Three Bold Predictions for the Mississippi State's Upcoming Season
Mississippi State football's first season under head coach Mike Leach had a few nice moments – the season-opening win over LSU was a game that put the entire conference on notice.
But overall, this team is searching for much more than the 4-7 record overall record it finished with last season.
As the Bulldogs enter their second season under Leach, expectations are much higher.
Quarterback Will Rogers is expected to make a leap with one year in the Air Raid offense under his best. When you add in the playmakers returning like wide receiver Jaden Walley and running backs Jo’quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson – this offense should be far more explosive than what they displayed in 2020.
What should Bulldogs fans expect in year two under Leach? Here’s a look into three bold predictions for 2021:
1. Jo’quavious Marks hits 1,000 total yards.
In 2020, running back Jo’quavious Marks ran the ball well when called upon. Marks had 312 rushing yards (on just 70 attempts) with three rushing touchdowns, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Marks also had 60 receptions for 268 yards.
Now hear me out – I understand that running backs typically don’t put up flashy numbers specifically on the ground in Leach’s offense. However, this season could look a bit different in some aspects, and the running backs lining up alongside Rogers are perfectly capable of picking up yardage after the catch.
If Marks can manage to increase both his target share and his YAC, 1,000 total yards is definitely possible in this scheme.
2. Quarterback Will Rogers breaks Dak Prescott’s single-season passing record.
I know, seems just as crazy writing this as it probably is reading it.
Prescott still holds the Bulldogs’ single-season passing yardage record at 3,793 yards, back in 2016. If Rogers starts every game this season, and this offense makes the leap many experts believe they’ll make – then this record is entirely possible given Leach’s history.
The Air Raid system is extremely quarterback-friendly, so long as the signal-caller understands the offense the way his head coach expects. In fact, when Leach was the head coach at Washington State his quarterbacks surpassed 3,793 passing yards in six of eight seasons.
Again, assuming Rogers starts and plays in all 12 games this season, he would need to maintain an average of 316.2 yards per game. In this offense, that is 100% doable.
3. Wide Receiver Jaden Walley doubles both his receiving yards and touchdowns
In his freshman season, Bulldogs wide receiver Jaden Walley broke the single-season record for most receiving yards by a freshman in the history of the team, earned All-America honors, and was the only freshman in the country with at least 50 catches and no less than 700 receiving yards. An impressive start to his collegiate career.
In his sophomore year, we could potentially be looking at a major leap in production.
In 2020 Walley averaged 71.8 receiving yards per game (In 10 games). So, let’s assume Walley plays all 12 games this season, with an increased snap count and efficiency rating. If Walley maintains last season’s numbers with the additional targets and snap count, he would be looking at just over 86 yards per game. If we add in the value of a second-year receiver in Leach’s offense, and consider the way Walley has looked throughout the offseason, averaging 100+ yards per game is not out of the question.
Walley would need to average 119.7 yards per game to double last season’s production and catch four touchdowns. 1,437 yards and four touchdowns seems like a tall task from the sophomore receiver – but I believe it’s definitely on the table if this offense hits the ground running.
