MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Calvin Austin scored three second-half touchdowns including a questionable 94-yard punt return in the fourth quarter as Memphis rallied for a 31-29 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday.
The victory and Austin’s punt return culminated a wild final three-plus minutes that included onside kicks, penalties and reviews, such as whether Austin could return the punt on which he scored or if the ball was dead.
In the end, Memphis (3-0) escaped with the victory culminated by a 51-yard field goal from Tiger kicker Joe Doyle with 2:02 left. A two-play drive from Mississippi State (2-1) after the field goal was capped by a 36-yard touchdown from quarterback Will Rogers to Makai Polk. But Rogers run for the two-point conversion failed, preserving the Memphis victory.
Austin scored on a pair of passes from Seth Henigan – of 21 and 25 yards — before his punt return with 5:36 left. On the play, a Mississippi State player knocked the ball back into the field of play at the goal line.
As the ball was lying on the turf, Austin picked up the ball and headed down the right sideline, the speedster outrunning the surprised Bulldog defenders. That gave Memphis a 28-17 lead.
The Bulldogs would score with just more than three minutes left in the game on a pass from quarterback Rogers to Malik Heath. But the final Mississippi State touchdown pass from Rogers to Polk wasn’t enough as Memphis overcame a 17-7 halftime deficit.
Rogers completed 50 of 67 passes for 419 yards and three touchdowns.
The Tigers who entered the game averaging 48.5 points and 633.5 yards of offense in the first two games, never got its big-play components untracked early.
In the first half, Mississippi State played ball control with long scoring drives that kept the Tiger offense off the field for long stretches. Rogers’ command of the offense with short, controlled passes and success on third down gave the Bulldogs a 17-7 halftime lead.
Memphis held the ball for only 6:44 of the first half, translating to 89 yards of offense. In fact, the only Memphis score of the half came from the defense as Sanchez Blake scooped up a fumble by Mississippi State’s Jo’Quavious Marks and took it 49 yards for a touchdown.
Still, a 21-yard pass from Henigan to Austin pulled Memphis within 17-14 in the third quarter.
THE TAKEAWAY
MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Bulldogs started fast, but the offense struggled early in the third quarter and into the fourth. The offensive punch came back late in the game, but Mississippi State fell short when the final two-point conversion failed.
Memphis: While the Tigers struggled early in the game, Austin was electrifying after halftime with his receiving and the punt return. The victory kept Memphis 3-0 as it heads into American Athletic Conference play.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State: Entertains LSU on Saturday, the Bulldogs first Southeastern Conference game.
Memphis: Host Texas at San Antonio next Saturday, the last non-conference game before entering American Athletic Conference play the rest of the season.
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