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Over the past week, Memphis was fond of saying that Thursday night's game against No. 20 Mississippi State would give a good indication about how much the program has progressed.
The apparent answer? Not much.
Mississippi State hammered Memphis 59-14 at the Liberty Bowl, rolling up a school-record 645 total yards in the process. The Tigers were down 31-7 by halftime and never made the game competitive.
It was a brutal start to Memphis coach Larry Porter's second season.
''I don't want to hit a panic button, because I do feel as though there is more continuity in our defense this season,'' Porter said. ''But, again, we can't sustain the big plays that we gave up.''
Mississippi State's Vick Ballard was responsible for many of them, needing just 10 carries to rush for 166 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs dominated from the start, gaining 405 total yards in the first half. Things slowed down a little after that, but the Tigers were already on their way to an embarrassing loss.
''A lot of big plays, which is great,'' Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said. ''I love big plays. I love all those explosive plays. I want us to be a little cleaner. What we've got to do is keep all the positives out of this game, and clean up on the negatives as we continue to move forward.''
Ballard had touchdown runs of 46 and 66 yards in the first half. He added a 1-yard touchdown early in the third quarter and averaged 16.6 yards per carry against the Tigers' porous defense. The 5-foot-11, 220-pound senior has rushed for three touchdowns in five of his 13 career games.
Ballard took some heat on Twitter earlier on Wednesday after sending out a tweet that he might end up on a crime show for ''murdering Memphis.'' After the game, he said has wasn't trying to stir up trouble and that he meant the tweet as a joke.
But it was hard to deny he certainly inflicted some pain on the Tigers. After the game, he said he didn't realize the 166 rushing yards were a career high.
''Really?,'' Ballard said. ''I didn't even know. I was just out there doing my job.''
Relf completed 13 of 21 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns for MSU. He also rushed for 51 yards. Jameon Lewis caught four passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.
Mississippi State (1-0) has won 12 straight against Memphis (0-1), dating back to 1993.
Mississippi State announced two hours before the game that five players would be suspended for a variety of offseason rules violations, including starting defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.
But the Bulldogs didn't need the help, rolling up and down the field with regularity.
Mississippi State has aspirations of competing in the loaded Southeastern Conference Western Division, which has five of six teams ranked. The Bulldogs certainly looked the part on Thursday, but Memphis was so bad it was hard to tell exactly what that meant. MSU's starters were out of the game by midway through the third quarter.
The Tigers were looking for some optimism after a dismal 1-11 season in 2010 under first-year head coach Larry Porter. But none was in sight as Memphis looked woefully overmatched and undisciplined from the start, with four penalties in the first nine offensive plays.
It never got much better.
The Memphis offense didn't cross midfield until midway through the second quarter, and rarely put together any sustained drives. The Tigers switched quarterbacks a couple times, alternating freshman Taylor Reed and sophomore Andy Summerlin. Nothing worked.
Reed completed 23-of-35 passes for 149 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Artaves Gibson rushed for 85 yards on 17 carries.
But the offense wasn't Memphis' main problem. It was defense.
''We were in position to make some tackles,'' Porter said. ''But we just didn't.''
Mississippi State averaged more than nine yards per play and scored the program's most points away from Scott Field since 1936. Almost everything the Bulldogs tried worked, except for a fake punt that was snuffed out quickly by the Tigers.
It seemed like everyone from MSU joined in the fun. Backup quarterback Tyler Russell completed 5 of 9 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a 26-yard touchdown.
