5 takeaways from Mike Leach-led Mississippi State upset of LSU in Death Valley

by 24USATVSept. 27, 2020, 3:01 a.m. 127
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The question was whether Leach could implement the Air Raid offense at a place like Mississippi State, where running the football has been as much of a cultural identity item as the shrimp gumbo you can find at plenty of eateries around Tiger Stadium.

The knee-jerk answer is yes.

Mississippi State shredded No. 5 LSU through the air in a 44-34 upset victory Saturday afternoon. The only things that died in Death Valley was the Bulldogs’ old way of operating an offense and perhaps LSU's chances of defending its national championship.

"We played together as a team," Leach said. "We didn't play perfect. We weren't necessarily consistent, but we did play together. Kept pushing one another. We never emotionally backed off our focus to go out there and play."

Here are 5 takeaways from Mississippi State’s win.

Welcome to the Mississippi State record book, K.J. Costello.

In his first game in maroon and white, the graduate transfer from Stanford broke Dak Prescott’s single-game passing yards record. Prescott threw for 509 yards against Arkansas in 2015. Costello threw for a staggering 623 yards on 36-of-60 attempts against LSU on Saturday.

Mississippi State threw the ball early and often, as Leach offenses have at every stop he’s been to. The SEC, though, has quite literally never seen an attack quite like Leach’s Air Raid. Not only did Costello break the MSU single-game passing record, he broke the SEC’s mark too.

Costello passed Georgia’s Eric Zeir, whose record of 544 passing yards stood since 1993. A new day has donned in the SEC. Costello couldn't quite fathom it in his post-game press conference.

"I don't know if any individual could visualize this taking place," he said.

…but an up and down day, too

It wasn’t all good for Costello.

His first interception of the day was a pick-6 that gave LSU a 7-3 lead in the second quarter. His second set up the Tigers to score three plays later. LSU cut the Mississippi State lead to 34-31 with junior quarterback Myles Brennan’s 33 yard pass to junior wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr.

On Mississippi State’s next drive, Costello fumbled in his own territory. LSU recovered and tied the game at 34 with a field goal shortly thereafter. Costello nearly gave the ball away on Mississippi State’s ensuing possession but his fumble was ruled an incomplete pass after review.

When one player is asked to do so much for the offense, though, mistakes are bound to happen. Mississippi State only ran the ball 16 times for a total of nine yards. Five of those were Costello’s own rushing attempts, most of which were sacks. Costello finished with -38 yards.

All things considered, Leach liked the way Costello played.

"I thought his composure in this game was outstanding," Leach said. "We had our share of adversity and just slugged through it. Everybody was in there and stuck with one another."

Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett said the strength of his defense would have to be the experience on the line and in the linebacking corps.

His players proved him right.

Mississippi State put constant pressure on Brennan, who was making his first career start. The Bulldogs racked up seven sacks and were largely responsible for the Tigers’ struggles on third down. LSU went 5-of-17 on the money down.

Senior defensive end Marquiss Spencer led the way with 2.0 sacks. Senior linebacker Erroll Thompson and junior linebacker Tyrus Wheat had one, and senior defensive end Kobe Jones and sophomore Nathan Pickering combined on one to register half a sack each.

Sophomores Aaron Brule and Jaden Crumedy also had a sack apiece.

"It's the heart," Brule said. "People like Kobe Jones, Erroll. They lead everybody. I follow them. As much as I'd love to be a leader, I love to lead, but I follow those guys that have been here the longest.

Costello couldn’t shatter records without capable wide receivers to throw to. He had plenty of them Saturday.

Three different Bulldogs posted 100 or more receiving yards. Seniors Osirus Mitchell and JaVonta Payton led the wideouts with seven catches for 183 yards and six receptions for 122 yards, respectively.

Senior running back Kylin Hill was as advertised out of the backfield with eight catches for 158 yards, including a 75 yard receiving touchdown on a one-play possession that gave Mississippi a 27-24 lead in the third quarter.

Ten different Bulldogs caught passes from Costello – even sophomore offensive lineman Kwatrivous Johnson. Yes, Johnson caught a ball batted down at the line of scrimmage to get his name in the box score.

"We knew this was the type of offense we were going to have just from the practices, all the workouts we had, how everybody bought in," Mitchell said. "So we knew it was going to be something special."

Mississippi State’s win was the Bulldogs third in the last 30 years in Death Valley. Prescott led the program to a victory in Baton Rouge in 2014. The Bulldogs last notched a win at Tiger Stadium in 1991 before that.

"The coaches around the facility were playing that video of Dak like all week," Mitchell said.

Only 21,124 people were on hand to see the upset because of COVID-19 restrictions. Had Death Valley been at full capacity, maybe it would have been a different story. But the Bulldog don’t control what happens off the field. They can only control what happens on it.

And boy did they ever do that.

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