STARKVILLE — Asked if he could remember a game in which Mississippi State ran the football more than Saturday, Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers admitted he couldn’t.
“That might be a record,” Rogers said. “I’m going to write it down.”
MSU’s 34 rushing attempts were its second-most under third-year coach Mike Leach, and the Bulldogs ran the ball to great effect in Saturday’s 49-23 win over Memphis.
Rogers tossed five touchdown passes for Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs ran the ball willingly on the Tigers’ defense throughout the night.
A 2.9 yards per carry average belied the success MSU had on the ground. Dillon Johnson ran for 67 yards on 14 carries, and Jo’quavious Marks had 36 yards on 12 attempts.
While Leach’s Air Raid offense will always be a pass-first scheme — and Rogers said as much Saturday — the duo is not to be taken lightly.
“I just think that Woody and Dillon are probably two of the best players on our team,” Rogers said. “They’ve played more snaps than a lot of people, and they’re dangerous with the ball in their hands.”
That’s always been true in the passing game, where Johnson and Marks played a role again Saturday.
Johnson’s six catches led the team, while Marks caught two passes for 21 yards.
But Leach leaned more on the running game than usual. Only last season’s win over Kentucky featured more rushing attempts — 35, one more than Saturday.
Redshirt freshman Simeon Price even got in on the action, totaling 10 yards on four carries. Price also caught a 20-yard pass from Johnson.
Marks called the Bulldogs’ rushing attack — including fellow redshirt freshman Ke’Travion Hargrove — a “four-headed monster.”
He said MSU had been honing its rushing attack since the spring and throughout summer workouts and training camp.
The Bulldogs got to put that on display Saturday.
Upon resumption from a 2-hour, 15-minute lightning delay, Mississippi State got the ball to Johnson on four straight plays, including three rushes. He took the Bulldogs down to the 22, and MSU scored three snaps later.
Linebacker Jett Johnson said he stood near the Greenville native while the Bulldogs celebrated by singing the school’s alma mater postgame and reveled in Johnson’s talent.
“Good night, I’m glad that we’re not hitting him anymore,” Jett Johnson said.
“He’s got that daddy strength now,” he added of Dillon Johnson, who became a father in early August. “That’s what I tell him.”
While Johnson got much of the work in between the 20-yard lines, Marks made his presence known in the red zone.
Marks needed just two carries to score two touchdowns in the second quarter — one from 1 yard away and the other from 2 yards out.
Defensive tackle Nathan Pickering, used to going against both backs in practice, talked up Marks and Johnson postgame.
“They’re definitely some hard runners,” Pickering said. “They stay on their feet pretty well. They have some speed behind them.”
Marks, Johnson and the Bulldogs backs won’t always have as many chances as they did Saturday. Leach-coached MSU teams have only totaled 30 or more rushing attempts three times, including Saturday.
But if Marks and Johnson are making plays like they did against Memphis, it’s a good sign for Mississippi State.
“Anytime those two guys have the ball, I think we’re in good shape,” Rogers said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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