Know Your Enemy: Moo State

Posted on 9/21/20 at 1:49 pm

Posted by Captain Crown

Member since Jun 2011

50787 posts

Posted on 9/21/20 at 1:49 pm

SI article

1. With Mike Leach bringing in his Air Raid offense, talk a little about some of the receivers who should benefit from change in philosophy.

quote:
Well, the short answer is everyone. For every single receiver, opportunities just jumped. Leach is going to throw the football somewhere around 70 percent of the time and in the past at his other coaching stops, he has spread the football around. So it’s tough to zero in on just a guy or two to keep an eye on. Perhaps the best guess would be slot receiver Austin Williams. He’s a guy that hasn’t been a humongous part of the Mississippi State offense in the past, but Leach has praised him all throughout camp. Recently, Leach said Williams might not be their best receiver, but he’s the most consistent. And Leach has preached this preseason how much he loves consistency.

2. What about Kylin Hill? We know he returns as one of the SEC’s best running backs but how does his role expand/differ with an emphasis being focused on the passing attack?

quote:
When the new coaching staff came to Starkville earlier this year, one of the first things running backs coach Eric Mele told Hill was that he wasn’t going to lead the SEC in regular-season rushing yardage as he did a year ago, but that he might lead the league in all-purpose yardage. So Hill’s role is definitely about to change. It wouldn’t totally be a surprise if he’s the team leader in receptions before the season is done. He has been somewhat productive in the passing game before. And he used to line up as a slot receiver some in high school. So, in theory, Hill has the skill set to be effective as a receiver out of the backfield. He’s sure going to get chance after chance. True freshman running back Jo’Quavious Marks has also impressed in camp, so he’ll likely get opportunities as well.

3. LSU fans will want to know this, particularly with such turnover on offense. If you had to choose, what is the biggest weakness of the Mississippi State defense the Tigers can exploit?

quote:
Unquestionably, it’d have to be the Mississippi State secondary. It’s a youthful, inexperienced bunch. Outside of three guys (cornerback Martin Emerson and safeties Marcus Murphy and Fred Peters), it’s a bunch of unknown commodities. Even then, Emerson is only a sophomore and is still developing. Peters didn’t play a ton last season. Murphy is the closest thing to a sure thing, and even he doesn’t have an incredibly long track record after missing eight games of his sophomore season last year due to a suspension for a violation of team rules. Then, when you start talking about depth in the secondary, things even cloudier. In fact, depth is a bit of a concern for the Mississippi State defense as a whole. But overall, the secondary is probably the leading contender for weakest unit on the entire team, at least as we sit here today.