COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead has long preached the Bulldog offense was close to finding itself.
In the latter stages of Saturday’s 49-30 loss at Texas A&M, Moorhead’s words finally came to fruition.
Following a dismal first half effort guided by freshman quarterback Garrett Shrader, the Bulldogs leapt to life to the tune of three second half scores.
Shrader, who was a middling 4-of-15 with one touchdown and one interception in the opening two quarters, finished the game completing 9 of his 15 passes and tossing two touchdowns.
Speaking with reporters postgame, Shrader said Texas A&M brought a string of blitz packages that necessitated a read at the line of scrimmage. With a handful of missed reads in tow, the Charlotte, North Carolina native found himself on his rear-end rather than following a receiver upfield to the line of scrimmage in the first half.
“I missed some things early and my eyes were in the wrong spots and didn’t give us a chance really to throw the ball or set the protection when they did bring some extra guys,” Shrader said. “So I had to get the ball out quick and just didn’t convert there early.”
With Shrader finding his footing in the second half, junior running back Kylin Hill returned to form as well — finishing his day with 150 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Seeking more creative ways to get the Columbus native the ball, Moorhead dialed up a number of swing passes and pre-snap motion to get his star running back to the edge.
Further, Hill said he changed his approach this week. Avoiding the high-flying acrobatics he’s flashed almost weekly, he shifted his game more toward a downhill, power-based formula.
“I changed my running style a little bit from previous games,” he said. “I was trying to be finessed, I got out there and hit the hole with power like I have always been doing.”
“I thought he was running with more physicality and pad level,” Moorhead added. “I think we played a pretty physical game up front and I think the guys did a good job of that through the course of the week and he was seeing it well and he ran hard and the guys blocked well up front.”
With Hill back on track coupled with Shrader’s ability on the ground, the Bulldogs totaled 135 of their 239 rushing yards in the second half.
Beyond the ground game, it was the explosive plays Moorhead ceaselessly emphasizes week-to-week that also began to click.
After totaling 10 chunk plays — rushes of 10-plus yards or passes of 15-plus yards — against No. 2 LSU last week, MSU finished Saturday’s contest with nine in the second half alone.
Most notably, it was the emergence of Kansas State transfer Isaiah Zuber that aided in the big-play department. Still grinding through garbage time, Shrader hit Zuber for a 38-yard score with 49 seconds remaining in the game to cap off the latter’s three-catch, 58-yard performance.
“I think the past two games and you saw him in the return game as well and then getting opportunities in the slot and at the X-receiver position he made a bunch of big plays and that’s kind of what we anticipated and hoped for entering the season,” Moorhead said.
“To his credit, even though the ball wasn’t coming his way early in the year, he kept his head down and kept working and obviously his opportunities have increased,” he continued.
While Saturday’s game was another reminder MSU’s inability to start games, particularly on the road, there was a level of cohesion to Moorhead’s offense in the second half against the Aggie defense — one that figures to bode well down the stretch.
“When a true freshman quarterback is in there with some young guys, the explosive nature of the offense, Kylin running it well, they have to support the run without pressure or secondary force and then we can take advantage of one-on-one matchups,” Moorhead said. “When it gets to where it needs to be, I think this is probably representative from an explosive-play standpoint and a balance standpoint of where we want it to be.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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