STARKVILLE — Chris Relf understands the criticism starting quarterback in the Southeastern Conference face.
Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen has counseled him about the reality.
“Every quarterback I’ve recruited in the SEC, you sit down and say, ‘Hey, it’s life. Like it or not, you’re a focal point,’ ” Mullen said.
But Relf’s teammates on offense are getting sick and tired of their senior quarterback being the target.
“People see an offensive play go bad and they automatically think it’s the quarterback’s fault,” MSU junior receiver Chad Bumphis said. “In offense, if all 11 guys aren’t working together it’s going to look bad.”
Last week in a 24-10 loss at the University of Georgia, Relf was 19 of 31 for 157 yards and two interceptions. He completed eight of his first nine passes but finished 11 of 22 for 77 yards in the final three quarters.
Last weekend marked Relf’s fourth straight game with less than 200 passing yards. He is the only returning starting quarterback in the SEC’s Western Division without a rushing touchdown.
“I think I’ve lost a little of my confidence and everybody has to find a way to dig down and execute better so we can get it back,” Relf said after the loss to Georgia.
Five games into the season, MSU is ninth in the SEC in scoring, fifth in rushing (down from second last season), and 10th in time of possession (down from first last season).
“The younger guys are on scholarship, too, so they have to step up,” Relf said. “A lot of them haven’t played in big games like this before, so they have to learn quick what that’s about.”
Relf also is having to deal with more pressure from opposing defenses. In losses to LSU and Georgia, MSU (2-3, 0-3 SEC) allowed eight sacks. Last season, MSU surrendered 23 sacks in 13 games.
“Not to say (Relf is) getting shaky in the pocket at all, but it’s our job to keep them off of him,” MSU senior offensive tackle Addison Lawrence said. “Every interception and bad read, that comes on us, especially if we let something bad happen to him,”
The inability to get the ball in the hands of veteran playmakers like
Bumphis and senior tight end Marcus Green has made it difficult for MSU to succeed in key situations, which explains why the Bulldogs are converting only 36 percent on third down.
“You’re thinking I don’t know if we are going to grind it out for the rest of the game,” Mullen said. “We were trying to find some ways to make some plays and score some points. I think that’s more of it where we are keeping ourselves out of the flow of the offense.”
Bumphis, who hasn’t had more than two catches and has a high of only 44 receiving yards in a game this season, is willing to share more than a majority of the blame for the offenses’ slow start.
“More than half of the time it’s the receivers fault because we weren’t where we’re supposed to be, so I feel bad for (Relf) because I know how hard he works,” Bumphis said.
Mullen said Relf has been unable to get in a rhythm because the team has fallen behind early in games, which has prevented it from establishing the option run game, a valuable weapon for the 245-pounder. Without designed quarterback runs, the offense becomes one dimensional because Relf is still developing his throwing skills.
“We have to put Chris in the best position to be successful,” Mullen said. “Getting sacked is not one of them. You hope at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds that when he runs the ball he’s delivering as much of a blow as he’s taking.”
Relf will try to get MSU back on track at 11 a.m. Saturday (SportSouth) when it takes on the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He will face a program that held him to 158 total yards last season in a 29-24 MSU win in Starkville.
“It will be quite a challenge for us defensively,” UAB coach Neil Callaway said. “I imagine they will line up and see if we can stop the run. If we can, then they’ll do something else. If we can’t, then they’ll do the same thing.”
Relf has been taken out of the past two SEC games. Last week, Mullen removed him and inserted Dylan Favre into the game early in the second half. Mullen denounced any notion the moves Favre or sophomore Tyler Russell mean he has lost confidence in the player who has been the starter at that position since the 2010 season opener.
“You start winning a couple of games and everybody’s feeling great about themselves,” Mullen said. “Those are life lessons they need to learn. I’ve probably been through a lot more adversity being twice as old as all of these guys. There’s twice as many opportunities to learn from (losses). As coaches, we have to make sure we teach those not just learning moments about football, but learning moments about life and how to overcome adversity.”
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