STARKVILLE — Dan Mullen was not going to hold any punches.
He entered Saturday night’s game against No. 12 LSU with one goal: run the football. To do that, Mullen was going to use everything in his playbook.
He tried it all — it all worked.
MSU (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) punished No. 12 LSU (2-1, 0-1 SEC) early and often to the tune of 285 rushing yards on 48 carries for an average of 5.9 yards per carry. The 37-7 win was MSU’s most one-sided win ever over LSU and biggest win over a ranked opponent since 1942.
MSU did it with some of everything: designed quarterback runs for Nick Fitzgerald, handoffs to running back Aeris Williams and option runs for the both of them.
“We had all of that in the package. We wanted to run the football,” Mullen, MSU coach, said. “I think it helped us stay balanced with (Fitzgerald) on a couple of runs, but not overloading it, and then Aeris kept them off-balance at times and that allowed us to stay with the run game for four quarters.”
It started with Williams as the feature ball carrier: his first four carries went for 34 yards and he ended the first quarter with 40 yards. Most of his runs came on power concepts, which prominently feature guards pulling across the formation to serve as lead blockers. In Williams’ eyes, left guard Daryl Williams and right guard Deion Calhoun deserve just as much credit for his 146 yards for the game.
“I just thank my offensive line. They were the only reason I got as many yards as I got. They were great tonight,” Aeris Williams said. “We saw them believe in each other out there on the field, so we knew what we could do.”
Mullen was quick to give Aeris Williams credit for his part of it.
“I was hoping to get some of the younger (running backs) in the game early to get them in the flow of the game,” he said, “but it was hard with Aeris running the ball so hard to get him out of there.”
Mixed in every so often were designed runs for Fitzgerald. In the week leading up, LSU coach Ed Orgeron had referenced last year’s game for Fitzgerald — 13 carries for 13 yards — and made it clear the team’s top priority was containing Fitzgerald the running threat. To counter it, MSU didn’t leave the matter in LSU’s hands.
Most of MSU’s run game is based in options, meaning based on the read of one defender, the opposing defense can control where the ball goes. If the unblocked defender stands where Fitzgerald’s running lane would be, his obvious choice is to hand it off to the running back. Introducing designed quarterback runs — often with a pulling guard as the lead blocker — gave Fitzgerald carries that LSU could not influence.
“We always had two people in front blocking, giving great blocks and had blockers on the perimeter,” Fitzgerald said. “I think you saw that from the first play: we knew we could run the ball and we knew we were going to have to run the ball to have success.”
In time, LSU had to adjust: keying on Fitzgerald too much opened too many creases for Aeris Williams, so LSU switched in the second half to a defense that played the option more honestly. Fitzgerald made them pay with three second-half carries that went for 44 yards.
At that point, the run was becoming the least of LSU’s worries.
With MSU having well-established its rushing attack, it added the playaction pass to the fold. In the second half, Fitzgerald completed 7 of 10 passes for 96 yards and both of his passing touchdown. The 45-yard strike to Keith Mixon late in the third quarter put the game out of reach; the 20-yard connection with Deddrick Thomas early in the fourth quarter simply secured the historic win margin.
The result, combined with the early-season struggles of Auburn, Texas A&M and Arkansas, vaulted MSU into the attention of the national college football community in a way that may get MSU ranked in the next poll and also considered the second best team in the SEC West behind Alabama.
On that subject, Mullen’s only focus is the next road trip: to SEC East favorite Georgia.
“We’re 3-0,” Mullen said. “We’re still a long way from six wins.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.