STARKVILLE — Mississippi State lost perhaps its most dynamic offensive weapon Tuesday morning.
Senior running back and Columbus native Kylin Hill, who led the Southeastern Conference in rushing during the 2019 regular season, announced his long expected decision to opt out of the rest of the season to prepare for the NFL draft.
While Hill’s departure was initially reported last week and he did not travel for MSU’s 41-0 loss to Alabama on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, the decision offers closure to the will he, won’t he saga and allows head coach Mike Leach to key in on what’s left in his backfield.
Heading into a must-win game against Vanderbilt, it’s now expected former four-star recruit Jo’quavious Marks and fellow freshman Dillon Johnson will shoulder the load the rest of the way.
“I thought the young backs played admirably as far as not having played very much,” Leach said after MSU’s Oct. 3 loss to Arkansas, a game in which Hill was injured after receiving just a single carry. “I don’t have a perfect knowledge of how much they played in the past, but I know it’s not very much. But I do think it was pretty good being pressed into service there.”
Though Hill’s departure is only a recent issue, the five games played this season should shed some light on where carries fall between Johnson and Marks.
Through MSU’s 1-4 start, Marks leads the team with 31 carries for 121 yards compared to Johnson’s 13 carries for 47 yards and the team’s lone rushing touchdown this year. As for Hill, he fell right in between the freshman tandem with 15 carries for 58 yards, though that was largely affected by his virtual non-playing against Arkansas and his missing games against Alabama and Texas A&M, the latter due to suspension.
Assuming MSU follows this trend, Marks, the second-highest rated recruit in the Bulldogs’ 2020 recruiting class, should expect to see the lion’s share of the carries.
The Atlanta product concluded his high school career with 6,391 rushing yards, 275 receiving yards and 554 return yards as a do-it-all game-breaker. Since arriving at MSU, Marks has flashed the look of a dynamic college-level runner, racing through defenders with a low pad level and an ability to extend short passes into first downs as evidenced by his 31 catches for 139 yards this season — the most of any player on the roster.
“I feel very comfortable,” Marks said of his fit in the offense during his lone media availability this season on Oct. 6. “I think it shows a lot of my skill sets…In the NFL they’re trying to see who can catch the ball and block, so I feel like that’s good for being in the air raid.”
While Marks should be the featured back beginning as soon as Saturday against the Commodores depending on his injury status (Leach said Monday he hoped he’d be ready to go after he left the Alabama game), Johnson should receive an ample workload.
At 6-foot and 215 pounds, the Greenville native is the bigger of MSU’s freshman tailbacks. In limited opportunities this fall, Johnson has run with a bruising style between the tackles and offers a powerful compliment to Marks’ speed.
” I’m just trying to do what I’m supposed to do,” he said following the loss to Arkansas. “My first touchdown, it’s unbelievable. I can’t even explain the feeling, but (the game) didn’t end how I wanted it. We still lost, so at the end of the day, I just need to go back, watch film and see what I need to do better and just continue working.”
With one-time Michigan running back Kareem Walker no longer on the team, sophomore Lee Witherspoon could also receive some touches. A three-star back in the class of 2019, Witherspoon has worked mostly as a kick returner this year but did notch 22 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown during his inaugural campaign.
Speaking with reporters Monday, Leach offered optimism in his youthful running backs room that is now down its most prolific playmaker. But for what the group lacks in experience, it boasts in varying running styles and youth that could pay off down the road.
“It bodes well for the future, but you scratch and claw right now,” Leach said in reference to the number of young contributors MSU is touting at present. “Now the other good news is they’re getting reps right now that guys at other places wouldn’t necessarily have because they’d be playing behind somebody. By the time they get to their junior year, they’ll have, in some cases, two full years of experience.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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