Mississippi State took it to Vanderbilt Saturday night in the home opener of conference play Saturday night, completely overpowering the Commodore offense in a stunning 15-3 victory.

The Bulldogs (2-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) held Vanderbilt to just 157 yards of offense while kicking three field goals and getting a clinching touchdown run by quarterback Tyson Lee in the fourth quarter to put the Commodores (1-2, 0-2) away for good.

"We got it handed to us tonight," said Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson. "They came out and were more physical than we were."

Larry Smith and his receivers were out of sorts the entire game. Smith completed just 12-32 passes for 121 yards, and once again his totals were marred by key drops. John Cole dropped a pass in the end zone that would have given Vanderbilt the lead in the second half.

Vanderbilt's only other foray in the red zone was in the second quarter and thanks to its defense. Tim Fugger recovered a fumble by MSU's Robert Elliott when Sean Richardson clocked him at the 6-yard line.

The Commodores ran the ball three straight times and were stuffed, forcing a 20-yard field goal by Ryan Fowler.

Little did they know that those three points were all they'd get in a frustrating game that followed up a promising performance in a 23-9 loss at No. 11 LSU. It was the first time Vanderbilt had scored in single digits in back-to-back games since 1998, under coach Woody Widenhofer.

The no-huddle offense that looked so promising in the opening 45-0 win over Western Carolina has been a failure the past two weeks. The defense was on the field for nearly 40 minutes against Mississippi State and nearly 36 in last week's against LSU.

"We played poorly," Smith said. "We have to help the defense out. They were on the field way too long."