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Mississippi State

WATCH: Bulldogs return blocked field goal for touchdown to stretch lead over Texas A&M

by:Austin Brezina•10/01/22•

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Photo by Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Mississippi State Bulldogs broke open their lead with a huge play in the second half, returning a blocked kick for a touchdown. With Texas A&M threatening to score their second-straight field goal and make it a one-score game, Mississippi State’s special teams delivered in a big way with a touchdown.

Bulldogs return blocked field goal for touchdown

After a major targeting call swung the game’s momentum in the third quarter towards the Aggies, Mississippi State’s defense and special teams continued to deliver in the tough conference matchup. The Bulldogs forced another field goal attempt by the Aggies that would have cut the lead to just eight points — before Emmanuel Forbes got through to the kicker for the block.

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As the ball rolled towards the open field, Decamerion Richardson scooped it up for the score — pushing the lead to 21-3 with just over a quarter to play. The blocked kick was the Bulldogs first field goal block in over half a decade.

Despite the Aggies offense finally finding some rhythm late in the game, the Bulldogs continued to dominate on both sides of the ball throughout the game. Mississippi State went on to win the game 42-24 and improve to 4-1 on the season, while Texas A&M fell to 3-2 and possibly outside of next week’s AP Poll rankings.

The second half saw plenty of scoring compared to a relatively low-scoring first half, but the Bulldogs still outscored the Aggies 28-24 in the half. One of the biggest storylines that emerged in the game’s final moments was an injury to Aggies quarterback Max Johnson as he hurt his thumb on his throwing hand. Johnson’s hand hit a defender rushing him as he threw, and he was forced out of the game in pain.

Johnson attempted to return to the field with tape over the thumb, but was unable to find a comfortable grip of the ball on the sideline and the team shut him down for the remainder of the game. As his replacement, Haynes King came into the game and scored a quick rushing touchdown — before throwing two-straight interceptions to Emmanuel Forbes. Forbes returned the second interception for a pick-six, adding to his monster game.