Mississippi State football film study: Michael Van Buren is the future in Starkville

The next steps for Michael Van Buren

Michael Van Buren is clearly a very talented and very effective player as a true freshman. But he's still a true freshman. He has made and is going to continue to make mistakes. Just for example, communicating plays at the line of scrimmage in time has been an issue a times. That's totally normal for a young QB, and that will improve as the year goes along.

Here's some other things Van Buren needs to work on throughout the rest of this season as he continues to develop...

Quick game accuracy

One area Van Buren has had some struggles this year is in quick game accuracy. State has run quite a bit of quick game this year, especially since Van Buren has taken over at QB. Those short, fast-hitting pass concepts have been go-to plays on passing downs for State. Given Van Buren's inexperience, he hasn't been asked to execute much true dropback passing, which isn't a huge part of this offense to begin with. And when you consider MSU's struggles in pass-protection, going to concepts where the ball isn't necessarily getting out quickly is asking for trouble.

As Van Buren develops (and pass-protection improves), you'll likely see a more diverse passing game from the Bulldogs. That was a big change to Lebby's offense at Oklahoma with a more experienced Dillon Gabriel. But until then, a lot of simple quick game concepts are going to be leaned on. And while that's the case, Van Buren will have to be more consistently accurate with those throws.

Against Georgia in particular, he had a rough day throwing quick game. He misfired on those plays and just in general looked a bit antsy. Lebby said after the game he thought the atmosphere got to him early on, so that makes sense.

On this 3rd & 3 in the 1st quarter, Van Buren missed low and completely behind his intended target, Kevin Coleman. It's a tight window he has to throw into, but there's a chance to complete this ball with an accurate throw. Going forward, he's going to have to get more comfortable with these passes, as again, it's what they're leaning on for many passing downs.

Realizing he doesn't have to do too much

Van Buren hasn't had many true misses in the passing game over these last few weeks. There's been instances of not being on the same page with his WRs and, unfortunately, a lot of batted balls (knowing where his throwing lanes are and how to change arm angles will take some time). But in terms of not recognizing an open receiver or ill-fated throws, you haven't seen it as much as you would with a lot of freshmen.

That said, we did see the flipside of Van Buren's occasional "hero-ball" nature against Texas A&M. When a QB, especially a young one, sees they can make some wild plays off script, their instinct becomes to push the envelope.

Here we get both the rare miss and Van Buren trying to do too much and it almost backfiring. State went to this empty set on several occasions with Seydou Traore working an option route over the middle of the field, and they hit Traore with a lot of success on that play.

Traore does get open initially in this instance, but Van Buren doesn't take it. I think based on the pre-snap look he was expecting the seam route from his left slot WR to be there. But A&M does a good job disguising the coverage here to take away the seam. And by the time Van Buren looks to Traore, he's no longer in an open zone.

Pressure gets there, so he's forced to bail to his left. Nothing is open, and at this point it's either got to be a throw away or try to pick up a few yards running. Instead Van Buren attempts to lob the ball to Traore between three defenders and the ball is nearly picked-off.

Obviously, you don't want to handicap Michael Van Buren and take away his ability to create off-script. At times, he really has to given the struggles of this team. But on the other hand, as State is getting into closer games, mistakes become amplified. He can't put the ball in danger when there's nothing to be had. That's part of the learning experience.

Michael Van Buren has the chance to be special for Mississippi State

The needed improvements are minor factors when it comes to Michael Van Buren in 2024. If he's the exact same player he's been over these last three games the rest of the year, the Bulldog offense is going to be fun to watch. He's still doing more than enough to give Mississippi State a chance on Saturdays during a rebuilding year and provide hope for the future of the program.

Van Buren is a great fit for what Jeff Lebby wants to do, he's immensely talented, and he's already showing signs that he's quickly progressing towards an incredibly high ceiling. The moxie he's shown flashing "horns-down" at the Texas crowd after scoring and going at it with the A&M defense after plays only adds to the excitement around his game. He's a competitor that plays with an edge, which is exactly who you want running your offense.

He is a piece you can build a program around. He's the type of talent that recruits, both high school and transfer portal, are going to want to play with. The Bulldogs may be in the midst of a major rebuild, but they've got the guy who can lead them out of it. Michael Van Buren will be the face of Mississippi State football going forward.