Mississippi State Football: 3 overreactions from Week 4 win over LSU

1. Air-raid offense development is ahead of schedule

As mentioned before, there was a lot of doubt that the air-raid offense of the Bulldogs would not be able to reach their full potential until later in the season. There were even more doubts that Mississippi State was not able to find their consistency this season even with the transfer of former Stanford quarterback KJ Costello.

Spring ball is where teams could install their new offensive, defensive, and special teams schemes for the upcoming football season. With the impact of COVID-19 affecting spring football for all teams in the nation, it made developing their new schemes and systems more difficult.

Mike Leach was able to use whatever time he had during the offseason to make sure his air-raid offense was to his satisfaction. After only one game, it appears that the development of the air raid is well ahead of schedule. Costello threw for 623 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions on 36-of-60 passing. The Bulldogs only rushed the ball 16 times for nine yards on the ground.

Four Bulldogs accounted for six or more receptions as Costello was able to efficiently spread the ball around the field. They also had three players account for at least 100 receiving yards.

Senior wide receiver Osirus Mitchell, who started the previous two seasons, accounted for seven receptions for a team-high 183 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Kylin Hill was able to adjust to his new role well for the Bulldogs as he accounted for a team-high eight catches for 158 yards and a touchdown.

The Bulldogs were able to capitalize the defensive mistakes and coverage schemes of the Tigers, who were playing without their star cornerback in Derek Stingley Jr. Mississippi State was able to show its offense’s immediate capabilities in the air raid as it will be one of the most difficult offenses to stop in the SEC.