STARKVILLE — Even LaDarius Perkins can get frustrated about his lack of production.
The Mississippi State senior tailback admitted Monday he has dealt with a lot of negative emotions while trying to recover from a right foot injury and to get the better of defenses focusing on him.
“It has been frustrating to watch the film afterward knowing teams like Auburn are trying to take me away from the game,” Perkins said Monday. “I’ve got to realize we’ve proven we can move the ball without big plays from me because of how defenses are set up. They’ll be times for me to get yards.”
Like his quarterback Tyler Russell, Perkins hasn’t been the same since a 21-3 loss to then-No. 13 Oklahoma State in the Texas Kickoff Classic in Houston. Perkins had 16 carries for 50 yards and three catches for 52 yards against the Cowboys. In the preseason, MSU (2-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) said it would try to get Perkins a certain number of touches per game.
“Perkins is the guy probably we need to get the ball to a little bit more,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said Sept. 16. “He didn’t practice a whole lot (before the Auburn game) coming back from that injury. On the injury report he’s full-go, so you’re going to feel a lot more comfortable having him part of the game plan.”
Against Oklahoma State, Perkins injured his right ankle and missed MSU’s home opener against Alcorn State. He saw his touches decrease against Auburn and Troy because of the injury. Since the opener, Perkins has 13 carries and needed the bye week to heal physically.
“I’m able to plant and cut with confidence on my foot this week, so I don’t think my injuries here and there (will) be a factor,” Perkins said. “I’m looking forward to being involved in the offense more against a opponent where my teammates will need me.”
Perkins returned from a ankle injury at Auburn and had 50 all-purpose yards, including 36 rushing yards. He had five carries for 23 yards against Troy before re-aggravating his ankle injury in the first quarter. He didn’t play the rest of the game and was unable to participate in the offensive explosion that resulted in a 62-7 victory.
“It was real tough selfishly to watch my teammates have a lot of success while I was unable to play, but my job that night was to cheer on my guys,” Perkins said. “I have to believe my number will be called in a big spot again soon.”
Even without Perkins’ normal production (he rushed for 1,024 yards, had eight touchdowns, and averaged 5 yards per carry last season), MSU is averaging 206 rushing yards per game. Sophomore quarterback Dak Prescott, who has started the last three games in place of Russell, leads the team in rushing with 215 yards and five touchdowns.
“If they’re going to let Dak run, we’ll let Dak run,” Mullen said. “He had another good game running (against Troy). I think he only had five carries (for 53 yards), so it wasn’t like he had a lot of carries. If people are going to let our quarterbacks just go run for big yards, we’ll take that.”
Until Sunday, Mullen has sounded confident Russell would start at 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) when MSU plays host to No. 10 LSU (4-1, 1-1). If Russell gets the opportunity, his teammates said the same philosophy will drive the running game with him or with Prescott.
“It’s hard to convince people, but the offense isn’t fundamentally different whether Tyler or Dak are in the football game,” MSU junior center Dillon Day said. “We know one thing, when we play LSU, we’ll have to be physical and run the ball.”
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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