South Alabama falls to Mississippi State 35-3

South Alabama couldn't take advantage of early opportunities and had problems catching the ball. That was the story of the game for the Jags.

Mississippi State's Dak Prescott was all of the story the Bulldogs needed on the other hand.

Brandon Bridge went 21-of-39 for 203 yards and an interception before he gave way to Matt Floyd. Bridge's teammates had problems helping him as they kept dropping passes. Combine that with only 57 yards on 27 rushes and the Jags had problems offensively.

The Jags opened the game with strong play, even driving deep into Bulldog territory twice but the MSU defense held the Jags to one field goal and partially blocked another attempt.

Prescott added a 40-yard touchdown in the third quarter, the only score of the second half, as both teams substituted liberally in the final stanza. The Jaguar offensive line was hampered by the absence of right tackle Chris May's absence in the second half. He left early last week when he suffered a concussion against Kent State.

But South Alabama sent a new attendance record with 38,129 and their first sellout in their five-plus season history.

South Alabama finished the game with 345 total yards of offense, 288 through the air. Mississippi State's offense racked up 514 yards against the Jaguar defense, 288 of them on the ground on 45 carries.

South Alabama will open Sun Belt Conference play next Saturday when they host Georgia Southern for a 6:30pm kick. That game can be seen on ESPN3.