Mississippi State football: Air Raid solved? Nope. Kylin Hill's absence caused Bulldogs to become too 1-dimensional
The notion that Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense totally ignores the running game is not accurate. Sure, his quarterbacks throw the ball on close to 70% of snaps, but with a fast offense that gets more than the usual amount of snaps in a game, there is plenty of time for running the ball.
This is why Kylin Hill’s injury in the first quarter of Saturday’s 21-14 loss to Arkansas was so important. All respect to Dillon Johnson (9 carries, 39 yards) and Jo’quavious Marks (10 carries, 37 yards), but they aren’t exactly at Hill’s level. The preseason All-SEC back rushed for 1,350 yards and 10 scores last season and, while those rushing numbers obviously are coming down in 2020, his presence on the field is just as important if not more so in Leach’s offense.
Barry Odom and the Razorbacks seemingly took a game plan from Leach’s former foe Washington in dropping 8 into coverage and daring KJ Costello to throw a short route or hand it off. In the end, Bulldogs running backs combined for 20 carries, yet you could feel that Sam Pittman’s team wasn’t worried about the ground attack.
So while the popular postgame narrative was that Arkansas solved the Air Raid, the biggest factor was the fact Hill missed most of the game. Otherwise, he would have had ample opportunities, just like in the opener.
Even when Gardner Minshew was lighting up secondaries in 2018 for Washington State, Leach still kept defenses honest. In 8 of the Cougars’ 13 games that season, they rushed more than 20 times and, twice, more than 30. Last season, Wazzu rushed more than 20 times just 5 times, with the maximum being 21 in 2 separate games. In 2017, the Cougars ran the ball at least 25 times in 8 of 13 games.
So it’s not that Leach doesn’t run the ball. And it’s not like Arkansas solved the Air Raid or threw something at Leach that he hasn’t seen.
When your best back is out and the defense stops respecting your rushing attack, it becomes a problem. That was the situation Mississippi State found itself in.
Would the Razorbacks have been able to pull off that 3-man front had Hill been in there? I’m not certain they could have. In fact, there would have been at least one defender assigned to tracking Hill wherever he went. We saw what the back can do in Leach’s offense as he put up some eye-popping numbers in receiving yards in the opener against LSU. As State’s running back coach Eric Mele told SDS, Hill “runs pretty good routes, has a good feel, and he has good hands.” In essence, he is a matchup problem.
Yet, as the Razorbacks proved on Saturday in Starkville, a defense can be really good when an offense is one-dimensional. The Bulldogs finished with 87 rushing yards on 24 attempts, an average of 3.6 yards per carry. No matter how good Costello can be through the air, he’s only that good when State’s best player, and that is Hill, is in.
There’s no question that Hill was missed on Saturday. Any team is going to miss an All-SEC type player, especially one as explosive as he is. If he is to miss more time, even this upcoming week against Kentucky, Leach will have to find someone to fill that void. MSU had no such answers, in the moment, against Arkansas.
Mississippi State needs a running game, or at least the threat of it, and its best back to produce the kind of results Leach’s offense is used to putting on the scoreboard. Otherwise, we could see SEC defenses copying the exact game plan the Razorbacks used to pull the upset.
Yeah the Air Raid can never be solved. I mean, just look at all of Leach’s rings.
Rolling my eyes.
Brian, Hill the only go-to RB MS State has? That tells me Leach needs to go to the local high school and find a running back.
Oh you mean like all of Kirby’s rings? Please. Who cares if you get to the SEC champo game but can never once finish. Florida’s the new UGA now, anyway. Maybe they can eventually get it done.
Did you seriously just compare the “number of rings” a coach in his fifth year as a head coach to one in his 19th year as a head coach? Especially when the fifth year coach has three straight division titles in the toughest conference AND a national title game appearance.
Yes, I ‘seriously’ did. Kirby is not a great coach. He’s done half as much with all the talent under his helm as many lesser coaches would have done. And my comment was targeted at Born in 98 in any case, so butt out.
I will continue to comment on a public forum when I choose so, thank you, and not worry about hurting your tender feelings.
tender feelings? ha ok fella if you say so. you’re an idiot.
Georgia Bulldogs “Doing the least with 5 star talent since 1985”
“Would the Razorbacks have been able to pull off that 3-man front had Hill been in there?”
Maybe not the Razorbacks, but I have a feeling the other Bulldogs could.
Imagine if the GA dawgs had Hill! They would be top 5.
Arrrrh, all Bulldogs report to damage control! Now it’s an injury that gifted us a victory. Nevermind that we lost our #1RB, #1WR and a few defensive starters; we only won because Hill was out.
Right. the ole “If” Hill was in there. Guess the writer of this read hasn’t watched much football.
So next week “if” Hill is out then MSU will be back to an all “air raid” massacre.
@bmlock: Very good point. Arkansas had a lot of experience miss the game.
I MSU thumping of LSU, Hill only rushed 7 times for 34 yds 0 TD. He did a lot of damage in the passing game. However, even if Hill was in there the throws to him still would have been underneath our defense and got nowhere.
MSU could have exploited us more had the QB run the ball from out of the pocket.
Bottom Line: Hogs beat us and that’s it.
Hill or no Hill, Hogs were prepared and State was not.
I am a State fan and also a realist. State must adapt and balance to ward off the 8 zone defenses. Lastly, State must get their minds right and play for the moment
^I agree.
you won the game fair and square. Your defense played very well. Only props to them. I was at the game and they had Miss State confused.
Both teams lost their star running backs in the first half…
So why does Miss St get their loss excused because Hill was missing, but Arkansas gets no credit for winning despite missing Boyd?
You’ll get no excuses here. Congrats on the win. I just hate it had to be State
If both teams had their 1st string RB’s the game would still be a toss up. Hogs just got the better of the Dogs that day.
Out played and out coached. Give them all the credit.
Yeah, this article does not give Arkansas enough credit. They have a good defense and they had a good game plan. I don’t see Kylin Hill making that much of a difference. MSU has plenty of weaknesses on offense. Costello is an interception machine. That didn’t matter against LSU because their defense sucks. MSU can’t score when they get into the red zone (didn’t have to against LSU, because their defense sucks, and we ran through the red zone). Arkansas’s D stuffed us several times. Those guys can tackle.
Coaches of air raid offenses just can’t help themselves, they will pass even if the defense has only 1 defensive lineman. IF Leach was smart he would have run more often and line up with a TE but it’s not in his nature.
Arkansas won because they executed well and State did not. They lost their starting RB as well. I know articles like these are just for clicks and you don’t actually care about getting it right, but geez.