Spring snapshot – offensive line: Bulldogs seeing improvement up front
(NOTE: You can view Mississippi State offensive line coach Mason Miller's full press conference at the top of this page as he discusses his group in depth.)
How many times did you see it a season ago?
Mississippi State's offense lined up against an opponent. That opposing defense then dropped eight men into pass coverage and rushed only three defenders, giving MSU's offensive line a significant numbers advantage. Yet the Bulldogs often were beaten up front regardless.
Make no mistake about it, State's offensive line was inconsistent at best for most of last year. And this spring has been all about making sure that up-and-down group becomes a stabilizing force that lays the runway for head coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense.
"They’re a lot better than they were a year ago," State offensive line coach Mason Miller said of his group. "We still have a long way to go."
A couple of weeks ago, Leach himself had high praise for his linemen. The leader of the Bulldogs said at the time that the offensive front may be the group he has been most impressed with this spring.
"Tentatively speaking because I hope they don’t change my mind," Leach added.
Then, apparently, Thursday gave a reminder of how far the group still has to go. When Miller was asked about Leach's prior positive comments, Miller didn't seem quite as satisfied because of what had just went down in that day's practice.
"I was in a pretty good mood until about 15 minutes ago when we finished," Miller said. "We have to learn how to finish things. We didn’t finish that practice particularly well. Everybody wants to get in a mouthing match instead of just playing football. We kind of lose our minds. That’s a maturity thing. We’ve got to fix that, we’ve got to coach better than that."
The good news is that fixing things is what spring practice is all about. And Mississippi State certainly seems to have the pieces to get things fixed.
There's left tackle Charles Cross – the guy that came to MSU as a five-star prospect and could be set to make a huge stride forward come the fall.
"Charles is kind of the silent leader," Miller said. "He doesn’t say a whole lot."
If Cross lives up to his incredibly high potential, his actions will be plenty loud enough.
Then there's left guard LaQuinston Sharp. The veteran has appeared in 18 games over the last two years, starting half of those. His experience should give State a stabilizing presence.
"He’s a guy I should have played more last year," Miller said of Sharp. "I’ve been mad at myself that I didn’t. I’m also glad that I didn’t, now that he’s come back for his extra year. It’s a give and take there."
Cole Smith has been working at center once again for State. However there is at least a little competition there. With Smith, and for everyone for that matter, nothing is a given this spring as MSU tries to find its most reliable guys.
"There were some times early in spring practice when (Smith) didn’t do what he was supposed to do and we had Reed Buys jump up," Miller said. "Competition makes somebody better. We’re gonna change people out. We’re not just gonna accept mistakes, we’re gonna move through them."
Kwatrivous "Dolla Bill" Johnson seems to have the inside track at right guard for MSU. Leach said a couple of weeks ago that Johnson has been playing at a "high level" this spring.
At right tackle, Scott Lashley ran with the ones in MSU's April 3 scrimmage, but that situation seems far from settled with Kam Jones coming back from a procedure and pushing for the top spot on the depth chart too.
"(Lashley has) made some progress," Miller said. "Kam is coming off a knee surgery after the season, but he’s back to full go. I’m a pretty superstitious guy so you talk about the unicorn, he disappears. I just want (Lashley) to get better every single day."
Of course the determining factor of who fills MSU's spots in 2021 will be making sure the roles are plugged by guys that can make sure mistakes of 2020 don't crop up in 2021. Like the whole rush-three, drop-eight problem that for whatever reason was a thorn in State's side most of last year.
"That’s just a mentality," Miller said of correcting the issue. "If you’ve got five people and they have three, you’re not supposed to lose. I know we’re in a defensive-line driven league. We’ve got some monsters running around in this league, especially on our team. The other thing that will help them is the time they spend with (strength) coach (Tyson) Brown. You have to learn how to anchor people down, sit them down. And you gotta help. You gotta go work your second level, whether it’s the center who is uncovered or the guards. They’ve got to get in there and help somebody. I think we’re a little bit better at it."
Better. That might not be good enough come the fall. But right now, better means progress. And getting where this group wants to go starts with progress each day.
"(We're) light years from where we were," Miller said. "Bad coaching, but we were pretty bad last year. A lot of that had to do with the young class and the young players, but that’s no excuse. One thing I noticed this offseason was they all wanted to get better. I told them if you’re not embarrassed by your performance, you gotta do a better job of working it out. You’ve got to do things every single day. Offensive line is not ‘I’m gonna show up and block somebody. It’s a 365-day a year job and if you don’t do that, you’re not going to be good at it. You’re not going to be good in the weight room. They’ve put in the extra work. I think we have a long way to go. I like the room because we have a bunch of guys invested together. Doesn’t mean we’re anywhere near what we need to be."
Left tackle Charles Cross is expected to be a key part of Mississippi State's 2021 offensive line. (Photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics)
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