College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Mississippi State 44, Louisiana State 34
When: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, September 26, 2020
Where: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Temperature: 85°
Head Official: Jason Autrey
Attendance: 21124

K.J. Costello passed for an SEC-record 623 yards and five touchdowns as visiting Mississippi State posted a 44-34 victory over No. 6 LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.

Costello, a graduate transfer from Stanford, completed 36 of 60 passes in his debut running first-year Bulldogs coach Mike Leach's "Air Raid" offense. He overcame two interceptions and a lost fumble that helped keep LSU in the game.

Mississippi State had three 100-yard receivers: Osirus Mitchell (seven catches, 183 yards, two touchdowns), Kylin Hill (8-158-1) and JaVonta Payton (6-122).

LSU's Myles Brennan was inconsistent in his first career start as the successor to Joe Burrow, last season's Heisman Trophy winner. Brennan completed 27 of 46 for 345 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

The nation's longest winning streak ended at 16 as the Tigers lost for the first time since a seven-overtime setback at Texas A&M in the 2018 regular-season finale.

LSU sent 14 players from last year's team to the NFL and saw three other key players opt out during the preseason. The Tigers also played without standout cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who was hospitalized Friday for a non-COVID-19 illness.

After Costello's 9-yard touchdown pass to Austin Williams gave the Bulldogs a 34-24 lead early in the fourth quarter, LSU rallied behind a couple of takeaways.

Freshman Eli Ricks intercepted Costello, setting up Brennan's 33-yard touchdown pass to Terrace Marshall Jr. with just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Marshall finished with eight catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

On the next offensive play, JaCoby Stevens forced a Costello fumble and recovered the ball at the Bulldogs' 23.

Cade York's 40-yard field goal tied the score with 9:37 left before Costello drove the Bulldogs to Brandon Ruiz's 43-yard field goal with 7:27 left.

Costello threw a 24-yard touchdown to Mitchell with 3:39 left.

York's 26-yard field goal on LSU's first possession of the third quarter tied the score at 17.

MSU drove to Ruiz's 24-yard field goal before Brennan's 37-yard touchdown pass to Marshall gave the Tigers a 24-20 lead.

Hill caught a short pass from Costello and sprinted up the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown that gave MSU a 27-24 lead at the end of the third quarter.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Mississippi State   Louisiana State
Kylin Hill Player Chris Curry
7 Attempts 9
34 Yards 47
4.9 Avg Yards 5.2
0 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Receiving
Mississippi State   Louisiana State
Osirus Mitchell Player Terrace Marshall Jr.
7 Receptions 8
183 Yards 122
26.1 Avg Yards 15.2
2 Touchdowns 2
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Mississippi State 632 9 623 5 3 2 7.0 0
Louisiana State 425 80 345 4 2 2 5.0 1