapper Paul Blackwell recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

Mississippi State used a 62-yard scoring drive to take a 14-7 lead. Rogers completed a 32-yard pass to Walley and later found him on a 7-yard TD pass.

Brandon Ruiz's 40-yard field goal pushed the Bulldogs lead to 17-7. The Tigers got those points back with 33-yard field goal from Harrison Mevis.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 24-10 with Rogers completing all five pass attempts on the scoring drive, including a 37-yarder to Walley and a 7-yard touchdown pass to Osirus Mitchell.

Ruiz's 43-yard field goal put the Mississippi State up 27-10 at the half.

Mississippi State kept coming in the second half, opening with another 75-yard scoring drive to expand its lead to 34-10. This time Jo'Quavious Marks finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.

After Rogers fumbled the ball on the Mississippi State 14-yard line, Bazelak converted the turnover with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Keke Chism. Bazelak's 2-point conversion pass to Chism cut the Mississippi State lead to 34-18.

Mississippi State expanded its lead to 41-18 as Rogers hit Brad Cumbest with a 10-yard touchdown pass.

Ruiz made it 44-18 with a 35-yard field goal. The Tigers countered with a 75-yard drive capped by Rountree's 6-yard TD run to reduce their deficit to 44-25.

Emmanuel Forbes' interception and 29-yard touchdown return pushed the Bulldogs up 51-25.

Shawn Robinson, who started the season as Missouri's quarterback, picked off a pass as a fill-in safety. That led to Bazelak's 24-yard TD pass to Niko Hea.

--Field Level Media