Long after he no longer wears maroon, white and cowbell, Dak Prescott will live in the nightmares of LSU fans forever. A year after he used a trip to Death Valley as his personal coming out party, the Mississippi State signal caller led a valiant comeback that ended in a missed 52-yard field goal as time expired as No. 14 LSU hung on to beat the 25th-ranked Bulldogs 21-19 in Starkville.
Prescott completed 34-of-51 passes for 336 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions on the night.
LSU controlled the game early, leading 14-0 in the first quarter and 21-6 entering the fourth quarter, but Mississippi State marched 87 yards in 14 plays, capped by a one-yard Prescott run, to pull within 21-13, and then moved 82 yards in six snaps, this time punctuated by a five-yard toss from Prescott to De’Runnya Wilson. Prescott’s two-point conversion pass, however, fell incomplete.
The Bulldogs forced a punt on the ensuing possession, the eighth such ending in LSU’s last nine drives, and then moved 55 yards in nine plays, but a costly delay of game penalty forced a 52-yard Devon Bell field goal on the game’s final snap, which sailed wide right.
Brandon Harris earned the start for LSU, completing 9-of-14 passes for 71 yards with no turnovers. But it was Leonard Fournette that carried the Bayou Bengals, accounting for the Tigers’ only points on 28 carries for 159 yards.
LSU dominated the line of scrimmage the entire night, rushing for 266 yards to Mississippi State’s 43.
The win pushes LSU to 1-0 on the year and within the SEC, heading into an important - and winnable! - game against Auburn in Baton Rouge next week. The Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1 SEC) host Northwestern State next week.