Mississippi State football: Comparing Will Rogers’ 2023 starts to 2021 and 2022

With five games of the 2023 Mississippi State football season wrapped up, here’s how Will Rogers is performing this year vs. previous seasons.

One of the biggest storylines all throughout the offseason was how new Mississippi State offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay was brining a new, “more balanced” offense to Starkville. But, with the Mississippi State football roster being assembled to run the Air Raid, there were some questions about how the offense would adjust and how MSU quarterback Will Rogers would play.

So, after five weeks, how is Rogers performing?

Will Rogers in this new offense:

1. Mississippi State vs SELA: 20/29, 227 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 157.5 rating (W)
2. Mississippi State vs Arizona: 13/17, 162 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 214.8 rating (W)
3. Mississippi State vs LSU: 11/28, 103 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 70.2 rating (L)
4. Mississippi State @ USC: 30/48, 487 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 150.4 rating (L)
5. Mississippi State vs Alabama: 15/27, 107 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, 78.8 rating (L)

Total: 89/149 (59.7 percent), 1,086 yards (217.2 yards per game), 7 TD, 4 INT

It’s no secret that Rogers is struggling in this new offense. But how does the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback compare to his performances from previous seasons?

Let’s take a look:

Mississippi State football: Comparing Will Rogers’ first five starts of 2023 to his first five starts in 2021 and 2022

Let’s go back to his first five starts of the 2021 season. Mike Leach’s Air Raid had just been installed and there were some things to be ironed out. Rogers was firmly in the starting role for the Bulldogs.

Will Rogers through the first five games of 2021:

1. Mississippi State vs Louisiana Tech: 39/47, 370 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 165.9 rating (W)
2. Mississippi State vs North Carolina State: 33/49, 294 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 131.2 rating (W)
3. Mississippi State @ Memphis: 50/67, 419 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 141.9 rating (L)
4. Mississippi State vs LSU: 47/62, 371 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 138.8 rating (L)
5. Mississippi State @ Texas A&M: 46/59, 408 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 152.8 rating (W)

Totals: 215/284 (75.7 percent), 1,862 yards (372.4 yards per game), 14 TD, 2 INT

And now let’s take a look at how he performed in 2022:

Will Rogers through the first five games of 2022:

1. Mississippi State vs Memphis: 38/49, 450 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, 184.3 rating (W)
2. Mississippi State @ Arizona: 39/48, 313 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 159.4 rating (W)
3. Mississippi State @ LSU: 24/42, 214 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 103.0 rating (L)
4. Mississippi State vs BGSU: 39/50, 409 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT, 186.3 rating (W)
5. Mississippi State vs Texas A&M: 31/45, 329 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 152.3 rating (W)

Totals: 171/234 (73.1 percent), 1,715 yards (343 yards per game), 19 TD, 3 INT

Mississippi State football: Bulldogs QB Will Rogers struggling with new offense

That’s pretty drastic.

Comparatively speaking, Rogers was thriving with Mike Leach’s Air Raid. The roster was assembled to run that offense and he was putting up impressive numbers week in and week out. The offense wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it (generally speaking) worked. And Rogers played well in that system.

Again, here are those numbers:

• 2021: 215/284 (75.7 percent), 1,862 yards (372.4 yards per game), 14 TD, 2 INT
• 2022: 171/234 (73.1 percent), 1,715 yards (343 yards per game), 19 TD, 3 INT
• 2023: 89/149 (59.7 percent), 1,086 yards (217.2 yards per game), 7 TD, 4 INT

That is a drastic difference for the Bulldogs to have at quarterback. It’s significant. And MSU will need better play at quarterback moving forward if this season is to turn out to be a successful one.

That’s not to say that Rogers can’t get things figured out and turned around. There’s still plenty of time to do just that. And the Bulldogs’ schedule is relatively manageable. Rogers won’t be facing many defenses like Alabama’s up ahead.

If he, Kevin Barbay, and the Bulldogs’ receivers can manage to get on the same page, maybe we’ll see a more productive offense moving forward.