The Bulldogs Are Back
August 04, 2022 | Football, Joel Coleman
Camp opens with one of the SEC’s most experienced and proven groups.
STARKVILLE – In college football, there's just no substitute for experience.
When you've been through the fire and faced adversity before, the heart beats a little slower when under pressure. The mind doesn't race quite as much. There's a calmness that provides a better shot to reach the peak of performance.
It's a primary reason why, as Mississippi State players reported to the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex for preseason camp on Thursday, optimism was abundant. These Bulldogs are largely a veteran group. They've been punched in the mouth and gotten up. They've both succeeded and failed under the bright lights before.
Through it all, they've learned. They've grown. They've developed. And with the first practice of the 2022 season set for Friday, the highs and lows many in this bunch have already been through have them excited for the team's potential in the year ahead.
"I'm just ready to see our guys compete at another level this year," linebacker Nathaniel Watson said. "We have been working really hard this offseason, and I can't wait to start the season with my teammates."
Watson is one of eight different defensive Bulldogs returning who started at least 10 games last season. State also has eight returning starters on the offensive side.
Per a formula used by ESPN's Bill Connelly that breaks down all team's returnees and factors in who compiled last year's yardage, tackles and such, MSU brings back a whopping 80 percent of its overall production from 2021. It's the highest total in the entire Southeastern Conference and the 12th-most in the entire country.
That's right. No other SEC school reporting to camp this month boasts as much returning production as the guys in Maroon and White that pulled up in Starkville on Thursday. And that veteran production is spread all over the field.
There's junior quarterback Will Rogers, looking to build upon a record-smashing season where he threw for the third-most yards in SEC single-season history and set new Mississippi State benchmarks for single-season total offense, passing yards and passing touchdowns. Three of the linemen that helped Rogers set those new marks are back (LaQuinston Sharp, Kameron Jones and Kwatrivous Johnson), as are dynamic running backs Jo'quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson and wide receivers Austin Williams and Jaden Walley – a duo that combined for 1,245 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns a season ago.
On defense, Watson is back, along with fellow linebacker Tyrus Wheat. Randy Charlton, Jaden Crumedy and Cameron Young return along the defensive front, ready to make life tough for opponents in the trenches. Emmanuel Forbes – the nation's active career leader in interceptions returned for touchdowns – leads a trio of secondary returnees that also includes Jalen Green and Collin Duncan.
None of this is to even mention others who started games and played significant roles on 2021's squad such as last year's leading tackler, linebacker Jett Johnson, or electric kick return specialist and speedy wide receiver Lideatrick Griffin.
It's a group whose collective resume is solid. Last year, with many of these same players as sophomores, they came together to win three games over teams ranked inside the final College Football Playoff Top 25 and head into the regular season's final contest with the opportunity to finish second in the ultra-competitive SEC Western Division. They finished the regular campaign as one of only four schools in all of FBS football to be ranked inside the Top 25 in both total offense and total defense. Now, they're all a year older, a year wiser and a year further along in their growth.
It's easy to see why there's a sense of anticipation for 2022 at the dawn of MSU camp. And none of this is to even mention the many Bulldog newcomers who could possibly begin to emerge as key pieces in the coming weeks.
Remember, it was this time last year when a certain newcomer by the name of Makai Polk put the foundation in place for one of the greatest seasons by a Bulldog receiver ever. In similar fashion, Green and Charlton used last August to prove their worth and become centerpieces of the State defense. It's almost a certainty others will emerge this August.
For everyone – Bulldog veterans and newcomers alike – the time to start proving and improving themselves begins Friday. Under the sun in StarkVegas, the Bulldogs will begin trying to turn tremendous potential into tangible results.
Of course, guiding it all is the head coach whose 150 career wins are the second most of any active SEC head coach and fourth most among active Power Five coaches, Mike Leach. The Bulldogs have steadily improved since Leach took over the program in 2020.
Now, with many of the same faces that were just getting their feet wet two years ago, State tries to take another big stride forward, but it all starts with stepping on the practice field Friday.
"I feel like everyone has come together to strengthen both the offense and the defense," Crumedy said. "I feel great about this season."
