STARKVILLE — It appears the only constant in the Mississippi State quarterbacks room of late is persistent inconsistency.
While the on-field product has been far improved from last season, who is under center game to game remains a mystery.
Last week, coach Joe Moorhead said Tommy Stevens was far improved physically from the shoulder injury that forced him from the game against Kansas State, but Monday Moorhead revealed Stevens is apparently dealing with a separate complication.
“On Monday, at that point, he was better than he was the week before, but what I didn’t clarify is that it was a different mechanism,” Moorhead said Monday. “It was still an upper-body injury but it was something a little bit different than he had the week before and as the week went on he just wasn’t able to go with it.”
With Stevens sidelined, freshman Garrett Shrader has been plenty capable in his place. Shrader, a mid-year enrollee from Charlotte, has completed 28 of 45 passes for 302 yards in three appearances.
More pressing, Moorhead also noted that should Stevens not be able to go Saturday against Auburn, Shrader will start — further clouding Keytaon Thompson’s availability this season.
Thompson is reportedly continuing to rehab from an upper body injury and has been practicing.
Hill maintaining historic pace
While the MSU quarterback conundrum is still ongoing, junior running back Kylin Hill remains a stalwart in the Bulldog backfield.
Through four games, Hill is the third-leading rusher in the country and is the only FBS player in the nation to open the season with four-straight 100-yard games.
And though he has produced at a historic output thus far, his uptick in usage is as much a reflection on Moorhead’s approach as it has been the Columbus native’s ability.
Since Moorhead took over as the head coach at Fordham in 2012, his running backs have averaged 251.14 attempts per year — including Hill’s 117-carry campaign in 2018.
With 91 carries on the year already, Hill is well on his way to eclipsing his injury-shortened total from last year — something Moorhead is plenty comfortable with.
“I would’ve loved to have had a tailback have this many carries last year,” Moorhead said. “But what we were doing and how we were successful and, as I’ve mentioned before, needing to utilize the quarterback in the run game — that took some of the carries out of the tailbacks workload.
“Now that we’re throwing it better we’re seeing more advantageous numbers and we’re able to get some of those carries that went to the quarterback to the tailback.”
Doctor’s office becoming clearer
While Stevens and Thompson continue to rehab from their respective upper-body injuries, Moorhead updated the status of a handful of other banged up Bulldogs Monday.
Offensively, senior receiver Stephen Gudiry, senior running back Nick Gibson and freshman running back Lee Witherspoon are expected back at practice Tuesday. Guidry did not dress for Saturday’s win over Kentucky, while Witherspoon was hurt on the first possession of the third quarter when he was rolled up with Kentucky safety Yusuf Corker.
On the defensive side of things, sophomore safety Marcus Murphy and sophomore cornerback Tyler Williams are expected to be back in practice at some point this week, though no exact timeframe was given.
Shrader named SEC Freshman of the Week
A week ago it was Garret Shrader’s high-flying antics that earned him national acclaim. Monday, his big afternoon against Kentucky earned him conference-wide recognition as he was named the SEC Freshman of the Week following his first career start Saturday.
Shrader finished the contest 17-of-22 for 180 yards and an interception. He also added 125 yards on 11 carries rushing as he became the first ever MSU true-freshman quarterback to earn the award.
“I think he plays a little bit more mature than most true freshman,” Moorhead said.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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