Mississippi State football film study: Bulldogs vs. Southeastern Louisiana

Mississippi State’s offense

All eyes were on the Mississippi State offense against Southeastern Louisiana.

The Bulldogs are undergoing one of the biggest schematic shifts in the sport this year, going away from the O.G. Air Raid under Mike Leach to a more pro-style system under Kevin Barbay. And we finally got an actual look at what this offense will be.

We knew the basics of what was going to change. State was going to run the ball a heckuva lot more. By bringing TEs back into the offense, they were going to show more formations and personnel groupings. They’d utilize more shifts and motions. They’d call more gadget plays and take more deep shots down the field.

We saw all of that in action on Saturday. The Bulldogs offense posted 525 yards at 7.72 yards per play. State showed that it was an offense in transition early on with just three points through their first three drives. But they then found their groove, scoring on six of their final seven possessions (not counting the kneel-down to end the game).

Here’s what stood out:

Woody Marks is ready to be a workhorse.

The most obvious position impacted by the change in offensive philosophy is running back. No one in college football ran the ball less than Mississippi State over the last three seasons. It’s called the Air Raid for a reason. Meanwhile Kevin Barbay’s offenses at Central Michigan and App State ranked in the top-40 nationally in rush attempts per game.

State has had a good stable of backs, and they still saw plenty of touches in the Air Raid. But how they were utilized in that offense is quite different than how they would be featured in the new system.

The leader of that group is Jo’quavious “Woody” Marks. Marks led MSU in rush attempts each of the last three seasons and has shown impressive burst as a runner. But he has yet to be the featured RB nor has he operated in an offense that regularly asks him to bang ahead between the tackles.

He had a career day on Saturday, carrying the ball 19 times for 127 yards and two TDs while also adding four catches for 59 yards.

Marks showed tough running early. State’s offensive line had some issues blocking their new array of run schemes in the first half, but Marks fought through contact to gain positive yardage. Later in the game as SLU began to wear down and State got better execution up-front, he showed that aforementioned burst with a few long runs.

On State’s first offensive snap of the 4th quarter, Marks broke off a 37-yard run off what looks like an interesting variation of Wide Zone in which the tight end blocks back on an unblocked interior DL. It functions a bit like Split Zone, but rather than the TE handling the backside edge defender, he goes for the backside DT while the guard gets up a LB on the second level.

State showed this look a few times, including on their first play of the game.

Woody would eventually cap off the drive with a 6-yard TD run off of GT Counter. As mentioned in the scheme preview piece, Counter was a concept that gave Lions fits in 2022. State didn’t run it much on Saturday, but it worked when it mattered most.

You’ll notice this play was a RPO, with Will Rogers having the option to throw an arrow screen to Tulu Griffin if numbers are favorable.

Woody Marks is an incredibly talented piece in the Bulldog offense that has shown flashes throughout his career. He looks ready to see his workload increased going forward.

Creed Whittemore: Buy Stock Now

It may not yet be college basketball season, but it still feels appropriate to steal one of Jon Rothstein’s catchphrases here.

Creed Whittemore was one of State’s top signees in the 2023 class. The 4-star out of Gainesville had generated quite a bit of buzz throughout the offseason as a potential high impact true freshman for the Bulldogs. He showed why that hype was warranted on Saturday.

Whittemore got an early opportunity to standout against SLU when starting slot WR Tulu Griffin left with an apparent injury (Griffin would return in the second half). It didn’t take long for Creed to show he deserves his fair share of touches.

After SLU put together a long scoring drive to make it a 10-7 game, Whittemore almost single-handedly put the Bulldogs back up by double-digits, hauling in four catches for 59 yards and a TD in a single drive.

His TD catch was a 33-yard shot from Rogers off of play-action, the exact type of play that’s been promised under Barbay. Creed motions across the formation, and State shows Counter run action, with a guard pulling and Woody Marks opening up to the right before coming back left.

Justin Robinson runs a post route to occupy the safety while Creed turns up field on a wheel route. The play-action fake gets the defense looking into the backfield, and no one stays with Creed downfield.

He’s left wide open for the score.

Though Whittemore didn’t haul in any more catches, he wasn’t done making an impact. In the 4th quarter, he’d take a handoff from Mike Wright off of Jet Motion Power Read 53-yards for his second score of the game.

It may “just” by against a FCS team, but I’m buying stock on Creed Whittemore being an impact player for State in 2023. He’s an explosive athlete that is deadly with the ball in his hands. For as much as Zach Arnett and Kevin Barbay have preached the importance of getting their playmakers touches, I expect Creed to be heavily involved in the Bulldog offense this fall.

Run, Mike, Run!

Mike Wright’s involvement in the offense was an underrated storyline going into the season. He was obviously going to serve as the backup to Will Rogers, but his skillset of having break-away speed at the QB position made him an intriguing option to get playing time.

I explored how Wright might factor into the offense a while back, and there were reports out of camp that State was exploring ways to get him on the field. But I wasn’t entirely sure if we’d see a package for Wright against SLU.

We obviously expected him to get significant snaps because we knew State would build out a comfortable lead, allowing backups to see playing time. But whether or not State would feel the need to show Mike as a change-of-pace QB in this matchup and put that on film for opponents was an unknown.

They answered that question early, with Wright keeping the ball on the same Power Read play shown previously on the first snap of MSU’s second offensive possession. In the 3rd quarter with the Bulldogs again needing a spark offensively, Wright picked up a 1st down off a QB Sweep and then ran 53-yards off of Split Zone Bluff Read to set up a touchdown.

In all, Mike Wright totaled five carries for 95 yards. The dynamic he provides with his legs makes him too valuable a player to leave off the field. You’re going to see him get significant playing time.