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Despite an optimistic second half, Mississippi State fell to the Vanderbilt Commodores 25-23 during the 2026 Homecoming game, extending their losing streak to five games.
Trailing 16-0 at halftime, the Bulldogs scored 23 points in the second half and cut the deficit to two after a late touchdown pass from quarterback AJ Swann to wide receiver Sanfrisco Magee. But a failed two-point conversion attempt ended their chance to tie.
Vanderbilt opened the scoring on its second drive, marching 35 yards in five minutes and 30 seconds to take a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal by Brock Taylor, who was 6-for-6 on the night and accounted for 19 of Vanderbilt’s 25 points.
In the first half, starting quarterback AJ Swann completed seven of his 15 passes, threw an interception and gained 45 yards. Fluff Bothwell added six carries for 26 yards, 21 of which came on one carry on the first drive.
Going into halftime, the Bulldogs were outgained 181 yards to just 71.
Since the season-ending toe injury to quarterback Kamario Taylor, the Bulldogs have gone from averaging 39 points per game to six. In the post-game press conference, Head Coach Jeff Lebby remarked on his team’s offensive struggle.
“We right now are not making any of the layups,” Lebby said. “Everything for us is incredibly hard, and we can’t sustain anything, right now, which is really, really frustrating.”
In the first half, the Bulldogs offense had six drives, five of which were three-and-outs. In the post-game press conference, running back Fluff Bothwell expressed frustration with the offense, which had been receiving boo’s from the Bulldog fanbase.
“There’s going to be opinions, and we have the pen on how our season goes; we write our story,” Bothwell said. “And you know those guys in the locker room, those guys that are at the facility, in that building, we determine how the season is going to go.”
Bothwell struggled to get going in the run game, finishing with 14 carries for 50 yards on 3.6 yards per carry.
It was another “bend-but-don’t-break” performance from the Bulldogs defense, who had nine tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. The Bulldogs allowed only one touchdown, but the Commodores’ three first-half field goals gave them a 16-0 lead at the break.
Despite the overall solid performance, the Bulldogs’ defense struggled to stop the run, allowing Vanderbilt to blitz them for 160 yards to the Bulldogs 43.
Coming out of halftime, the Bulldogs found a new gear, forcing a three-and-out to start, followed by a 65-yard touchdown pass from Swann to Sanfrisco Magee. Three plays later, the Bulldogs scored again on a Tyshun Willis strip-sack, recovered by Will Whitson, who ran it in for a touchdown, making it 16-14.
To close out the third, the Bulldogs again got three consecutive three-and-outs, and Vanderbilt got two more field goals, making it 22-14.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs added a 26-yard field goal by Kyle Ferrie to cut the deficit to five. Vanderbilt answered on the next drive with another field goal, this one from 55, to make it 25-17.
In a last-gasp effort, Swann threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Magee, his second of the game, to make it 25-23. On the two-point conversion attempt, Swann’s pass sailed over the end zone, securing the Commodores’ victory and sending the Bulldogs to 4-5 overall and 2-5 in SEC play.
Swann finished the game 23-36 with 254 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
The Bulldogs need two wins in their final three games to clinch a bowl game appearance for the second consecutive year. The Bulldogs are home for the next two weeks, facing Auburn and Tennessee Tech before traveling to Oxford to face Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl.
Defensive lineman Will Whitson expressed optimism about bowl qualification in the post-game press conference.
“We got to just keep staying in the building, getting better, learn from our mistakes and just keep going,” Whitson said.
Lebby also has confidence in his team, but acknowledged that there is still work to be done.
“The message is at 11 a.m. we’re gonna go and kick the ball off,” Lebby said. “We’re gonna kick it right off here inside our stadium. And so we decide what we want that to look like, nobody else. So continue to quiet the noise and tighten the circle.”
Mississippi State faces the Auburn Tigers on Nov. 14, with kickoff slated for 11 a.m. on ESPN.
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