Mississippi State football: New offense grabs spotlight in Bulldogs’ spring game
By Les East
Published:
Mississippi State’s “Air Raid” offense is gone.
But that doesn’t mean the Bulldogs’ offense won’t continue to be productive, periodically explosive and mostly entertaining.
First-year head coach Zach Arnett and new offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay haven’t put a catchy nickname on the new scheme, but the offense’s performance in the Maroon & White Game on Saturday afternoon at Davis Wade Stadium was encouraging.
One of the bigger scheme changes — emphasizing the run more while getting wide receivers more involved as ball carriers — and 1 of the bigger personnel changes — moving starting kickoff returner Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin from outside receiver to a slot merge — converged to produce some of the game’s highlights.
On the 4th play from scrimmage, the speedy Griffin ran 43 yards for a touchdown on an end run, setting the tone for the Maroon Team (1st-team offense/2nd-team defense) in its 17-7 victory over the White (1st-team defense/2nd-team offense).
Arnett said he divided the teams as he did to try to produce “a competitive, fair matchup” that would feature “as much good-on-good competition as possible.”
Mission accomplished.
Putting the teams together as he did allowed the starting offense, which is still adjusting to Barbay’s methodical implementation of a new scheme, to show itself against the 2nd-team defense rather than the starting unit.
The defense figures to be well ahead of the offense in the sense that it is beginning its 4th year in its scheme, as Arnett was the defensive coordinator for 3 seasons before being promoted after the death of head coach Mike Leach in December.
Both sides of the ball are going through a transition, but Arnett’s top lieutenant on defense is Matt Brock, who added Arnett’s old title to that of linebackers coach, which he held for the previous 3 seasons.
Brock’s debut as play-caller was a big success, as State defeated Illinois, 19-10, in the ReliaQuest Bowl. The Arnett/Brock defense held the Illini, who hadn’t been held to fewer than 100 rushing yards in any previous game last season, to just 22 rushing yards.
The Bulldogs also had a season-high and school bowl-record 7 sacks among their 10 tackles-for-loss.
So, the defense had a head-start on the offense in its transition to the post-Leach Era. Not only did the defense have the continuity of keeping the same scheme, but it already had played a real game against a bowl-worthy opponent.
Saturday’s scrimmage provided the 1st quasi-game opportunity for Barbay to test his new players in the system that he operated to great success at Appalachian State last season and at Central Michigan the year before that.
Both sides of the ball spent more than a month getting accustomed to one another during the practices leading up to Saturday.
The offense not only features more run-pass balance, but it also is utilizing the tight end position that didn’t exist in the Air Raid.
On Saturday, 9 of the 1st 14 plays run by the 1st-team offense were runs, showcasing the new approach, though the play-calling reverted to more balance as the scrimmage continued.
Will Rogers showed he can still find the big passing play in this offense, connecting with Zavion Thomas, who made a 1-handed catch on a 55-yard touchdown pass.
Ideally, State is going to implement a more prominent and productive running game without reducing the effectiveness of the passing game.
No spring game — especially 1 with a program featuring this many changes — is a reliable predictor of what will happen during fall games. But this game was an opportunity for Arnett, his staff and the players to execute what they’ve been working on the past several weeks and offer at least a glimpse into what the 2023 team will look like.
Just as Leach’s offense largely shaped the identity of his program, Arnett’s defense figures to largely shape the identity of his.
But in order for Arnett’s program to build on the success of Leach’s program, the new offense is going to have to emerge as an effective complement to the defense.
So far, so good.
Les East is a New Orleans-based football writer who covers LSU for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @Les_East.
