Joe Moorhead must use Mississippi State football’s strength against LSU

The head coach of the Mississippi State football team and the architect of the offense must continue to utilize Nick Fitzgerald’s legs more than his arm as the Bulldogs face LSU.

If Joe Moorhead is aiming to take down the LSU Tigers, the Bulldogs are going to have to use the strength of their offense on the road. The Mississippi State football team can’t afford to throw this game away or even get off to a slow start in Baton Rouge. Given where this game is being played, MSU must do everything it can to take energy away from an incredibly raucous crowd as soon as possible. Otherwise, things could turn ugly just as they did in Lexington, Kentucky and at home against Florida.

As the entire nation witnessed when the Georgia Bulldogs visited, the LSU home crowd can create a huge impact on games in Baton Rouge against even the best teams in the nation. Georgia was never able to hush LSU’s fans and the Bulldogs from Athens couldn’t ever get anything going on offense. If Mississippi State wants to pull off an upset against LSU, the Bulldogs from Starkville can’t afford to fall in that same trap.

Moorhead must implement Mississippi State’s game plan from the Bulldogs’ game against Auburn and utilize the running trio of Fitzgerald, Kylin Hill, and Aeris Williams. This is the strength of MSU’s offense and this is what will give the Bulldogs a shot at victory.

Running against LSU is easier said than done. On the season, LSU is holding its opponents to 120.4 rushing yards per game. That total jumps up a bit against SEC competition, but it isn’t by much. Against SEC foes, LSU allows 152 rushing yards per game. Auburn only ran for 130, Ole Miss gained 150, and UGA put up113 rushing yards.

The only SEC team to break 200 rushing yards on the LSU Tigers was Florida with 215. MSU must follow in the Gators’ foot steps if they hope for a win.

Now, simply running well won’t guarantee a win for the Bulldogs. There’s clearly other aspect of the game, but Mississippi State can’t trust Fitzgerald to have a great game through the air. He’s simply not playing well enough to show that he could have a big game passing wise.

The LSU Tigers have gone through a pair of emotional games in back-to-back weeks. The Mississippi State football team is fresh off of a nice, relaxing bye week. While this season has been unpredictable, there is a thing that is certain. This LSU team is capable of far more than many expected before the season started.

If the Mississippi State football team hopes to knock down Ed Orgeron and his team, then they’ll have to start on the ground. Otherwise, this game is probably lost. There would have to be a sort of miraculous improvement in the passing game for the Bulldogs to succeed there and win this game through the air.