'A Lot More Seamless'

STARKVILLE – Constant and continuous repetition have been key in making Mike Leach's Air Raid offense successful and more efficient during his previous coaching stops.

With Leach entering his third season at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs recently concluded their most productive spring since he arrived in Starkville.

"It was a lot more seamless this year than the last two," Leach said.

Offensive execution all starts up front and MSU brings back an abundance of experience and depth along its offensive line. The Bulldogs have five o-linemen returning that have combined to make 68 career starts.

LaQuinston Sharp and Kameron Jones started every game in the trenches last season while Kwatrivous Johnson, Cole Smith and Nick Jones also earned starts in 2021. State also signed mammoth Percy Lewis (6-8, 345) – the nation's No. 2 overall junior college prospect – to help with the loss of first round NFL Draft pick Charles Cross.

The Bulldogs built their depth even further by bringing in Steven Losoya III – a 2020 Conference USA All-Freshman selection that played in 20 games and made 14 starts at both tackle and guard for Middle Tennessee.

Albert Reese also impressed during the spring after appearing in three games at tackle as a true freshman for the Bulldogs last fall.

"I thought we had a pretty good spring on the offensive line," Leach said. "I thought they played good and we're deeper than we were last year."

Mississippi State has the added benefit of bringing back two-year starter Will Rogers at quarterback. Rogers led the nation with a 73.9 completion percentage and finished tops in the Southeastern Conference averaging 364.5 passing yards per game.

Rogers was pushed this spring by redshirt freshman Sawyer Robertson, a former four-star recruit and the 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas. Although he did not receive any playing time last fall, Robertson showcased that he could make plays with his legs as well as his arm this spring.

Leach liked what he saw from both of the signal callers that spearheaded his offense playbook in the spring.

"I think Sawyer is looking really good," Leach said. "Sawyer and Will are battling it out obviously to be the starter. Will, of course, has the experience and has done a lot of good things. Sawyer is explosive. I think both of them had really good springs."

But it was not just the offense where Leach noticed improvements during spring practices. The head coach saw progression from every phase of the game, both on and off the field and believes the Bulldogs will be enhanced because of it in the fall.

"I think we got better overall," Leach said. "I think we were able to identify where players are at so that we will know what to load them up with going into the offseason to improve on. I thought we became better as a team with the locker room and leadership. Those types of guys are emerging. We had really productive work and enthusiastic practices. I'm just excited to go from there once we get to (fall) camp."

Much of MSU's roster returned to campus last week for the first summer session along with 17 new additions from its 2022 signing class. Leach hopes each of those players are able to tap into their own potential during individual drills and in the weight room this summer so it can spill over into fall camp in August.

"I just want to see steady improvement," Leach said. "You want all of your players to improve and then be able to capture those abilities and get it out there on the field. You try to figure out a way to integrate it with the rest of your team and make it a whole team effort out there."

Mississippi State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Charles Cross

Kwatrivous Johnson

Kameron Jones

Nick Jones

Percy Lewis

Steven Losoya III

Sawyer Robertson

Will Rogers

LaQuinston Sharp

Cole Smith

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