The Bulldog Spread

One think I noticed watching the LSU-Mississippi State replay is that Dan Mullen has incorporated certain elements of Big 12 offense — Mike Leach’s wide splits on the offensive line and Art Briles’ extreme receiver spreads — into what he’s doing now.  Take a look at this clip of the first play of the game.

It’s very well executed, but notice that MSU has numbers at the point of attack and a lot of space immediately past the line of scrimmage.  The formation, plus the running threat of Fitzgerald, makes this a likelihood from the snap.  It sort of reminds me of what Paul Johnson’s after with the triple option.

Did I mention it was well executed?  The left side of Mississippi State’s line has been pretty kick ass all season long.

I said it the other day, but if Georgia’s defense doesn’t stay fundamentally sound, they’ll be eaten alive by this kind of stuff.

23 Comments

Filed under SEC Football, Strategery And Mechanics

23 responses to “The Bulldog Spread

  1. Got Cowdog

    Is it just me or is there more and more of this in the league? Also, tech runs this without a real passing option (a couple of rainbows against UT notwithstanding) and ND tried to do the same thing. It reminds me of UF back in the Urban and Timmy days.

    Like

  2. Derek

    Davin held his own against a really good LT a couple of weeks ago and I think ND’s RT is better than MSU’s. Look for 7 to have another big day.

    Like

  3. Jim

    The media pundits seem to be ready to declare Miss State the he winner before the game starts. I’m happy to let all their players keep reading that stuff right up until kickoff

    Like

  4. Jared S.

    It’s funny when I search for “pass block efficiency rating notre dame” – because I was curious to see if I could find how they match up to MSU – I find this article:

    https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/college-football-top-10-offensive-lines-in-notre-dame-stanford

    Preseason piece ranking top O-Lines in college football. They ranked ND as #1 and App State #3 heading into this year……

    Like

    • Uglydawg

      If they’re right..and I doubt they are, we’ve got the best defense imaginable.
      Regardless. we knew coming into the season we would have a very, very good defense. That’s not going to change just because MSU beat the hell out of an inept LSU team. This defense will hold it’s own. MSU will get some points, but not like they did last week. It will be up to our offense to get some holes for all of those great running backs.

      Like

    • Mayor

      And LSU at #5.

      Like

  5. dawgman3000

    One thing I noticed on watching replay of MSU/LSU was that LSU was a undisciplined and poor tackling team, which IMO, did more to contribute to that final score than MSU being some kind of juggernaut. They’re good, don’t get me wrong, but I just think they’re coming up against whole different animal Saturday night in Athens. I’m feeling better about this game after watching that replay.

    Like

    • sniffer

      Replay reveals a lot. Mullen has 22 players that are conference level but where his program is deficient is in depth and always will be. I think that’s the difference Sat night. We’re thin at some positions but have more players that will contribute for four quarters than State.

      Like

    • Mayor

      Me too. MSU maximized the points it scored whereas LSU scored the minimum points it could have scored.

      Like

  6. Split wide between O-lineman and block down one-on-one with success against Big Trent? Ain’t gonna happen dog.

    Like

    • BMan

      Makes me dream of Trent Thompson having the kind of day he had against TCU in the bowl game.

      Like

      • The Truth

        Trent turning around and chasing down that pass play last week immediately after a tackle for loss just reeked of domination. Guys that big aren’t supposed to move like that. Absolute beast.

        Like

  7. Dawg in Lutz

    those CBS Sports Network clowns all picked ND to beat UGA and only one of them is picking UGA to win this week. they never mentioned that they all were wrong in the ND/UGA game. Prove them wrong again!!

    Like

  8. Hillbilly Dawg

    until we win something of note, ie:SECCG, we will be perennially over rated and underestimated.

    Like