To say that offense has exploded in college football is hardly a news flash. The median offensive output in 2018 per team was 404 yards.
In Mississippi State’s 5 losses, the defense allowed an average of 280 yards per game. With this stat, one would have expected the Bulldogs to have won at least 4 of those contests. Their Tuesday loss to Iowa was the microcosm of an extremely disappointing season. Iowa wound up the game with negative rushing yardage and was soundly outgained, yet somehow triumphed 27-22.
Joe Moorhead, a touted offensive guru at Fordham and Penn State, did a faceplant in terms of Hail State’s 2018 offensive production. True, Nick Fitzgerald sometimes needed a GPS to find his receivers but their running game should have been sufficient to complement their stifling defense.
With the graduation of Fitzgerald as well as defensive line monsters Simmons and Sweat, 2019 looks very iffy for Mississippi State in the savage SEC West. Dan Mullen left the cupboard full for Moorhead in 2018 (Anybody who does not exult Mullen as a head coach did not pay close attention to developments at 2 schools this year).
In former times, it would take a couple bad seasons to get a coach canned. Times have changed. One really bad game in this year’s bowl season was enough to end the tenures of Mark Richt and Major Applewhite.
The Odyssey likes Joe Moorhead. Enough to really worry about his 2019.
George Ling
Thank you, Dan Mullen, for moving east to become a Gator again. And, thank you, Rick, for mentioning it to the whole world. The possibilities are now endless (or is that a reach?). What do you think, Rick?