Thursday night's match up between 2nd ranked LSU and unranked Mississippi State kicked off the SEC season in dramatic fashion. No, it was not even competitive. But it was southern football at it's finest, a rain-drenched, hard fought (initially) battle between classic foes.
The final score doesn't tell the whole story. MSU's defense played well early and LSU's offense struggled to find any kind of a rhythm, but the poor play of State quarterback Mike Henig gave the Tigers' offense ample opportunities to put together scoring drives. Factor in that new LSU Offensive Coordinator Gary Crowton did not really want to show his hand early with much tougher games coming up, and the Tiger's offensive flatness makes more sense.
While Matt Flynn did little to live up to the billing the LSU faithful had given him all off-season as the next great LSU quarterback, Henig made him look like a pro.
Henig finished the day 11 of 28 passing for 120 yards and 6 interceptions. The Tigers scored points after five of his interceptions and he also fumbled a snap on a fourth and 1 play in the first of only two trips into LSU territory.
It is hard to say anything positive about a team that fails to score even a field goal, but the MSU defense played with heart. Unfortunately heart was not enough on that fatal evening in Starkville.
Final Score 45-0
