Unsolved Mystery

Mississippi State is trying to play match with its team. The Bulldogs defense showed up the two games against SEC competition, but could not seem to get the big stops against Tulane. Tulane's offense scored early and often and was able to hold off the Bulldogs late rally.

The Bulldogs made a change at quarterback midway threw the second quarter. Omarr Conner switched rolls and sparked the Bulldog offense to the tone of 29 points.

"Coach McCorvey had been telling me all week to stay in tune with the offense. Before the game, I asked him about a read on a coverage. I had a feeling that I was going to go in today. I just tried to make plays, because that is what we needed.

"We can click, it's just going to come down to who can make plays. We have to keep putting it together, some of the guys seen what they can do tonight. We scored 20 points in half.

"I'm at home at quarterback, that's the position that got me here. I just listened to what the coaches were trying to tell me. I had to be patient and let the game come to me," Conner said.

Derek Pegues was one of the bright spots for the Bulldogs. He had some big returns to help the Bulldogs out with field position.

"I played pretty good on special teams. At the end of the game, I almost cost my team the game by bringing the ball out of the end zone. The guys blocked good and I just hit the seams," Pegues commented.

The defense of the Bulldogs ran into some problems against the Tulane offense. Critical mistakes were made in the secondary that eventually cost the Bulldogs the game.

"The defense didn't play up to our expectation today. We did not play at the level that we have the last two weeks. We did not take them lightly; we were not ready to play. We came out flat. We had them in situations on third downs and I blew a coverage on one pass. I looked at the quarterback too long and the guy got behind me. That is unacceptable on my part. We have to pick it up, we have to get back out there and practice with a sense of urgency. We have to expect to win every game, and play every team the same way we played Auburn and South Carolina. We didn't match their level of intensity," Pegues explained.