STARKVILLE, Mississippi (AP) — In a season already full of upset wins by smaller teams, Mississippi State now has to go on the injured list.

Toledo came to Starkville and overwhelmed the home SEC team, while the Rockets rushed for 454 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 41-17 loss.

The Rockets scored on four of their five possessions in the first half and their defense held the Bulldogs to just three points, giving them a 28-3 halftime lead. MSU (1-2) has been outscored 55-6 in the first half by Arizona State and Toledo over the past two weeks.

“We are disappointed that we played and practiced in front of our home crowd and that our students performed the way they did,” said Bulldogs coach Jeff Lebby. “Nevertheless, we will compete here at home next Saturday morning at 11 a.m.”

It was not until the second half that the Bulldogs were able to gain more than 10 yards in the running game and the home team lost 454 to 385 against the Mid-American Conference school that evening. Toledo’s quarterback Tucker Gleason came into the game with a passer rating of 49%, but the Rockets’ signal caller completed 23 of 28 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns while running 10 times for 40 yards.

Jerjuan Newton had five catches, 62 yards and two touchdowns for Toledo (3-0).

The Bulldogs’ Blake Shapen finished the night completing 28 of 39 passes for 319 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and one fumble. The Bulldogs had 66 yards on the ground, with Johnnie Daniels leading the way with 59 yards on 10 carries.

Kevin Coleman Jr. finished the game with seven catches for 77 yards and a score. For the second week in a row, the majority of the offensive work was done in the second half.

“(Saturday) it was the bad plays. We were behind the chains, had trouble on 1st and 2nd downs and put ourselves in bad situations,” Lebby said. “We need to get started faster and that’s going to be a big focus as we head into the game this week. We didn’t come out and play the way we wanted to play and that dictated the rest of the game.”

In addition to State’s inability to stop the Rockets or move the ball consistently, penalties were a major problem. The Bulldogs were penalized eight times for 84 yards. MSU had two turnovers and was sacked five times.

The game marks the end of the non-conference schedule until November as the Bulldogs prepare for some of the toughest game in the SEC as they face Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Ole Miss in the coming months.

“We have to forget everything that happened – now we’re going into the SEC games,” said Shapen. “We can learn a lot in the last few weeks. We have to forget everything that happened before.”

THE BIG PICTURE

Mississippi State: It was a new low for the Bulldogs under new head coach Lebby. This game, which is clearly a rebuild, showed how far the Bulldogs still have to go. State was outplayed on both sides of the ball for four quarters in this embarrassing loss.

Toledo: Coach Jason Candle was part of the school’s first win over an SEC team when the Rockets beat Arkansas in 2015, and he did it again in Starkville. The Rockets are off to a great 3-0 start.

Next

Mississippi State: hosts Florida on Saturday.

Toledo: Travels to play Western Kentucky on Saturday.

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