Will Rogers walked into the media room at Davis Wade Stadium on Thursday night still in his full uniform, pads, cleats and all, his jersey and pants caked with dust and his signature eye black smeared on his cheeks thanks to both sweat and tears.
Mississippi State’s quarterback had left every bit of himself on the field in the Bulldogs’ 17-7 Egg Bowl loss to No. 12 Ole Miss, and while 207 passing yards may not be a lot by Rogers’ standards, it represented his third-highest output of the 2023 season.
Needless to say, his senior year wasn’t supposed to go like this. Not for Rogers, and not for MSU.
“The game is one thing, but all the seniors, it’s kind of everything we’ve been through,” an emotional Rogers said postgame. “It would have been so easy for us to quit after everything we’ve been through on and off the field. People can say a lot of things about us, but we’re not quitters.”
Life after the ‘Air Raid’
A lifelong Mississippian, Rogers entered his fourth season in Starkville as the Bulldogs’ all-time leader in passing yards and looked like a good bet to become the Southeastern Conference’s career passing leader.
He and the rest of the team were also playing for a new head coach, Zach Arnett, who took over after Mike Leach passed away suddenly last December.
Yes, there were questions about Rogers’ ability to transition from Leach’s Air Raid to new offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay’s more balanced, pro-style offense. Often labeled as a “system quarterback” after shattering the SEC’s single-season record for pass attempts in 2021, then nearly doing it again the following year, Rogers remained confident he could succeed without Leach, especially with so many veterans surrounding him on offense.
“At the end of the day, people can say what they want to say,” Rogers said during the week leading up to the season opener. “I’m going to go out there, prepare harder than anyone we play. I use (the doubters) as motivation and keep it in the back of my mind, like just write that down on a sticky note and remember who said what and when they said it.”
Well, you know what they say about the best-laid plans.
On MSU’s ‘Mount Rushmore’
Rogers threw for 4,739 yards as a sophomore and 3,974 as a junior. But his final year wearing the maroon and white — reports surfaced Friday morning that he is expected to enter the transfer portal to play a fifth year granted to him by the COVID-19 pandemic — was plagued by inconsistencies and an untimely injury. He injured his left shoulder late in the fourth quarter against Western Michigan and missed the next four games, snapping a streak of 38 consecutive starts.
With the exception of a rough outing against LSU, Rogers started the season more or less according to the script, including a career-best 487 passing yards in a road loss at South Carolina. He struggled in a loss to Alabama but bounced back against Western Michigan before the injury. Mike Wright, a senior transfer from Vanderbilt thrust into the starting role, struggled as MSU’s offense scored 26 points combined in four games without Rogers.
Rogers was plenty rusty in his return last Saturday against Southern Miss, finishing just 12-of-17 passing for 144 yards. But he connected with Griffin and running back Jo’Quavious “Woody” Marks for touchdowns, did not take a sack and did not turn the ball over. In the Egg Bowl, Rogers started slow before completing 11 straight passes at one point, crossing the 200-yard barrier for just the third time this year.
Rogers also dusted off his wheels on his team’s lone touchdown drive in the third quarter. On first-and-goal from the Rebels’ 5-yard line, he took off after faking a handoff to Marks and was brought down roughly a foot shy of the goal line. Rogers paid it off on the next play, barreling into the end zone behind a block from Marks for his first rushing touchdown since the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl against Tulsa.
“Will is a determined young man,” interim head coach Greg Knox said. “He’ll probably be a great coach one day. I listened to him speak to the team (Thursday) morning, even last week after the Southern Miss game. (He’s a) very passionate young man. He plays with such determination, he’s not going to let you down, he’s going to give you everything he has. And he did tonight.”
Rogers moved into second place in conference history Thursday night with 12,315 career passing yards, trailing only Georgia’s Aaron Murray. His 1,301 completions as a Bulldog are far more than any other SEC quarterback, and his 94 touchdowns are fourth all-time behind Murray, Florida’s Danny Wuerffel and Missouri’s Drew Lock.
“He’ll be up on Mount Rushmore in Mississippi State football lore,” center Cole Smith said. “He’s been a great player, he’s been a great teammate, great leader. He’s meant a lot to Starkville and he’s meant a lot to us up front. It’s been great blocking for him and playing with him.”
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