STARKVILLE — Mississippi State has granted three running backs at least 20 carries to this point, with one game remaining before the halfway point in the season. Not included on that list is the one still listed as the second-string back, Dontavian Lee.
Lee has still played in every game for MSU, so his role is not being forgotten; all that’s happening is continued growth for Nick Gibson and Kylin Hill.
MSU (3-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) entered the season unsure of what it would have in support of starting running back Aeris Williams; six weeks and five games into the season, MSU might have three as the development of Gibson and Hill have continued. It’s not uncommon for both to carry the ball in the same game; it may happen again 11 a.m. Saturday (SEC Network) at Davis Wade Stadium against BYU (1-5).
“I think they both have gotten smarter,” MSU running backs coach Greg Knox said. “If you don’t get smarter, you can’t get better. In this offense, you’ve got to know what’s going on.”
That simple idea has been the biggest hurdle for Hill. The freshman Columbus native proved quickly in the preseason he had the physical tools to help MSU immediately, making his only roadblock his own knowledge of the system.
His improvement in that respect has been enough to earn him 36 carries, third on the team, for 193 yards and a touchdown. Even with that early production, his outlook remains the same: as he grows as a player, so will his role in the offense.
“He’s getting smarter, and that’s the whole key to his part,” Knox said. “His biggest area of growth is going to be learning the offense and reacting without thinking: getting a signal and reacting to that signal without thinking. Right now, he’s thinking: he gets a signal and he still has to think about what he’s doing, how he’s going to do it.
“Dontavian and Aeris, once they get a signal, they just do it, they don’t think anymore.”
Gibson’s climb to his status — 24 carries for 160 yards, both third among running backs and fourth on the team — came in levels.
“When I first came here, they said the reason I wasn’t play was because I was too small. I gained weight, now I’m up to 215 consistently,” Gibson said. “The second year they said I didn’t know the plays; I have all the plays down pat now. Really, I just feel like the difference between me and the other backs is opportunity.
“I’m still not getting the amount of reps that I want to get, but every opportunity I get I try to take advantage of it.”
That includes running for 52 yards on five carries against Georgia, the No. 10 defense in the nation by yards per carry allowed; but ball-carrying ability was never the concern for Gibson.
In describing the path ahead for Gibson and Hill earlier in the season, MSU head coach Dan Mullen outlined the splits for an average starting running back: as many as 50 plays but often fewer than 20 carries. It was his way of making the point that what running backs do away from the ball is just as important as what they do with it.
In that sense, Gibson sees improvement in himself. He expressed confidence in his pass blocking, and his use suggests his coaches see it, too: in the second game of the season against Louisiana Tech, Gibson was the first one to sub in for Williams. Before Lee, before Hill.
It could have been construed as a big moment for the sophomore Birmingham native, but he didn’t take it as such. That’s not the big moment he’s chasing.
“I want all the running back to do well, I want everybody to be phenomenal. I have no hard feelings for any of the other backs, they’re all phenomenal backs, but I think I’m a phenomenal back, too,” Gibson said. “The carries are there, but I want more plays, you know? I’m praying for it every night.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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