The Bulldog offense is so close they can taste it.
The team has yet to put a single point on the board this season, but heading into their game with Tulane this weekend, it feels like one play is all it will take.
“It’s going to take dedication from everybody,” freshman quarterback Tray Rutland said. “When we score one touchdown, that’s all it will take. Then we’ll be on a roll.”
Rutland will start his second game under center Saturday. The sophomore replaced Mike Henig in the second quarter of State’s 15-0 loss to South Carolina. Henig, who began throwing in full pads at Wednesday’s practice, broke his collarbone in that season opener.
MSU head coach Sylvester Croom said it’s still four weeks away before Henig will be ready to seriously work.
State is currently averaging only 161 yards of total offense per game, which ranks 119th in the nation, the worst among Division 1A schools.
“It’s just a matter of us getting better,” Croom said. “If you do that-take it one play at a time- then the rankings, how it comes out in the end will take care of itself. The main thing is that everybody concentrates on their assignment and on leading themselves.”
The Bulldogs (0-2) are playing from a position of inexperience at almost all offensive positions.
The offensive line features a freshman, a sophomore and a junior transfer.
The receiving core, behind veteran Omarr Conner, is comprised of mainly a sophomore, a junior transfer and a walk-on.
The Bulldog backfield is even younger.
True freshman Anthony Dixon, the starter on Saturday, will be backed up by fellow true freshman Arnil Stallworth and redshirt freshman transfer Christian Ducre.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Dixon said, “because we have a lot of new people on offense. We have a couple of senior leaders, but the rest of us are kind of new to it.”
Dixon, a high school back at this point last season, has made the most noise on offense thus far, rushing for 132 yards total in his first two collegiate games.
But even Dixon will admit he has a long way to go before becoming a competitive Southeastern Conference tailback.
“I know I have it in me,” Dixon said. “I just have to get my footwork right. I get so excited, the only thing I think about is getting the ball. I just hit the hole.”
Croom understands the predicament his offense is in and is trying to be patient with them while they learn to compete at an undoubtedly higher level than any of them are used to.
To do that, sacrifices in the complexity of his plan of attack will have to be made.
“We’ll continue to do some adjustments to our schemes, particularly to try to make things simpler for our quarterback,” Croom said. “The key is taking the right mental approach towards getting things corrected. We cannot let any detail not draw our attention.”
The ultimate goal of any offense is to dominate a game and light up the scoreboard.
The 119th-ranked offense sees that as an achievable goal in the very near future.
But like all great feats, the team must start somewhere, said Dixon.
“To put seven on the board and stop looking at them zeros,” Dixon said, “that will be a big lift.”
This will be the fourth straight season the Bulldogs have met the Green Wave, with MSU taking the last two.
State leads the all-time series 29-25-2 and has won 20 of the last 26 meetings.
“They really haven’t changed a lot over the last two years,” Croom said. “They’ve got two pretty good running backs, and they can make some plays with space. They spread the field and do a lot of different things.”
The Wave are led on offense by a tandem of junior running backs, Matt Forte and Ray Boudreaux.
Forte has 1,299 career yards for the Wave and needs only 462 more yards to break the school’s top 10 rushers list.
Boudreaux spells Forte at running back and also returns kicks for the Wave.
He had 87 all purpose yards in Tulane’s season opener.