Mississippi State football's starting running back should have a productive season

Mississippi State's offense has a chance to put up big numbers in 2024 under first year head coach Jeff Lebby. QB Blake Shapen should throw for a lot of yards this fall, and he'll have plenty of passing TDs too.

But Lebby's offense isn't all about the air attack. He builds a lot off of his ground game and wants to lean on the run as much as possible. So what types of numbers could State's leading rusher produce? And who actually starts for the Bulldogs at running back?

Who starts for Mississippi State at running back?

The Bulldogs have a major competition for the starting running back role. Jeffery Pittman and Keyvone Lee led the way in the spring after backup roles in 2023, and JUCO transfer Johnnie Daniels looked like he could be a factor in the spring game. Utah State transfer Davon Booth came following the spring after a productive season for the Aggies.

Booth offers a level of explosiveness the other RBs on the roster lack, and that seems to be a trait prioritized by Jeff Lebby. He's also played in this style of offense at Utah State and proved himself well in it. I expect Booth to win the starting job, but Lebby has frequently taken a "RB by committee" approach, which will likely continue at State.

How many yards did Davon Booth run for at Utah State?

Davon Booth has just one season of FBS football under his belt. He began his career in the JUCO ranks, running for over 1,400 yards as a sophomore. In 2023 at Utah State, he was the Aggies' primary starter but split carries pretty evenly with their second RB. Booth ran for 805 yards at an impressive 6.7 yards per carry, a sign of his explosiveness.

How many yards have Jeff Lebby's running backs typically run for?

Jeff Lebby's offense creates opportunities for big rushing numbers, but he rarely has one RB with huge individual stats. That's because in most instances he's used a "RB by committee" approach. The outlier came in 2022 at Oklahoma when Eric Gray took the majority of carries and ran for 1,366 yards at 6.4 YPC.

Lebby's leading rusher has averaged about 963 yards per year (adjusting for shortened seasons), but Gray's season likely skews that a bit. Otis Anderson's 726 yards on 6.4 YPC was his lowest total for a leading rusher, but his leader finishing in the 700s isn't uncommon because of how much he'll spread carries between RBs.

What will Davon Booth run for in Jeff Lebby's offense?

Davon Booth running for over 800 yards at a good YPC while somewhat evenly splitting the load with another RB within the same offense he'll be in for 2024 gives us a good idea of what his output could look like this fall.

That said, we do have to adjust some for the fact he'll be facing SEC defenses, and he could see his carries split up more than he did in 2023 with Pittman, Lee, and Daniels as potential factors. I've also maintained that I expect State to need to throw more on offense to keep pace in 2024.

I'd put the over/under on Booth's rushing yards at 730 but lean towards him finishing over that mark.