Mississippi State’s offense appeared to be rolling two weeks ago, even after a close defeat to Auburn that saw the Bulldogs put up 531 yards.
However, that roll came to an abrupt halt last week against LSU as the offense sputtered its way to 168 total yards against one of the best defenses in the country in a 19-6 loss. It’s hard to tell if the numbers are more indicative of State’s offense or LSU’s defense, but either way, head coach Dan Mullen’s offensive group is now searching for answers.
“It’s not to the point where we’re shaking our heads, ‘what can we do?’, but we’re not as clean as we need to be,” Mullen said.
The majority of the offense in last Thursday’s loss came from senior quarterback Chris Relf, who threw for 96 yards and took a beating while running for 10 yards. Mullen is hoping his receivers, led by first-year receivers coach Angelo Mirando, will play the leadership role they were expected to play in 2011.
“I expect our older guys to be playmakers for us,” Mullen said. “With Chad (Bumphis), Arceto (Clark), Chris Smith, I expect those guys to be playmakers more than depending on all of our younger guys that are really still getting used to being on the field.”
Of course, the main cause for concern on the offensive side of the ball is the injury bug that has depleted an already-thin offensive line. Right guard Tobias Smith is out for the season after tearing his ACL against LSU, and left tackle James Carmon suffered a knee injury against Auburn and was sidelined for the LSU game. Mullen expects to have Carmon back for Saturday’s game against Louisiana Tech.
The injuries have pushed Blaine Clausell and Dillon Day into game action and shifted senior center Quentin Saulsberry to right guard.
The Bulldogs will also look to re-establish the running game on Saturday against a Louisiana Tech defense that averages 108 rushing yards allowed per game. Last week, running back Vick Ballard was held to 38 yards on ten carries but, in the two games before, he put up massive numbers. In the season opener against Memphis, Ballard ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns, then against Auburn he rushed for 135 yards and one touchdown and had 64 receiving yards.
Ballard said he was disappointed he did not get many opportunities in the second half against LSU.
“It was very discouraging because I felt like I could have done a little bit more,” Ballard said.
Mullen also raised a few eyebrows last week when he put backup quarterback Tyler Russell in the game during the fourth quarter. The Meridian native completed four of eight passes for 45 yards, but Mullen has reaffirmed Relf is MSU’s starting quarterback.
Fortunately for Mullen and company, they get a chance to work out some offensive kinks against a non-conference opponent Saturday. If the kinks do get worked out, they could set themselves up for a similar winning streak to the six-game streak they rattled off in 2010.