By now we all know how badly Mississippi State’s offense is struggling under Joe Moorhead but you may not realize just how bad the unit has started under the first-year coach.

While the defense was leading the nation in scoring defense heading into the LSU game, the offense leaves that game ranked 127th in the nation in scoring against conference opponents. That ranks dead last in the nation, as the offense is averaging 9.8 points against SEC opponents.

That struggles have many pointing the finger at senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who was a dreadful eight of 24 for 59 yards and four interceptions against LSU. That performance has left many calling for backup Keytaon Thompson to see the field.

Those fans may soon get their wish, although Joe Moorhead isn’t exactly interested in benching Fitzgerald. Here’s what the Mississippi State coach had to say on his unit’s struggles Monday during his latest media availability.

“I think we talked about that after the game. We sit in, we watch the film and we talk about the depth chart at every position – not just the quarterback,” Moorhead said. “That’s the one that’s most talked about and most visible because of the importance of it. For the struggles that Nick has had, throwing the football, I kind of have to credit him for the amount of times he’s rushed the ball and what he’s done for us. To create yards, to create points, but obviously, our struggles in the pass game are apparent. It doesn’t just go to him.

“Three things need to happen for a pass game to be successful: you need to protect, you need to run good routes and gain separation and the quarterback needs to throw the ball accurately. Unfortunately right now, not all three of those things are clicking.”

While Moorhead is quick to defend Fitzgerald, he did open up the door for Thompson to start seeing action on the field moving forward. In his only meaningful action of the season, Thompson started in the season opener against Stephen F. Austin and threw for 364 yards and five touchdowns and added 109 rushings rushing with two scores.

“But to answer your question,” Moorhead continued,” we have discussed in the staff room, not making a change but during the first half and second half giving KT an opportunity to start a drive for two reasons: as a change of pace, because he is a talented player and secondly physically to take some of the wear and tear off of Nick, who has 120 carries in six games. He’s the fifth-leading rusher in the SEC.”

Outside of his huge 2018 opener, Thompson led Mississippi State to a bowl win over Louisville last season and performed fairly well against Ole Miss after being called upon to replace an injured Fitzgerald. While benching the senior captian of the team may seem drastic, the lack of production from Moorhead’s unit seems to be calling for something drastic to happen before the entire season goes down the drain.