The Mississippi State Bulldogs can’t complain at all about the quality of their defense this season. MSU might not have an airtight defense, but it has played well for long stretches of time, and this past Saturday against LSU was no exception.
By Matt Zemek
The Bulldogs allowed a bunch of field goals and defended their end zone as well as could be expected. They were similarly stingy against Auburn and Florida. They played a very strong two and a half quarters at Kentucky.
The problem for MSU this season has been its offense, and more specifically, the symbiotic relationship between a quarterback’s passing success and his offensive line’s success. Passing and pass blocking have been twin nightmares for new head coach Joe Moorhead, who turned Trace McSorley into a special quarterback at Penn State but has had no such luck with Nick Fitzgerald after inheriting him from Dan Mullen. Mississippi State fans don’t want to admit it, because it is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is hard to deny the obvious: Mullen fit Fitzgerald in ways which simply don’t apply to Moorhead. That doesn’t mean Moorhead is a deficient coach, just that the QB-coach combination hasn’t come together for this team in this season. Moorhead might find “his guy” soon enough. If his defense remains strong, Moorhead could lead the Bulldogs to great heights. This season, however, the MSU offense appears unlikely to max out – that’s simply what this team is at this point.
1 – MANAGE MOND
The SEC is a place where few really good quarterbacks exist. Kellen Mond is a speedburner – he outran Alabama’s defense for big plays earlier this year when A&M visited the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa – but his passing, like Fitzgerald’s, has not become what Jimbo Fisher hoped. Mond is not the same player as LSU’s Joe Burrow, but it remains that MSU will want A&M to throw the ball. The Bulldogs do not want Mond to beat them with his legs. He will have to beat them with his arm. Containment will be a key theme for the MSU defense in this game. Forcing Mond to be patient and throw checkdowns or short passes will also be part of the Bulldogs’ approach.
2 – BE NOT AFRAID
The Bulldogs and Moorhead can’t reinvent the wheel with their passing game. If Moorhead knew of a solution to this problem, he would have found it and implemented it by now. A complete makeover of the passing game is not particularly realistic. Where this offense can’t be afraid is that it must be willing to embrace throwing on first down. Opponents know that Fitzgerald likes to run and that this is a run-first offense. MSU can’t pretend to be something it is not. However, Moorhead can mix the patterns in terms of running and throwing on first downs, and if MSU can hit enough six- or seven-yard passes on first down, when the defense is less certain of what’s coming, the Bulldogs can move the ball consistently.
3 – FINAL THIRD
How each offense fares in the opponent’s third of the field – inside the 35 – will probably be the biggest key to the outcome. MSU has defended its third of the field extremely well. That must continue.
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