Ad Disclosure
Keytaon Thompson is Joe Moorhead’s first major project, which looks promising after TaxSlayer Bowl win
Published:
Jordan Rodgers got a little ahead of himself.
The ESPN color commentator for the TaxSlayer Bowl was trying to praise the ability of Mississippi State quarterback Keytaon Thompson. It was shortly after he made an impressive scramble to pick up a first down. There were plenty of those Saturday in Jacksonville.
So Rodgers, a former quarterback, applauded Thompson’s ability to make people miss with his legs. That led to Rodgers saying something to the effect of Thompson is “just as dangerous in the open field as Lamar Jackson.”
OK, that might’ve been a stretch.
Still, the point was understood. Thompson faced off with Jackson’s Louisville squad on Saturday, and at times, it was hard to tell the difference between the two. In his first career start, Thompson was decisive, slippery and most importantly, he was victorious.
Was he Jackson yet? No. To compare a true freshman in his first career start to a Heisman Trophy winner was a bit much.
But lucky for Thompson, Joe Moorhead can make those comparisons more than hyperbole in the next few years.
That’s going to be Moorhead’s major project in Starkville. It won’t be building up Nick Fitzgerald. That was Dan Mullen’s project. All Moorhead has to do is make sure that he and Fitzgerald get on the same page. But as Fitzgerald works his way back from his season-ending ankle injury, Thompson will get plenty of reps with Moorhead this spring.
The new Mississippi State coach had to be giddy about what he saw Saturday. Thompson might be a project, but the foundation to thrive in Moorhead’s offense is there. Clearly.
Thompson wasn’t as dangerous as Jackson in the open field, but he was extremely successful as a runner. His final line was Fitzgerald-like. Thompson finished with 27 rushes for 147 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rarely was he stymied in the backfield.
Usually, Thompson was the one delivering the blow:
Keytaon Thompson ankle breaking juke into a truck move vs Louisville pic.twitter.com/eYuNypgGtY
— BLACK SPORTSCENTER (@VersaceBoyEnt) December 30, 2017
That overshadowed the fact that he was only 11-for-20 for 127 yards as a passer (with an interception).
That’s where the work will come in for Moorhead. His system needs quarterbacks who can stretch the field and make big-time throws if they have to. The fortunate thing was that Thompson certainly wasn’t afraid to take shots deep. He under-threw Reginald Todd on what should’ve been a touchdown, but it was still a drop. Thompson then over-threw Deddrick Thomas on what would’ve been a huge play with the Bulldogs down late in the fourth quarter.
Those are correctable mistakes. The more that Thompson works with his receivers, the more they’ll connect. And with Moorhead’s tutelage, they’ll spend no shortage of time developing that deep-ball chemistry.
Moorhead is going to be excited to work with Thompson. That’s what it seemed like when the Bulldogs’ new coach joined the ESPN broadcast booth in the first half. He was nothing but complimentary of Thompson, who Moorhead said looked “fantastic.”
Interestingly enough, it wasn’t long ago that Moorhead watched the Taxslayer Bowl with a new quarterback project ahead.
Two years ago, Christian Hackenberg went down in the first half of the TaxSlayer Bowl against Georgia. It was up to some redshirt freshman named “Trace McSorley” to revive the Lions’ offense. That day, McSorley nearly led the Lions back from a 24-3 deficit. Hackenberg’s injury turned out to be a blessing for the then soon-to-be Penn State offensive coordinator Moorhead, who got to see what he was working with instead of watching an NFL-bound quarterback.
Of course, McSorley then thrived with Moorhead and Penn State became what it is today. After watching Thompson on Saturday, there’s no doubt that Moorhead can thrive with him, too.
That — even more than a bowl victory — was the most encouraging thing about Mississippi State’s performance Saturday. It provided a little light into what the post-Fitzgerald offense can look like. Obviously MSU has to recruit some playmaking receivers (Moorhead’s offenses at Penn State were always loaded with talent at the skill positions). And by the time Thompson takes the job, there’s no guarantee that MSU will have game-changers as good as Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat on defense.
But man, that was about as encouraging of a performance as MSU could’ve asked for out of Thompson.
Mississippi State interim coach Greg Knox said in the postgame interview that he and Thompson had a talk on Friday night. Knox told his first-time starting quarterback that he was a bit restless about coaching in his first game after spending the better part of 3 decades as an assistant. Thompson told Knox to sleep easy and that he’d take care of it.
Mississippi State fans should sleep easy tonight. With Thompson and Moorhead, they can dream of lighting up SEC scoreboards for years to come.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
