Mississippi State races past Minnesota 38-13 with another clinic by rising star QB Kamario Taylor

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kamario Taylor passed for 227 yards and three first-half touchdowns to lead Mississippi State in a 38-13 takedown of Minnesota on Saturday in the first-ever football game between the two schools.

Fluff Bothwell rushed for 113 yards and two scores and Anthony Evans III had seven receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown as the Bulldogs (2-0) averaged 7 yards per play and put on another offensive clinic after beating Louisiana-Monroe 62-13 in their season opener.

Taylor, the rising star sophomore, completed 16 of 22 passes and ran 13 times for 86 yards for good measure to keep the Gophers (1-1) struggling to keep up all afternoon.

Drake Lindsey had 279 yards on 31-for-48 passing for the Gophers, who had 12 penalties accepted for 115 yards and converted just 4 of 13 third downs.

Running their offense without a huddle, the Bulldogs scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and needed just 33 plays and 12:05 of game time to do it in their first regular-season game against a Big Ten team since a 1980 win at Illinois.

The Gophers finally got a stop early in the third quarter and even scored while doing it, when a punt pinned the Bulldogs deep and linebacker Joey Gerlach broke through with a blitz off the edge that took down Taylor in the end zone and forced a fumble that Aydan West recovered to cut the deficit to 28-13.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have not cracked the AP Top 25 or had a winning season since 2022 when coach Mike Leach died of heart trouble, but Taylor has given third-year coach Jeff Lebby a potential program-changing star to build around. This dominant victory on the road against a Big Ten team that won 40 games over the last five years ought to give the Bulldogs a valuable boost of confidence before a daunting stretch of their schedule. Mississippi State plays five straight ranked opponents from Sept. 26-Oct. 31.

Minnesota: The program's first matchup with a Southeastern Conference team in a regular season since hosting Vanderbilt in 1959 quickly became an exhausting and exasperating experience for the defense. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Taylor was rarely pressured when he dropped back to pass and easily found room to run when he didn’t like the picture in front of him.

Mississippi State: Plays at South Carolina on Sept. 19 in its SEC opener.

Minnesota: Hosts Akron on Sept. 19 to finish the nonconference schedule.

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