Offensive Line Dominates In Mississippi State's Victory Over LSU

Dak Prescott, Josh Robinson, and the rest of the skill players will steal all of the headlines after Mississippi State's dominating victory Saturday night in Baton Rouge. But what shouldn't go unnoticed are the big guys up front that paved the way for their success. The Mississippi State offensive line flat out kicked butt, from start to finish. That's a welcomed change from previous years under Dan Mullen. Outside of 2010, most of Mississippi State's offensive line groups have been average at best. In games against LSU and Alabama, quarterbacks have stayed under duress and big runs have been hard to come by.

That all changed Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. Mississippi State established the line of scrimmage from the start of the game. There were gaping holes for running back Josh Robinson to run through, and Dak Prescott had all day to throw the football. The improvement for the offensive line from last year's game to this year's was evident. The young Tiger defensive line was outmatched physically all night long.

The Bulldogs had ten plays go for 20 yards or more. That will win you games more often than not. Overall, MSU racked up 570 yards of total offense, and 302 of those yards came on the ground. Prescott and Robinson both went over 100 yards rushing, and Robinson was pushing 200. J-Rob is already hard enough to tackle as it is. When he has holes to run through as big as he had in this game, he is darn near unstoppable. In the passing game, Dak had plenty of time in the pocket, and threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns.

The thing about a mobile quarterback like Prescott is that he can cover up some deficiencies in an offensive line. They don't have to be perfect. Prescott showed his ability to improvise on a play where he danced around the pocket, scrambled out, and then hit Jameon Lewis for a 74 yard touchdown. Dak quickly went from dark horse Heisman candidate to actual Heisman candidate. He has the potential to stay in that conversation from here on out with the skill players he has around him. But if Dillon Day, Blaine Clausell, and rest of the big guys up front can duplicate that performance every week, Dak may just have a chance to end up in New York. Obviously a lot would have to go right for that to come to fruition, but the same was said about MSU going into Death Valley and winning a night game.

With all the criticism coach Hevesy and the offensive line has received over the past several years, they deserve major props for Saturday night's game. We mentioned last week how the streak of 500 yards of offense would probably come to an end against the Tigers. As long as everyone stays healthy, that streak might not end anytime soon. If that offensive line plays the rest of the season like they played against LSU, Mississippi State will finish as one of the top offenses in the country. The receivers are there, the running back is there, and the quarterback is there. And finally, after what seemed like would be years of waiting, Mississippi State has an offensive line that looks primed to compete in the SEC. Get ready, this is setting up to be one special year.