Jeff Lebby gives promising injury update on star running back Fluff Bothwell

Things went from bad to worse for Mississippi State football late in the fourth quarter of their blowout loss at Texas A&M over the weekend when star running back Fluff Bothwell went down with was appeared to be a serious lower leg injury. Bothwell, who has easily been the best player on the Bulldog offense through the first half of the year, had to be carted off the field, and in the moment it was heavily assumed that his season was likely over with.

However word began to circulate on Monday that there was some optimism that Bothwell's injury wasn't quite as severe as initially thought. In his Tuesday press conference, Bulldogs' HC Jeff Lebby confirmed that they had received good news with regard to Fluff.

"Feel like good news back on Fluff. As we move forward there's not this hard timeline for us right now...all the pictures came back, and they were positive so feel really good about that. We'll continue to evaluate. That's gonna be a day to day deal, but really fortunate that, again, the images came back the way they did."

Though no official timeline has been set for when Bothwell could return, his season isn't over like originally feared, and that is massive news for Mississippi State. With the difficult back-half of the schedule left to be played, the Bulldogs are going to need to be as healthy as possible to find the needed wins to reach bowl-eligibility. Fluff Bothwell has been a key piece for keeping the MSU offense moving the chains and reaching the endzone, and they did not want to have to navigate the final six games without him.

Mississippi State has the talent to maintain strong run game in Fluff Bothwell's absence

Though Fluff Bothwell has been fantastic and cannot be easily replaced, Mississippi State should still be able to find success running the football while he's out. Davon Booth has proven himself on several occasions that he's capable of producing at a high level in the backfield, and he impressed running the football against Texas A&M.

Xavier Gayten has looked like a dangerous offensive weapon every time he's touched the football. He will certainly see a bigger workload with Bothwell out, and he should take full advantage. Lebby has primarily worked a two-man rotation at RB at MSU, so that can continue.

And of course there is another talented runner who can get more involved, that being QB Kamario Taylor. Taylor has yet to see the number of opportunities many fans have hoped for, but he's still come in as a situational runner for the Bulldogs this year. It's possible that role expands for him as Lebby finds way to make up for the production lost with Bothwell out of the lineup.

Losing Fluff Bothwell for the season would have been a brutal blow to Mississippi State, and it's incredibly fortunate that they should be able to get him back. But the Bulldog run game should still find success while he's out.