Mississippi State football: Grading the Bulldogs. Offense stuck in the mud, again

It was another tough night for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who lost a gut-wrencher at home to the Florida Gators on Saturday.

For the second straight game, the once high-powered Bulldogs offense was stifled, being limited to 202 yards on the heels of a 201-yard performance last week against Kentucky. After averaging 50 points in their first three games, the Bulldogs have now scored just 13 in their last eight quarters.

Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the Bulldogs’ performance Saturday night.

Quarterback

Another tough game for Nick Fitzgerald against the Gators, as the senior QB completed just 11 of 26 attempts for 98 yards with no TDs and no INTs. 3.8 yards per attempt is simply awful any way you cut it. He wasn’t much better on the ground, carrying the ball 20 times for just 32 yards, averaging 1.6 yards per attempt. We’re getting closer and closer to the point where excuses for Fitzgerald’s inability to carry his team are no longer accepted. For the second game in a row, his team was trailing in the fourth quarter, and the offense got stuck in the mud with him behind the wheel. Granted, not all of the passing woes were on him directly (more on the receivers in a bit), but he certainly carries the bulk of the responsibility. Too often, he made poor reads, kept the ball when he shouldn’t have, threw into coverage, threw behind or over his targets, etc. Grade: F.

Running backs

The Bulldogs have two very talented backs in Aeris Williams and Kylin Hill, and for a game that was essentially neck-and-neck until the final whistle, for them to have only a combined 12 carries is a head scratcher, especially when you consider they totaled 72 yards, averaging 6 yards per carry. A lot of this actually comes down to Fitzgerald making poor reads, keeping the ball when he shouldn’t have, but for a team that wants to use the run to set up the pass, they have to get their talented backs the ball more often. Grade: B-.

Wide receivers/tight ends

Awful game by the Bulldogs receivers, on the heels of a bad performance in Lexington last week. These receivers simply can’t get separation against man coverage on a consistent basis, and it’s exacerbated by the fact that they don’t have a QB who can throw them open. Fitzgerald’s accuracy doesn’t help, but when he does have an accurate throw right on the money, his receivers drop it. The drop by Osirus Mitchell early in the game was especially egregious, and considering the final score, the 7 points they lost there hurt even more. Grade: F.

Offensive line

For the second straight game, the Bulldogs got pushed around up front and failed to generate a consistent push in the ground game. In pass protection, they gave up 6 sacks and were getting mauled on the outside by edge rushers. LT Greg Eiland is going to get Fitzgerald killed at some point this year. He’s a huge guy with an enormous wingspan, but he hasn’t been able to handle speed on the outside. The interior of the line, which is the strength of the unit, was generally okay but struggled with blitz pickup at times. For Fitzgerald to make an accurate pass, he really needs a clean pocket so he can set his feet, and too often in the last eight quarters he has been pressured, making his already shaky accuracy plummet further. Grade: F.

Defensive line

The Bulldogs were able to come up with only 1 sack, which just isn’t good enough for a unit as talented as they are. Granted, they did a pretty good job applying pressure to Feleipe Franks when he attempted deep balls, but the Gators cut that out pretty early, which negated the effectiveness of the unit. They were generally pretty good against the run early but started to get worn down by the end of the game thanks to the offense’s inability to convert on third down (just 2-for-12 in the game). The unit could’ve been worse, but they could’ve been better, too. Grade: C.

Linebackers

Like the defensive line, they weren’t too bad early, both in coverage and getting their run fits, but got worn down. Cam Dantzler may have made that pick, but he can certainly thank Erroll Thompson for making a great play in coverage and tipping it in the air. Once Florida moved to the quicker passing attack, which took away the Bulldogs’ defensive line, the LB unit got carved up by Franks in short and intermediate throws. Grade: D+.

Defensive backs

The final stat line of the QB they faced (22-of-31, 219 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT) indicates the secondary had a pretty good game, but it wasn’t always pretty. The unit struggled in man coverage against a talented group of Florida receivers, and the miscommunication on the trick play allowed the Gators to score the one and only TD of the game, when Kadarius Toney completed a 20-yard TD pass to Moral Stephens. The Bulldogs DBs didn’t play a great game, but ultimately they weren’t too bad, especially when you consider the talented receivers they were going against. Grade: C+.

Home crowd

The Bulldogs couldn’t have asked for a better performance from the home crowd in this game. Kudos to the State fans at that game. Goodness, were y’all loud. The noise helped, too, contributing to many of the 11 penalties the Gators committed (totaling 90 yards). Grade: A.

Rick Stavig

Rick Stavig, who played at Ole Miss and Shippensburg University, is the owner of SE Scouting. A veteran scout, he specializes in the NFL Draft and recruiting coverage.