Photos taken by Blake Harrell/SuperTalk News

by Hunter Dawkins, Owner/Publisher – editor@thegazebogazette.com or hdawkins@supertalk.fm

CHARLOTTE (GG) — For the fourth consecutive game, the Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-8) lost to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-4) 43-29 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl at the Bank of America Stadium Friday, January 2, 2026.  With a crowd of 29,328 in Charlotte, the Bulldogs fell behind early and never recovered, allowing six touchdowns from Wake Forest.

Mississippi State made its 27th bowl game appearance, first since the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl.  The 2025 Bulldogs roster featured 90 players making their bowl game debuts.
Scoring Summary
On the opening series, Mississippi State scored first on a 33-yard field goal from Placekicker Kyle Ferrie with 12:55 left in the first quarter for a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, this would be the last time they would have a lead in the game.
Then, Wake Forest’s Kordell Bartley returns the Mississippi State kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown with 12:33 left in the first quarter. The Demon Deacons converted a 2-point play for an 8-3 lead over the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs answered as Ferrie converted a 50-yard field goal to cut the lead to 8-6 in favor of Wake Forest over Mississippi State with 7:12 left in the first quarter. This score would be the last time MSU would be within three.
Wake Forest Quarterback Robby Ashford throws a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kamrean Johnson with 3:49 left in the first quarter. After the PAT converted, Wake Forest took a 15-6 lead over Mississippi State. This was the first of Ashford’s 5 touchdowns.
After a 10-play drive, Mississippi State failed to convert a red zone opportunity to 6, so they settled for a 23-yard field goal from Placekicker Kyle Ferrie. The current lead was 15-9 Wake Forest with 6:15 left in the first half and this would be the halftime score.
Coming out of the gates, Wake Forest scored on a 64-yard touchdown pass from Robby Ashford to Jack Foley. The two-point conversion was good with 14:06 left in the quarter and a 23-9 lead by the Demon Deacons.
Following a short drive and another field goal from Ferrie to cut the lead, Wake Forest’s Ashford dove in for a 2-yard touchdown run after an 11-play drive with 4:19 left in the third quarter for a 30-12 Demon Deacons lead over Mississippi State.
Towards the end of the quarter, Mississippi State Freshman Quarterback Kamario Taylor dove in for a 1-yard touchdown run at the buzzer to end the third quarter. With a two-point play converted, the Mississippi State Bulldogs cut the Wake Forest lead to 30-20 going into the final quarter. Shortly after, Mississippi State scored on its third consecutive drive on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to Sanfrisco Magee with 10:17 left in the game. The Bulldogs cut the Wake Forest lead to 30-27.
The Demon Deacons countered by scoring on a 1-yard dive after a 10-play drive with 4:07 left, Mississippi State blocked the extra point and Kelley Jones returned the extra point conversion for a score, getting two points for a 36-29 score.
When Wake Forest forced the Bulldogs to punt, Ashford threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Ty Clark with 2:15 left in the game. This left Demon Deacons with a 43-29 lead and final score over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
What the Coach said
Mississippi State Head Football Coach Jeff Lebby was not excited about his team’s performance, but gave credit to Wake Forest’s Quarterback Robby Ashford.
“Robby did a really good job of just being able to create and extend with his feet,” said second year coach Lebby, who is 7-18 after two years at the helm. “He is a guy that obviously ran and made plays in the game. Then again, when you don’t do a good job against him in the pocket, he makes you pay. 
When speaking about freshman Quarterback Kamario Taylor’s play, the coach was complimentary.
“He’s got a lot of work to do, there’s no doubt about that. But just his command, his presence, who he is every single day, there’s this great amount of consistency.”
The Numbers Never Lie
Taylor led the State offense, who produced 408 total yards, and the signal caller had 241 yards passing, 63 on the ground and two touchdowns.  The Bulldogs Receiver Brenen Thompson caught 4 passes for 106 yards with 1 touchdown and is the fourth player in program history to surpass 1000 yards for the season.
Wake Forest’s offense was orchestrated by Ashford, who finished with 353 of the Demon Deacons 451 yards of total offense. The signal caller was 20-33 passing for 303 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception by Bulldogs safety Bryan Lanier before the half. Ashford had 50 yards on the ground with 2 touchdowns.
While Mississippi State’s Jalon Smith produced 12 tackles, they had only one sack from Malick Sylla and a tackle for loss from Safety Jahron Manning.
Injury Report
Taylor was knocked out of the game three times, but always returning until the fourth quarter when he was carted off the field. According to Jeff Lebby’s postgame response, Taylor initial reports were good and there were no apparent serious problems.