There might not have been a more up and down team in the SEC in 2021 than the Mississippi State Bulldogs in their second year under Mike Leach. They finished fourth in the SEC West at 7-6, never winning or losing more than two in a row at any point in the season.
By Steve Wright
Here are the Bulldog’s three keys for 2022:
Increase the scoring
Mike Leach teams are built on offenses that can score in a hurry. At Texas Tech he was one of the first teams in the Big XII to adopt spread principles and he rode them to a highly successful spell in Lubbock.
The same is true at Washington State and he combined to win 65 percent of his games over 18 seasons. His Bulldogs’ team doesn’t score enough. They were tied for ninth in the SEC last season at 29.1 points per game. If players cannot turn short passes into big gains then this offense doesn’t work. It needs to work better in 2022.
Find a running game
This won’t be easy. The interior of the Mississippi State offensive line returns but both tackles are gone. That includes Charles Cross, the No. 9 overall pick of the NFL Draft. Replacing the tackles is part of the equation, but the Bulldogs have to run the ball more. This will always be a pass-first system, but running just 270 times as Mississippi State did last season is not a viable tactic to win consistently in a conference as savvy as the SEC. Jo’quavious Marks is a back with talent that demands more touches.
Ride out the schedule
The schedule is brutal. The SEC West is a monster and the Bulldogs have it worst of all in crossover games. The Egg Bowl with Ole Miss is always tough, but while in 2021 Mississippi State took on Vanderbilt, this year they will face Georgia. Add in non-conference clashes with the likes of Memphis and Arizona and you can see why the Bulldogs have the toughest ranked schedule in the nation. Leach and his crew will take some big defeats, but they must rebound to win over the teams they are better than or equal to for any type of successful season.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs open their 2022 football season when they host the Memphis Tigers.
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