September 26, 2020 Week 4 · Regular Season Belt changed hands

Mississippi State takes the belt, 44–34, on the road at LSU.

Home · Defending Holder

LSUAP No. 6 34

Away · New Holder

Mississippi State 44

AP poll, week 4: Mississippi State unranked at LSU No. 6 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Mississippi State took the belt here, ending LSU’s run of 257 days and 0 defenses (reign #308) and starting reign #309. It lasted 7 days and 0 defenses, until Arkansas took it on October 3, 2020.

For Mississippi State this was its 20th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before — and it took it back here.

It was the 3rd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, LSU led the belt series 2–0; all-time LSU leads 2–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Mississippi State's K.J. Costello put on a passing clinic against LSU, connecting on multiple big plays throughout the game to claim the College Football Belt with a 44-34 victory. The Bulldogs' offense was nearly unstoppable through the air, racking up 623 passing yards despite four turnovers, with Costello finding receivers like Osirus Mitchell and JaVonta Payton repeatedly for first downs and touchdowns. LSU's defense struggled to contain the aerial assault, though Myles Brennan and the Tigers kept it competitive with scores of their own, including a 37-yard touchdown to Terrace Marshall Jr. in the third quarter. Mississippi State's resilience in converting third downs (8 of 16) and capitalizing on LSU turnovers proved decisive, as Costello's 43-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell and his 75-yard score to Kylin Hill in the fourth quarter essentially put the game away.

Jabril Cox's interception return for a touchdown in Q2 gave LSU a crucial momentum swing and early lead
Osirus Mitchell's 43-yard touchdown reception in Q2 with 2:27 remaining gave Mississippi State back the lead before halftime
Kylin Hill's 75-yard touchdown reception in Q3 answered LSU's Marshall score and extended Mississippi State's lead
Austin Williams' 9-yard touchdown in Q4 provided crucial separation that LSU couldn't overcome

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

LSUMississippi State

Total yards425632

Rushing yards809

Passing yards345623

First downs2524

3rd down conv.5/178/16

Turnovers24

Penalties–yards7–317–40

Time of possession29:3230:28

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 11:09	Mississippi State	+25 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Osirus Mitchell for 25 yds to the LSU 19 for a 1ST down
Q1 11:09	Mississippi State	+22 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Osirus Mitchell for 22 yds to the LSU 41 for a 1ST down
Q1 4:47	Mississippi State	+35 yd	Brandon Ruiz 35 yd FG GOOD
Q2 14:15	Mississippi State	+27 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 27 yds to the MisSt 43 for a 1ST down
Q2 14:15	Mississippi State	+24 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Cameron Gardner for 24 yds to the LSU 43 for a 1ST down
Q2 14:15	Mississippi State	-2 yd	TEAM run for a loss of 2 yards to the LSU 40 TEAM fumbled, recovered by LSU JaCoby Stevens
Q2 9:45	Mississippi State	+14 yd	K.J. Costello pass intercepted for a TD Jabril Cox return for 14 yds for a TD, (Cade York KICK)
Q2 9:45	Mississippi State	+34 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Osirus Mitchell for 34 yds to the LSU 31 for a 1ST down
Q2 7:45	Mississippi State	+31 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Tyrell Shavers for 31 yds for a TD, (Brandon Ruiz KICK)
Q2 7:39	LSU	+47 yd	Myles Brennan pass complete to Jaray Jenkins for 47 yds to the MisSt 10 for a 1ST down
Q2 5:20	LSU	+2 yd	Myles Brennan pass complete to Arik Gilbert for 2 yds for a TD, (Cade York KICK)
Q2 2:27	Mississippi State	+43 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Osirus Mitchell for 43 yds for a TD, (Brandon Ruiz KICK)
Q2 2:02	Mississippi State	+21 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Kylin Hill for 21 yds to the MisSt 49 for a 1ST down
Q3 15:00	LSU	+20 yd	Myles Brennan pass complete to Jaray Jenkins for 20 yds to the MisSt 17 for a 1ST down
Q3 9:33	LSU	+26 yd	Cade York 26 yd FG GOOD
Q3 9:33	Mississippi State	+33 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 33 yds to the LSU 39 for a 1ST down
Q3 9:33	Mississippi State	+34 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 34 yds to the LSU 5 for a 1ST down
Q3 6:23	Mississippi State	+24 yd	Brandon Ruiz 24 yd FG GOOD
Q3 6:23	LSU	+28 yd	Myles Brennan pass complete to Racey McMath for 28 yds to the MisSt 37 for a 1ST down
Q3 5:01	LSU	+37 yd	Myles Brennan pass complete to Terrace Marshall Jr. for 37 yds for a TD, (Cade York KICK)
Q3 4:46	Mississippi State	+75 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Kylin Hill for 75 yds for a TD, (Brandon Ruiz KICK)
Q3 4:46	LSU	+20 yd	Myles Brennan pass intercepted Esaias Furdge return for 20 yds to the MisSt 44
Q3 4:46	Mississippi State	+26 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Kylin Hill for 26 yds to the LSU 23 for a 1ST down
Q4 14:14	Mississippi State	+9 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Austin Williams for 9 yds for a TD, (Brandon Ruiz KICK)
Q4 12:39	Mississippi State	+0 yd	K.J. Costello pass intercepted Eli Ricks return for no gain to the MisSt 45
Q4 11:01	LSU	+33 yd	Myles Brennan pass complete to Terrace Marshall Jr. for 33 yds for a TD, (Cade York KICK)
Q4 9:37	LSU	+40 yd	Cade York 40 yd FG GOOD
Q4 9:03	Mississippi State	+37 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Tyrell Shavers for 37 yds to the LSU 20 for a 1ST down
Q4 7:27	Mississippi State	+43 yd	Brandon Ruiz 43 yd FG GOOD
Q4 6:15	Mississippi State	+27 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Osirus Mitchell for 27 yds to the LSU 25 for a 1ST down
Q4 3:39	Mississippi State	+24 yd	K.J. Costello pass complete to Osirus Mitchell for 24 yds for a TD, (Brandon Ruiz KICK)
Q4 0:52	LSU	+0 yd	Myles Brennan pass intercepted, touchback. Emmanuel Forbes return for no gain

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

LSU

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Myles Brennan	27/46	345	7.5	3	2

Mississippi State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
K.J. Costello	36/60	623	10.4	5	2

Rushing

LSU

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Chris Curry	9	47	5.2	12
Tyrion Davis-Price	11	43	3.9	7
John Emery Jr.	7	27	3.9	10
Myles Brennan	11	-37	-3.4	4

Mississippi State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Kylin Hill	7	34	4.9	12
Jo'quavious Marks	3	15	5.0	11
Team	1	-2	-2.0	0
K.J. Costello	5	-38	-7.6	0

Receiving

LSU

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Terrace Marshall Jr.	8	122	15.3	2	37
Jaray Jenkins	5	85	17.0	0	47
Racey McMath	3	50	16.7	0	28
Arik Gilbert	4	37	9.3	1	16
John Emery Jr.	3	25	8.3	0	11
Jontre Kirklin	1	12	12.0	0	12
Kayshon Boutte	1	6	6.0	0	6
Koy Moore	1	5	5.0	0	5
Trey Palmer	1	3	3.0	0	3

Mississippi State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Osirus Mitchell	7	183	26.1	2	43
Kylin Hill	8	158	19.8	1	75
JaVonta Payton	6	122	20.3	0	34
Tyrell Shavers	2	68	34.0	1	37
Austin Williams	7	57	8.1	1	14
Cameron Gardner	2	35	17.5	0	24
Dillon Johnson	1	4	4.0	0	4
Malik Heath	1	1	1.0	0	1
Jo'quavious Marks	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Kwatrivous Johnson	1	-3	-3.0	0	0

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

LSU

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR	TD
Damone Clark	11	5	1	1.5	0	1	0
Cordale Flott	7	5	0	0.5	1	0	0
JaCoby Stevens	6	4	2	2	0	0	0
Jabril Cox	6	4	1	1	0	0	1
Jay Ward	5	4	0	0	3	0	0
Eli Ricks	4	1	0	0	1	0	0
Ali Gaye	3	2	1	2	3	0	0
Todd Harris Jr.	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
Maurice Hampton Jr.	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
Micah Baskerville	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Joseph Evans	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Darren Evans	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Racey McMath	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Neil Farrell Jr.	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
BJ Ojulari	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Mississippi State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Shawn Preston Jr.	11	6	0	0	0
Aaron Brule	10	6	1	1	0
Erroll Thompson	10	4	1	1	0
Esaias Furdge	6	5	0	0	0
Jordan Davis	6	2	0	0	1
Fred Peters	6	1	0	0	1
Marcus Murphy	5	2	0	0	0
Tyrus Wheat	4	2	1	1	1
Londyn Craft	4	1	0	0	0
Martin Emerson	4	1	0	0	0
Marquiss Spencer	3	3	2	2	0
Nathaniel Watson	3	2	0	0	0
Kobe Jones	3	0	0.5	0.5	0
Nathan Pickering	3	0	0.5	0.5	0
Dylan Lawrence	3	0	0	0	0
Jaden Crumedy	2	1	1	1	1
Jack Harris	2	0	0	0	0
Collin Duncan	1	1	0	0	0
Aaron Odom	1	0	0	0	0
Jett Johnson	1	0	0	0	0
Emmanuel Forbes	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

LSU

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
JaCoby Stevens	0	0	2

Mississippi State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Team	1	1	0
K.J. Costello	1	1	0

Interceptions

LSU

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jabril Cox	1	14	1
Eli Ricks	1	0	0

Mississippi State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Esaias Furdge	1	20	0
Emmanuel Forbes	1	0	0

Kick Returns

LSU

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Trey Palmer	1	16	16.0	16	0

Mississippi State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kicking

LSU

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Cade York	2/2	100.0	40	4/4	10

Mississippi State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Brandon Ruiz	3/3	100.0	43	5/5	14

Punt Returns

LSU

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Trey Palmer	1	-2	-2.0	0	0

Mississippi State

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

LSU

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Zach Von Rosenberg	7	346	49.4	0	5	58

Mississippi State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Tucker Day	2	95	47.5	0	0	58
Reed Bowman	1	39	39.0	0	1	39

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401237035) · This game in the downloadable dataset

← Clemson at LSU Arkansas at Mississippi State →