Mississippi State football: Grading the Bulldogs after loss to LSU

Grading the MSU coaching staff vs. the LSU Tigers: F

There’s no way to sugarcoat this one. A loss against LSU was likely to happen. There’s certainly a notable talent differential that exists between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Tigers that is hard to overcome.

That said, this game was abysmal and MSU should have been competitive. The Bulldogs haven’t given up at least 40 points to the Tigers since 2013.

This was bad!

But whatever the gameplan was, it didn’t work. Mississippi State seemed unprepared for the Tigers from start to finish. And there seemingly wasn’t any sort of meaningful change to the way the offense approached this game.

(And the defense just couldn’t keep up with the Tigers).

When there were opportunities to try something new and utilize the other veteran quarterback that has important and meaningful SEC experience on the roster, Mississippi State didn’t really do that. Not that I’m advocating for exclusively using Mike Wright to guide the offense, but you’ve got him, and he’s really fast, so why not try more RPO looks or quick option runs to keep the opposing defense honest?

There’s probably something that I’m missing because I absolutely do not know as much as the coaches, but still, if the offensive line was having issues in pass blocking and couldn’t give Will time, why not try more of something new?

Also, unrelated, but I’d like to see the Bulldogs try *gestures wildly* some sort of tempo. We don’t need to see the Bulldogs operate at breakneck speed like 2011 Oregon or 2013 Auburn, but something a bit faster than what has been happening once they get behind a bit would be nice.

Now, that said, there’s still time for Arnett and his coaching staff to get this season turned around. But they’ve got to get things turned around.

Sooner rather than later would be appreciated.