2011 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Preview

No one took head coach Dan Mullen seriously when he talked about making Mississippi State a contender in the SEC West, but Mullen has everyone believing after posting a nine-win season that included wins over Georgia, Florida, rival Ole Miss, and Gator Bowl victory over Michigan. After shuffling quarterbacks and tailbacks around for much of the early season, Mullen settled on quarterback Chris Relf and tailback Vick Ballard. Once he did so, the Bulldogs’ offense took off, rushing for 215 yards per game. A total of 15 starters from that team are back, and that puts Mullen and the Bulldogs in position to be a darkhorse candidate in the SEC West.

Mullen has shaped plenty of good quarterbacks in his time as an assistant at Florida and Utah. Few expected Chris Relf to be one of those great quarterbacks, but by the end of 2010, he was firmly in command of the offense and was a weapon as a runner and passer. Relf finished 2010 with almost 1,800 yards passing and an impressive 880 yards rushing. That was while he was splitting time early in the season. Relf is now firmly in command of the offense and when Mullen has a quarterback he can trust, he is a wizard calling plays and exploiting mismatches.

Relf’s backfield mate, Vick Ballard, also returns after rushing for nearly a thousand yards while splitting carries for much of the season. Ballard and Ladarius Perkins give Mullen two outstanding backs that will force defenses to pay attention to them and not solely on Relf in the rushing game. Mullen’s spread option offense is unique in its use of power rushing plays. The question for the Bulldogs offense is: Where will the big plays in the passing game come from? Dropped passes plagued the Bulldogs all year in 2010, and while Chad Bumphis and Chris Smith are back, neither is keeping defensive coordinators awake at night. Mullen has said that being able to punish teams that bunch up to stop the run through the air is the missing piece of the offense. Until that develops, Mullen and company will be forced to deal with teams stacking the tackle box to defend the run game.

The Bulldogs played incredible defense for Mullen and former coordinator Manny Diaz in 2010. Not content to sit back and get run over, Diaz dialed up blitz after blitz and for the most part it was effective. Diaz is now gone but his replacement Chris Wilson has promised that the aggressive playcalling will continue. State can afford to take so many chances because its entire secondary returns intact. Being able to rely on man coverage allows the defense to overcompensate for some of the losses up front and still bring pressure.

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The challenge for the defense will be in replacing all three starting linebackers. Some of the pain will be eased by a defensive line that returns three of four starters and signed a handful of talented freshmen. If the defensive line can be as dominant as it was at times last season, that should at least give the new linebackers some time to grow into their roles. Cameron Lawrence played the most of the new linebackers and will be the leader of a very raw group. Clemson transfer Brandon Maye will also attempt to get NCAA permission to play immediately for the Bulldogs and would help provide depth.

The schedule is as daunting as any SEC West schedule could be. The good news for Mississippi State is that its constant opponent from the East is Kentucky, a team the Bulldogs have beaten the past two years. The Bulldogs get Auburn and LSU in the first month before a rough finish to the season facing Alabama at home, Arkansas on the road, and then home again to face Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. It’s an easier schedule than last season and should allow Mullen to equal last season’s win total.