Mississippi State Armchair QB: Tiger Claws Edition

That might have been one of the strangest Mississippi State-LSU games we have seen.

Peeps, the Dawgs lost a tough one on Saturday night. It was a tale of two halves, with LSU dominating the first half and State winning the second half. LSU jumped out to a 20-0 lead and was up 23-3 at the half. But State staged a furious comeback and outscored LSU 17-0 in the second half. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough as State fell 23-20.  Here’s what I saw on Saturday:

Defense:

1. After a very shaky first half, the Dawgs’ D settled in and pitched a shutout in the second half. Kudos to them for never quitting and giving the offense a chance to win.

2. Tackling was relatively poor. To be fair, Leonard Fournette makes you look bad at tackling. But I saw way too many attempts to grab LSU players, especially Fournette, up high instead of down low. Wrapping up was poor. Gang tackling didn’t happen at all in the first half.

3. State’s pass rush was non-existent in the first half. Danny Etling had time to throw and picked the secondary apart. With LSU running the ball more in the second half to preserve the lead and shorten the game, the opportunities for pass rushing were fewer.

4. DL got whipped in the first half, but held their own in the second.

5. Secondary continues to struggle in pass coverage. They do ok in run support, but it’s ugly when the ball is in the air.

6. Leo Lewis is emerging as a star. He led the team in tackles with 10 total. What impresses me is the physicality and nastiness he brings. Hopefully his style and attitude rub off on the rest of the D as the season progresses.

More from Mississippi State Football

• Meeting the Opponent: Week 4 – South Carolina Gamecocks
• Mississippi State football vs LSU: The good, bad, and ugly
• The Wednesday Wrap: Maybe Mississippi State Football Coach Zach Arnett shouldn’t do it his way
• Mississippi State football history vs. South Carolina: Records, streaks, and more
• Mississippi State football bowl projections after Bulldogs crushed by LSU

7. Richie Brown had his usual solid night. He finished with 6 tackles and a half TFL.

8. Dez Harris stepped up big. He had 5 tackles, 4 solo. But most importantly, he forced 2 fumbles. State only recovered one, but it was a huge play in the game that swung momentum during the Dawgs’ rally.

9. Jamoral Graham is a liability right now. The other teams have identified him as the weak link and are picking on him mercilessly. It’s to the point where they are just throwing up balls in his direction and letting their WRs go make plays. He has the athleticism, but he desperately needs a redshirt year to work on technique. Unfortunately, we wasted it to use him on punt returns and injuries won’t allow it now. It makes me sad, because he has the potential to be a good CB. We’ve just completely mismanaged his eligibility.

Special Teams:

1. Special teams units had a good night. Westin Graves was 2/2 on FGs and hit all his PATs. State also got a blocked PAT that was almost came into play.

2. Logan Cooke had another very good night punting. The average won’t blow you away at 38.7, but he was punting on a short field most of the night. He kept LSU pinned deep, especially in the second half, and forced them to drive the length of the field.

3. Why was Graves handling kickoff duties? Cooke has been killing it through the first two games. Credit to him for executing the onside kick, though. Still, one of those switches that makes no sense.

Offense:

1. Offense had a really poor night. It isn’t completely unexpected, considering the talent of the LSU defense, but it is disappointing. Much of that comes down to play calling, but I’ll discuss that later.

2. One of my Keys to Victory was run the football. The ground game was completely stifled by LSU. State finished with just 56 rush yards on 32 attempts. That’s just 1.8 yards per attempt. I shouldn’t have to spell out how bad that is.

3. Passing game was better, but certainly not good. The Dawgs finished with 214 yards passing but that doesn’t really tell the whole story. Nearly half those yards came on two of the final three drives. And out of 32 combined attempts by MSU QBs, they averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt. The Dawgs weren’t stretching the field at all, allowing LSU to load the box and stuff the run.

4. WRs had a poor night to say the least. Their case of the dropsies got worse from last week. They dropped at least 5-6 passes that would have either moved the chains, been an explosive play, or been a TD. Make just half of those catches and LSU has to respect the deep ball. Make all of them, I’m likely reviewing a win. Gotta execute.

5. RBs continue to be an issue. The good news is Holloway’s role was actually reduced in terms of rushes. The bad is that no one really stepped up and showed they want to be The Guy at RB. And with the rushing game struggling so badly, we still didn’t see Dontavian Lee, Nick Gibson, or Alec Murphy get a single snap. What’s worse, Holloway, Shumpert, and Williams combined for just 13 of the 32 carries.

6. Nick Fitzgerald played about like you’d expect on the road in Death Valley. He had a couple of good moments but overall wasn’t very good. But to be fair, almost every drop in the game happened while he was playing. However, he bears some responsibility because he missed some wide open WRs a few times. His reads are still a little slow, throwing off the timing of plays. That will improve with game time, but the growing pains are going to continue throughout the season. The good news is you can see he has the gun you like to see when he turns it loose. Once his ability to read the D catches up, he could be scary.

What continues to be concerning is Fitz led the team in rushes with 13. That’s as many as our RBs had combined. We just can’t have our QBs carrying that much of the rushing load.

7. Damian Williams continues to show us he is who we think he is. A backup QB who is really good for a couple of possessions but incapable of carrying a team beyond that. When it really mattered on State’s final offensive possession, he failed to get off the pass to a wide open Fred Ross. And he had 3 rushes, including a TD, in his limited action. That means our QBs combined for 16 rushes, 3 more than our RBs.

8. Fred Ross has suddenly begun struggling to catch. After being sure-handed his first 3 years, he has suddenly started dropping routing catches. He dropped a sure first down that would’ve helped State get off their own goal line at one point. He needs to figure it out fast, because State has to have him making plays to be an effective offense.

The drops also came into play when he lost the ball on an attempted pass. If he hangs on and makes the throw, Fitz was wide open for a huge gain, maybe a TD.

9. Donald Gray came to play. He was the most sure-handed State WR on Saturday. He showed why he’s a legitimate deep threat with 86 yards on 3 catches, 28.7 YPC. We have to get him even more involved offensively.

10. Brandon Holloway had just 5 rushes against the Tigers. That’s the good news. The bad news is I don’t remember a single one being to the edge. All 5 carries were on the inside zone play. He added 2 catches for 14 yards. 7 touches is actually a good number for him. But again, the problem is HOW he got those touches.

11. Shump was the Dawgs best looking RB. He had 6 carries for 34 yards. That’s 5.7 YPC. I still don’t think he’s a viable feature back, but hats off to him for making the most of his opportunity on Saturday. He was a load and bulled forward for the tough yards between the tackles. It was a breath of fresh air.

12. We’re starting to see some indications of why Aeris doesn’t play more. He had just 2 carries, but fumbled one of them. Thankfully, it was recovered by State. But then he completely whiffed a block in pass pro and went the wrong way on a run play. He completely busted two plays. That raises bigger questions to be addressed momentarily.

Coaching/Intangibles:

1. Players showed relentless effort and never quit. The rally was a thing of beauty, even though it fell just short. And doing it on the road in Death Valley, arguably the most hostile environment in America, shows a whole lot of guts.

2. Dan Mullen’s offensive game plan was atrocious. After a game against South Carolina where the Dawgs had a 60/40 run split, Mullen went right back to the soft “balanced” approach. On 64 offensive plays, State wound up with a dead even split of 32 rushes and 32 passes.

In Mullen’s defense, I imagine that was at least partially impacted by the huge hole State found themselves in early. Down 20-0 and LSU looking unstoppable, Mullen probably felt like we had to throw to get back into the game.

But for me personally, that rings a bit hollow. You have to run your offense and do what you do best. Asking Fitz & D-Will to throw 30+ times is never the right decision. Neither of them is ready for that kind of offensive attack right now and they may never be. We do know, according to Mullen himself, Fitz is the best running QB he’s coached. Go back to the Relf-fense and let Fitz do what he does best.

At one point late in the third quarter, Mullen had gone to Aeris & Shump as his primary RBs. We were running it down LSU’s throat with success and looked like we were going to march in for a crucial TD. Instead, Dan got cute and called three straight pass plays. Two incompletions and a sack later, State was out of FG range and had to punt. Dan just can’t get out of his own way sometimes. When something is working, keep doing it until the other team proves they can stop it. Don’t assume they’re onto it or they’ll stop it and do something different. Make them prove it before you try something else.

3. Personnel management, particularly QB, is still a complete disaster. While I will give Mullen credit for reducing how often Holloway touches the ball to a reasonable number, running him between the tackles is asinine. It’s a good thing he only had 5 rushes. If Dan had tried to run him 15 times like against SCar, Holloway would’ve gone home in a casket.

Why can’t Aeris and Shump get the bulk of the carries? They have the size and power to run between the tackles and proved it against LSU with several good runs. If they can run inside on that D, they can do it on almost any D except maybe Bama. Feed the big fellas and let them wear down the opposing D.

If Aeris still can’t block or learn the playbook, why does Mullen keep running him out there? We have 3 other RBs chomping at the bit for carries in D-Lee, Gibson and Murphy. But they aren’t even allowed to bend a blade of grass on the field. Why are they being collectively ignored?

Where is Malik Dear? Other than getting blown up on special teams, he’s had no impact so far this season. Yet he was arguably our most explosive playmaker last season. But he suddenly can’t even get snaps? Turn the kid loose, because we’re desperately short of difference makers offensively. Dear showed last year that he’s a difference maker.

Why are we stuck with Graham at CB? Is Smitherman or Stamps really that much worse? Or why not give Jamal Peters and extended look? He’s played well there in limited snaps. And Smokey might benefit from some time as the Nickel CB where there’s less pressure and exposure. Why does Coman continue to play so much? Let Mark McLaurin get the bulk of his snaps, because he’s going to be a star if you’ll turn him loose.

I could go on and on about personnel. Bottom line, get the best players on the field regardless of class. The only way young players grow up and get experience is by playing.

4. Is our offense really so complicated that a RS Sophomore RB in incapable of learning it? Because if so, we need to toss the offense in the garbage. That level of intricacy isn’t suited to the college game and the practice time limits. A RB ought to be ready to play in no more than 2-3 weeks of fall camp.

And if it’s that Aeris himself isn’t able to learn the playbook, why is Mullen not giving one of the other 3 backs a shot? D-Lee looked like the best natural RB of the 4 we saw last season, including Williams. Gibson & Murphy were both very impressive in the spring game. If Aeris can’t do what he needs to, stop wasting time when there are other guys capable of taking his place.

5. I normally try not to complain about officiating because it’s a copout for poor play. But the crew last night was awful. They flagged Lewis for a questionable personal foul to keep an LSU drive alive in the first quarter. Then later on the same drive, they called a bogus running into the kicker penalty on Johnathan Calvin. LSU wound up taking the FG off the board and scored a TD three plays later, a swing of +4. State lost by 3.

While I’m not going to say that lost the game, it certainly played a part. But State had several chances to score later and couldn’t get the job done. Fitz overthrowing a wide open Donald Gray immediately comes to mind. LSU didn’t need the refs to help beat us, but they got it anyway.

6. I think Mullen quit on the team in the 3rd quarter. State punted inside LSU territory 4 times. But what was telling to me was down 23-3, Mullen opted for a FG. We weren’t getting back in the game with 3 points and everyone knew it. Mullen was simply opting to make the loss look less lopsided. We needed TDs and Mullen refused to take a chance. I’m not saying go for it on 4th down every time, but a couple of them would have been nice. You aren’t beating a team like LSU at home without taking some chances. No risk, no reward.

Final Thoughts:

Another really frustrating game against the Bengal Tigers. They absolutely own us. What really hurts is that this was a winnable game. The talent gap isn’t as huge as most would have us believe. Our OL and DB positions still need some major work upgrading, but it was pretty even otherwise. We need some size on the outside at WR. And using our best RBs would go a long way toward making us better offensively. For all the grief Sirmon is getting, he has the D doing its job. That’s even more impressive when you consider the injuries at CB.

Frankly, this loss comes down to offense. In the modern game, holding a team to 23 points is a good night. You have to score 28+, and usually 35+, to win in modern football. 20 points won’t cut it. There aren’t too many easy solutions on the OL, but I’m already sick of talking about our RB rotation and we’re only 25% of the way through the season.

I’m glad Mullen squashed all idea of a QB controversy in the postgame. I think he realizes D-Will’s limitations and that Fitz needs to be the primary QB. I’d still like to see what Nick Tiano can do, but we all know Dan isn’t playing a freshman at QB if he won’t play freshmens at RB.

Next up is the UMass Minutemen in Gillette Stadium. Should be a chance for the Dawgs to work on some things and still get a W. Don’t be shocked or panic if it winds up being tight. They played Florida close a couple of weeks ago in the Swamp. So long as we win and start to see some different RBs, it’ll be a good day.

Fire in the Hole and Hail State!