STARKVILLE — Like most offensive play-callers, Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby scripts a certain number of plays during the week for his team to run at the beginning of each game.
But for a head coach with as strong an offensive track record as Lebby came in with, his early-game offense the last two weeks has left a lot to be desired. A week after MSU totaled just two yards on its first two possessions against Arizona State, both three-and-outs, the Bulldogs started even worse last Saturday night. Thanks to sacks and penalties that put them behind the chains, they were at minus-9 yards through three drives against Toledo.
“It did not go well, obviously,” Lebby said. “Horrible situational football with third downs being third and extra long. We have to start better, we have to start faster, we have to take the negative (plays) out, we have to take the penalties out. The penalties offensively in the first couple of drives were absolute killers and things that created some really bad situations for us.”
Lebby did not say exactly how many plays were pre-planned, but whatever the number, MSU did not execute them well. The Bulldogs’ first offensive play was clearly designed to get the ball into speedy receiver Kevin Coleman’s hands using a direct snap. Coleman picked up eight yards on a jet sweep to the left — the long side of the field — but the gain was nullified by a holding penalty on tight end Justin Ball.
MSU then tried to establish the run after struggling to do so against the Sun Devils, but two straight handoffs to Davon Booth up the middle gave the Bulldogs a total of four yards, putting them in a third-and-16 situation. With nobody open downfield, quarterback Blake Shapen checked the ball down to tight end Seydou Traore, and Traore was unable to break a tackle and get anywhere near the line to gain.
“We go into every game with scripted plays that we want to start the game with,” Shapen said. “We’ll have our second drive scripted sometimes. Guys understand that pressing isn’t the answer. We have a bunch of mature guys on the offense.”
On MSU’s second possession, the Rockets began bringing extra blitzers, and the Bulldogs’ offensive line could not contain them. Just three seconds after Shapen took the snap on first down, two Toledo players were on top of him for a seven-yard loss, and MSU did not make up the yards it lost.
Freshman Mario Craver was called for offensive pass interference — his second such penalty in as many weeks — on the Bulldogs’ third drive to set up a second-and-19, which then became third-and-26 after another sack. The Rockets sacked Shapen five times in all for 26 yards, while MSU did not register even one sack on Toledo quarterback Tucker Gleason.
“We need to be a lot more disciplined in how we line up, how we get the signals and how we execute the plays,” Shapen said. “If we can get a first down, we’re rolling. That’s been the emphasis all week, just being able to get the first first down and then go from there.”
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