An offense that works is hard to find in college football. Head coaches and offensive coordinators have been exiled to the coach’s carousel of job-hunting at the conclusion of each fall season. Around and around they go until finally they can think of an offensive scheme that can work like magic, and then they can finally try to work some stability into their careers.
In Mississippi State University’s case, they have found that stability with the spread offense. It is an offense that uses speed and precision and uses athletic offensive linemen that can pull out for screen passes with ease. There is only one problem with this offense: if you do not have the right quarterback, you might as well throw your playbook out the window.
Finding a quarterback that can fit a spread scheme is the main piece of the puzzle. The spread can be utilized to have a throwing quarterback, who will throw at least 40 or 50 times every game. This has been shown to work with Mike Leach’s air raid offense that he ran at Texas Tech and now has success with at Washington State.
On the other side, there is the big, bruising type of quarterback. This type of quarterback will run 20 to 30 times a game and rarely get an opportunity to throw the ball. A good example of this would be head coach Paul Johnson’s triple option at Georgia Tech, which is always near the top in total rushing yards at the end of the year.
But to turn an offense into a championship-caliber offense, the quarterback has to be able to do both. This is better known as the “dual-threat” quarterback. This type of quarterback makes offenses nearly impossible to stop. Don’t believe it? Look at the last three Heisman Trophy winners: Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel. What do they all have in common? They have the ability to shred a defense through the air with a great arm and precision passing, and they also have the skills to tuck the ball away in a read option and scurry off for a 70-yard touchdown at any moment. 
Of course, these quarterbacks come along once in a lifetime at a program, so if an offense can’t have the electrifying player that can do it all, it needs to stick with what works.
Dak Prescott works with what MSU wants to do. 
First off, the Bulldogs should stick with the run as the majority of their play calls. Until they can get the weapons at the wide receiver position, this should not even be a questionable decision. Prescott is primarily a run-first, pass-second quarterback. People saw this last year when he was called in on short-yardage situations to use his 6’2”, 230-pound frame to pound it out for a few yards and a first down. 
Secondly, when the running game works, the passing game falls into place. If a team averages seven or eight yards a carry, the safeties begin to move up to halt the run game. This coincidentally opens up the passing game, especially down the middle of the field. 
MSU’s go-to play is the read option. Everyone knows this, but it should continue to be the main offensive weapon. If run correctly (key word “correctly”), it causes numerous problems for an opposing defense. The half of a second where a quarterback is reading the defensive end or outside linebacker to decide whether to keep it or hand it off can turn into so much more. It freezes the linebackers and secondary, so if the quarterback decides to drop back and pass after the read, the defensive secondary is already a step behind and out of position, thus creating holes in the defense that can be exploited.
The run-first spread offense is a difficult one to run, but it has proven to be successful. Just look at what Dan Mullen did as the offensive coordinator at Florida with Tim Tebow. It is possible, Bulldog fans, but only with the right pieces to the puzzle.