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Hot or Cold: Prescott, Robinson lead stout Mississippi State offense
By Ethan Levine
Published:
What’s the temperature like for Mississippi State after a 4-0 start this season? We analyze several areas where the Bulldogs are hot or cold.
ON FIRE
Quarterback Dak Prescott has been too hot to touch in 2014. So hot, in fact, that the LSU Tigers hardly laid a hand on him in last Saturday’s 34-29 Bulldogs’ victory. Prescott has recorded three straight games with at least 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing, and he’s seemed to make the biggest plays in the biggest moments of games to help keep Mississippi State unbeaten to this point. By SEC standards, he’s actually been a better runner than passer this year, as he’s sixth in the conference in rushing and seventh in passing. Prescott remains on pace to throw for 2,800 yards and rush for nearly 1,200, which should put him in contention for plenty of postseason awards this winter.
STEAMING HOT
Tailback Josh Robinson has been as hot as any tailback in the SEC, although he garners less attention than most other backs in the conference. He rushed for nearly 200 yards at better than 12 yards per carry against a tough LSU defense, and is currently third in the SEC in rushing at better than 120 yards per game on the ground. Robinson runs low to the ground and is great at picking up tough yards after contact, giving Mississippi State a short yardage option without taking its best tailback off the field. He’s versatile, tough, shifty and savvy in following his blockers, making him a huge asset to one of the SEC’s best offenses.
TEPID
The Bulldogs’ have two stellar wideouts in Jameon Lewis and De’Runnya Wilson, both of whom are among the best receivers in the SEC. However, aside from those two weapons, Mississippi State has not received many contributions from other pass-catchers on the team. In the win over LSU Lewis and Wilson accounted for 60 percent of the Bulldogs’ completions and more than 77 percent of their yards through the air. That’s great for the pair of starting wideouts, but not as good for the rest of MSU’s receiving corps. Mississippi State has scored at least 34 points in each of its first four games, so it’s tough to say the wideouts are cold, but tepid seems about right for a group of skill position players who have underachieved in recent weeks.
FROSTY
Just when we thought the Mississippi State secondary had turned a corner, it allowed to late touchdown passes of longer than 30 yards to nearly spoil MSU’s historic victory in Baton Rouge. Worse yet, those passes both came from the right arm of a true freshman, Brandon Harris, who sat on the bench for most of the night. He came into the game cold yet had no trouble picking apart the Bulldogs’ secondary, which has to be a concern after the performances guys like Blake Sims and Kenny Hill put forth in recent weeks. If Mississippi State cannot find a way to prevent the big play through the air, it’s going to have to rely heavily on Prescott and the offense to keep up on the scoreboard.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
