STARKVILLE – “Chris Relf is our starter.”
Those five words were all Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen needed to dismiss a quarterback controversy.
Looking for what he called “a spark” to an offense that had 16 yards in the second half, Mullen pulled Relf and inserted Tyler Russell for the final 10 minutes of MSU’s 19-6 loss to No. 3 LSU on Thursday night.
Against one of the best defenses in the Southeastern Conference, Russell’s first two possessions ended with three and outs followed by the last of LSU’s six sacks that forced Russell into an interception on the next snap.
“We weren’t moving the ball, and I think we had a couple straight three and outs and we put Tyler in to create something different on the offense,” Mullen said. “We wanted to change something up.”
Mullen used the word “spark” eight times Sunday on his weekly local teleconference to explain what he was looking for from Russell.
Relf was 11 of 17 for 96 yards and was sacked four times against LSU. While he was in the game, MSU scored its six points and had 145 yards.
Relf said he realized Mullen was trying to give LSU a different look.
“He hasn’t talked with me (about the substitution), but on the offensive side of the ball nothing was clicking,” Relf said. “I wanted to stay in, and it wasn’t like I wanted to come out. It was tough for me to watch, but it’s the coach’s decision.”
When Mullen evaluated the film, he said Sunday he wasn’t dissatisfied with Relf’s performance.
“Chris played well Thursday,” Mullen said. “We were just very stagnant, and (the coaching staff) was looking for anything to get a spark.”
Relf said Tuesday his new goal for this season is to make sure MSU finishes with only the two losses.
“I just got to pick it up, and I’ve got nine more games to go to finish the season out strong,” Relf said. “Who says we can’t go 10-2? That’s my goal going out in practice.”
Mullen said Monday that the practice repetitions between the two would be distributed equally this week in preparation for the team’s game at 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPNU) against Louisiana Tech. He said Relf would get a majority of the work and almost all of the snaps with the first-team offense.
“It’s all the same (in practice),” Mullen said. “Everything’s the same as it’s been all during training camp.”
Since the season-opening 59-14 victory at the University of Memphis, MSU (1-2, 0-2 SEC) has four passing plays for more than 20 yards. Relf and Russell have two each.
When asked about a trend that has accounted for the lack of big plays in the back-to-back losses, MSU receivers coach Angelo Mirando shook his head, laughed, and said he didn’t have an answer for the situation.
“We’ve been close (and) six inches here, a foot there and games are
different,” Mirando said. “We had opportunities to make plays and we just got to make them, simple as that.”
Mullen insisted Monday there’s no panic about a chemistry problem between Relf and the receivers, especially in the vertical passing game.
“We’re just off the finger tips a little bit on a couple of throws, and I don’t know if it’s a concern with timing,” Mullen said. “We’re not missing on every throw. We’re just missing a couple deep throws here and there.”
Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes said Monday his defense, ranked 99th in the nation after three weeks, can’t focus on making Mississippi State one dimensional like LSU did.
“They throw the ball well enough that you can’t just commit eight or nine guys to the box and say go ahead and throw it,” Dykes said. “They are basically running what Florida was running when (Tim) Tebow was there. When you have a big, physical quarterback like that, he is basically a running back. It is hard to outnumber them in the box, and you have to take some chances and stack the box, but they throw it well enough to make it scary.”
Mirando, a first-year position coach at MSU, said Monday that fans outside the program make too much out of the schemes teams throw at MSU to disrupt the offense’s rhythm.
“A lot of it depends on us — not what LSU did or Auburn did or Memphis did, or what Louisiana Tech is going to do,” Mirando said. “It’s all about us and how we run our routes and get better. Maybe I’m wrong.”
Relf said MSU has been focusing on the vertical passing game in practice with simulated third-down situations to get him used to throwing against defenses that are predicting pass instead of run.
“I think we’re going to have a breakout game (and) this season is about to turn around real quick,” Relf said. “Those guys made big catches today. It’s just a matter of those guys building that confidence in practice.”
One of the main concerns with the passing game is finding five
consistent players to block for the quarterback. LSU had six sacks and 15 tackles for loss Thursday night. That type of disruption in the backfield creates a domino effect of negative momentum no matter what play is called.
“Your timing is always going to be different when you get guys in your face and you’re trying to beat man coverage,” Mullen said. “Your timing is going to be a little bit different on every throw. We’ve got to get those last couple of inches and make those plays when we’re taking shots down the field.”
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