Jeff Lebby keeps coming back to the same image when he talks about Mississippi State’s offense: layups.
That was the word he reached for after Saturday’s 25-23 loss to Vanderbilt at Davis Wade Stadium, and it fit the way the night unraveled. The Bulldogs weren’t just failing to hit explosive plays. They were missing the routine ones, the easy gains that keep an offense moving and prevent everything from turning into a grind.
“We, right now, are not making any of the layups,” Lebby said in his postgame press conference. “Everything for us is incredibly hard, and we can’t sustain right now, which is really, really frustrating. The three-and-outs are, without a doubt, the biggest issue in the game.”
That frustration has been building fast. Mississippi State put up 172 points during its 4-0 start and ranked No. 4 in the SEC in scoring.
Over the last four games, though, the Bulldogs have managed just 41 points and four offensive touchdowns. Quarterback Kamario Taylor missed the LSU game, got hurt against Oklahoma on Oct. 24, and will miss the rest of the season after foot surgery.
Against Vanderbilt, the offense never found any rhythm. The Commodores forced seven three-and-outs, and the first half was a slog from the start: a turnover on downs on the opening possession, then four straight punts, then a trip to the locker room with only 71 total yards for Mississippi State.
The sequence that bothered Lebby most came right away. On the opening drive, Mississippi State faced fourth-and-1 near midfield and threw an incomplete pass instead of handing the ball to running back Fluff Bothwell.
“The ball could’ve gotten handed to Fluff and it would’ve been really good,” Lebby said. “Frustrating moment. We should’ve gotten the first down on third down.”
The numbers told the same story. Mississippi State finished with 297 total yards, but 150 of them came on the final two drives.
Before that late surge, the Bulldogs had 147 yards, and 129 of those came on just four plays. The rest of the offense produced only 18 yards.
Even that came against a Vanderbilt defense that entered the night last in the SEC in scoring, and the Commodores still controlled the game for 39:55 compared with Mississippi State’s 20:05.
Lebby said the issue isn’t one single mistake or one isolated breakdown.
“I wish there was one thing,” Lebby said. “I really do.
If I could pinpoint the one thing that is keeping us from keeping the easy things easy, it would be fixed. For whatever reason, it’s showing up at a lot of different positions at critical moments.”
For Lebby, the breakdown starts on first and second down, where Mississippi State keeps failing to create manageable situations.
“There’s all these plays inside the game where you don’t ever get to third down because on second down you just make the layup and gain 12 (yards) instead of two,” Lebby said.
He also pointed to the players missing from the lineup, sounding like a coach who sees the answer in front of him but doesn’t have the full group available to execute it.
“We have been in third down after third down after third down,” Lebby said. “Our normal down efficiency has not been what it needs to be, and when you don’t have some of the pieces that we’re used to having, it makes it really hard to overcome those things. It’s the normal down, the early down success that has to show up for us.”
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