Mississippi State football: 5 Areas where Bulldogs should improve most in 2020

No. 3: QB Sacks Allowed

On the flip side of the sack coin, Mississippi State finished 97th in the nation in sacks allowed, giving up 31 quarterback dirt-eating sacks on the season last year. Just as bad, those sacks cost the Bulldogs 193 yards, ranking them 95th in the nation.

While the offensive line still has some issues and might not be a lot better than the 2019 group, the offense they’ll be part of simply lends itself to giving up fewer sacks.

One of the hallmarks of the Air Raid offense is getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quickly. Most of the drop-backs are quick, 2-3 step drops and the routes are all based on timing. Unless you are facing a beast of a defensive player who gets on the other side of the line before the quarterback even has time to look it’s hard to get many sacks.

Last season, Washington State finished 28th in the nation, only giving up 20 sacks all season long, and they didn’t exactly have a line loaded with 4 and 5-star talent.

Whoever gets the starting quarterback job for the Bulldogs will have to learn to get rid of the ball in a hurry and get in sync with his receivers, but once that happens, sacks will be a rarity.