Mississippi State has 'high ceiling and a low floor,' SEC football coach says

STARKVILLE – When the preseason Amway Coaches Poll came out this summer, Mississippi State was not in the top 25.

But if you looked a little harder, you'd see the Bulldogs came in as the third team receiving votes. Mississippi State is on the bubble.

That's not a surprising spot for the Dogs to be, according to a story released by Athlon Sports this month. 

The Athlon story cites anonymous SEC coaches speaking candidly about all 14 SEC teams. They covered Mississippi State's offense, defense and Joe Moorhead's recruiting ability, which one coach said was "better than a lot of coaches expected a non-Southern guy going into Mississippi to do so early." 

There are some things to like about the 2019 Bulldogs. There are also reasons to be wary. One of the coaches said Mississippi State has "a high ceiling and a low floor this year."

Mississippi State's offense 

Let's revisit why Moorhead was an attractive hire for Mississippi State at the end of the 2017 season. The Bulldogs ranked dead-last in the SEC in passing offense that year. Meanwhile, Moorhead's Penn State offense ranked No. 1 in the Big 10 in that same statistic. 

Moorhead brought his system to Starkville, but it only helped MSU move up one spot in the passing department. Mississippi State averaged 173.8 passing yards per game last year. Only Kentucky (161.5) averaged less in the SEC. 

One anonymous SEC coach said Moorhead "didn't forget how to coach offense," but he also said Moorhead never figured out how to use quarterback Nick Fitzgerald in an effective manner. Fitzgerald had the worst season of his career by multiple metrics, including completion percentage, passing yards and quarterback rating. 

Another coach said, simply, "they need to come out and show success throwing the ball." Whether it be junior Keytaon Thompson or graduate transfer Tommy Stevens doing the throwing, the aerial element of MSU's offense has to complement the ground component to reach the aforementioned "high ceiling." 

And on the topic of ground games, one of the coaches said Mississippi State always seems to have a good one. He said the offensive line "always has great looking personnel." He called the players up front "big wide guys." 

Moorhead said earlier this month this year's offensive line might be one of the biggest he's ever worked with. He said the "girth" of those guys will help pave the way for running backs Kylin Hill and Nick Gibson to be productive. 

Mississippi State's defense 

A week ago, defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said the faces might be different, but the system will remain the same. One of the anonymous coaches thinks that shouldn't be the case. 

"You can't call a defense the same way without that pressure up front," the coach said. 

Shoop employs a nickel defense, subbing out a linebacker for an extra defensive back. Having a "front six" instead of a "front seven" worked when the guys who made up that even front had names like Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat. Those standouts are gone, and it has coaches thinking MSU will lose its edge at the line of scrimmage. 

One anonymous coach said Shoop needs to "build the front back up," but the same coach also said Mississippi State "might have the best linebackers in the SEC right now." He said Erroll Thompson, Willie Gay and Leo Lewis "could start for any program in our league."

One way to get around the loss of talent on the defensive line could be going to a tradition 4-3-4 defense, but Shoop said that formation probably won't get utilized too often. His defense is too reliant on the nickel. Senior safety Brian Cole is expected to have a big season in that role. 

Instead, Shoop said he's going to put more than two defensive ends on the field at the same time to disguise the team's weakness at defensive tackle. 

"I think we have some answers and could do some different things on third down putting defensive ends inside on third down," Shoop said.

SEC football:3 MSU true freshmen who could get serious playing time

MSU defense:Learn more about the Bulldogs expected to carry the 2019 unit

Mississippi State football:3 offensive players who have stood out in training camp

More football:'Experienced' Tommy Stevens feels like veteran with Bulldogs

Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter. To read more of Tyler's work, subscribe to the Clarion Ledger today!