STARKVILLE – Another turnover-filled outing against another top-25 team made for another teeth-gnashing loss for Mississippi State.

A week after nearly upsetting then-No. 7 LSU despite four turnovers, MSU lost four fumbles in a 42-31 loss to No. 25 Georgia Tech in front of 50,035 fans at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday night.

And for the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs (2-3) had trouble handling Georgia Tech’s spread option offense. The Yellow Jackets (4-1), of the ACC, racked up 213 yards on the ground, and they also got a career passing night from quarterback Josh Nesbitt.

The junior threw for 266 yards and a touchdown and ran for 53 yards.

“We’ve got to make sure we have kids in position to make the plays. I think as a coaching staff, they had guys wide open, we lost contain, they had extra time,” first-year MSU coach Dan Mullen said. “Their quarterback can’t stand there all day and wait until somebody comes open.”

Nesbitt gave the Yellow Jackets their biggest lead of the game in the third quarter when he marched them 90 yards in 10 plays, hitting Demaryius Thomas for a 23-yard touchdown on a third and goal with 9 minutes, 32 seconds left. The 35-17 edge held until early in the fourth quarter when Tyson Lee hit Chad Bumphis for a 69-yard TD pass, and it was too late by then.

Tech, which gained 500 total yards – 438 of it rushing – in a 38-7 win over MSU last season, finished with 479 total yards Saturday.

“I’m not sure everything clicked,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said, “but we had some guys make plays.”

State gained 487 yards. Lee finished 20 of 30 for 278 yards and threw a late interception, giving MSU five turnovers for the game.

Bumphis had six catches for 123 yards, and he had a 10-yard TD run in the second quarter.

“Our guys, besides the turnovers, they did a decent job of executing,” Mullen said. “Was it good enough offensively? No, we needed 12 more points.”

Four on the floor

The four lost fumbles were the most for MSU since losing four against Troy in 2001.

MSU senior tailback Anthony Dixon had his third consecutive 100-yard game – the first time in his career he’s hit the century mark three games in a row – gaining 106 on 18 carries.

But he had two of those fumbles – one was returned 40 yards by Jerrard Tarrant for a TD in the second quarter, and the other came at Tech’s 1-yard line in the third with State trailing 35-17.

Three lost fumbles by MSU in the first half led to 21 Georgia Tech points, but the Bulldogs hung close.

After falling behind 14-0, the Bulldogs got a much-needed spark when Leon Berry raced 89 yards on a kickoff return for a touchdown.

A Chris Relf fumble led to a Roddy Jones TD run to give Tech a 21-7 lead, but MSU came back with a 68-yard scoring drive capped by Bumphis’ 10-yard run, his first career rushing TD.

Then, a Dixon fumble was returned by Tarrent for a 28-14 Tech lead at the 4:28 mark of the second quarter.

State got a 31-yard Derek DePasquale field goal at the halftime horn to make it 28-17.