LSU vs Mississippi State: How Bulldogs Can Stun No. 3 Tigers

The Mississippi State Bulldogs will host the No. 3 LSU Tigers in what will finally be an exciting Thursday night of college football.

The Bulldogs are fresh off a disappointing loss to the Auburn Tigers, and turning around with a short week to prepare for the other Tigers of the SEC West is no easy task. 

LSU has a phenomenal defense, and they will give Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen and his offense a very tough time. Mullen knows this is a good team, but he went a little too far in talking to reporters earlier in the week. Per FOXSports:

"They're as talented a team as there is in the country, and I mean that. I'm talking about pro football included."

Les Miles has a very good football team, but to compare them to the pros is just laughable.  

The Tigers are only favored at -4.5, and because the game is at home the Bulldogs have a good shot at winning. But how can they do it?

Here are three ways Mississippi State can pull the upset over LSU.

Ground and Pound 

It's not going to be easy, but the Bulldogs must keep a steady run game going against the Tigers. Senior running back Vick Ballard has done a great job so far this season of finding lanes and exploiting opposing defenses.

Ballard is averaging just over nine yards a carry, and while he won't be succeeding that much tonight against the Tigers, he'll need to consistently get four yards per carry to wear down that Tigers defense and keep their offense off the field.

Controlling the clock is key for the Bulldogs tonight, and if they dominate the time of possession then they have a great chance of winning.

Better Run Defense

Speaking of ground and pound, the LSU Tigers have averaged 175 yards in rushing this season, and they're doing it by committee. Having a constant rotation of fresh legs in the backfield helps the Tigers throughout the game, which is why the Bulldogs have to play better.

Mississippi State's run defense has not been very good in their first two games, as Auburn tore them apart with 235 yards on the ground. The Bulldogs have to find a way to slow down the run and force Jarrett Lee and/or Zach Mettenberger to beat them with their arms.

Lee will get the start, but he has been known to make mental errors, which could lead to inexperienced Mettenberger seeing the field of play. It doesn't matter who is at quarterback because the Bulldogs secondary is talented enough to make the plays against an okay passing attack. If Mississippi State can finally stop the run, then this game is theirs for the taking.

Forget Last Year and Last Week

This is a very big game for the Mississippi State football program, and a win here would give them great confidence for the rest of the 2011 season.

In 2010, the Bulldogs went to Baton Rouge and only managed to score one touchdown. The Tigers defense proved to be too much for a team that was still trying to a figure out its offensive identity.

Mississippi State needs to forget their horrendous loss from a year ago, and focus on how far they've come since then. This is a good football team, and they are very capable of winning this game.

Forget how much last week's loss stung, and move forward to this game. If the Bulldogs find themselves in a hole, they have to keep fighting and forget what happened in the past. 

If the Bulldogs can accomplish these three things then they should win this game. It won't be easy by any means, but the possibility is there, especially since the Bulldogs are a much better team than a year ago. Mississippi State needs to play up to the home crowd, and use it to their advantage as much as possible.