STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2014 with a 38-10 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.
The Bulldogs navigated sloppy play for most of the game but pulled away late for the win. Mississippi State trailed 3-0 after the first possession and led just 14-10 going into halftime before outscoring the Huskies 17-0 in the second half.
The ground game is what got the Bulldogs there as they averaged nearly 6 yards per carry — 49 attempts for 292 yards — against a defense that has been stingy against the run. NIU (1-2) came into the game surrendering just 74 rushing yards per game, including holding Maryland under 100 a week ago.
Leading the charge on the ground for Mississippi State was South Alabama transfer Fluff Bothwell, who rushed 17 times for 101 yards. Davon Booth ran for two touchdowns, and Xavier Gayten had four carries for 45 yards and scored a late TD.
Blake Shapen was 12 of 20 for 160 yards and a touchdown and had 11 carries for 51 yards for the Bulldogs, who had 452 yards of total offense and overcame 11 penalties for 104 yards. Mississippi State was 4-for-4 on 4th down.
Josh Holst was 14-for-23 for 135 yards with a touchdown and an interception for NIU, which had 267 yards of total offense, including 125 on the ground. DeAree Rogers led the Huskies with six receptions for 84 yards and scored their lone touchdown.
Big picture
The Bulldogs have a major matchup with No. 15 Tennessee next week and Saturday looked the part of a trap game. Mississippi State woke up in the second half and got the job done to set up a big one against the Volunteers.
Northern Illinois has played spoiler before against Power Four opponents. On Saturday, the Huskies had everything fall into place in the first half to sniff an upset like they had last season against Notre Dame. This time, they came up short.
Up next
- Mississippi State hosts Tennessee on Saturday.
- Northern Illinois hosts San Diego State on Saturday.
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