Offense Shines In Biggest Test Of Spring

STARKVILLE, Miss. – From the first play of Saturday’s scrimmage at Davis Wade Stadium – a 65-yard strike down the middle of the field from Chris Relf to Chad Bumphis – the Mississippi State offense was as crisp as it has been all spring. More than 150 plays later, fans didn’t need to see the defense doing extra conditioning to know who the victor was on this day.

“The offense just took it to the defense today,” head coach Dan Mullen said. “It all starts at quarterback, and I thought every one of those guys played extremely well today. The defense made a couple of outstanding plays, but they never stopped the offense’s rhythm.”

Relf was example 1-A of the outstanding play at the quarterback position, leading the offense (which started at its own 35 on nearly every drive) deep into defensive territory on each possession he played.

Tyler Russell and Dylan Favre also had outstanding days, helping lead the offense to a total of 12 scores on 18 possessions with the 1s and 2s. Freshman Dak Presott also got in on the action, helping the third offense move the ball consistently.

The offense also got some big-time performances from running backs Vick Ballard and LaDarius Perkins, each of whom scored on runs of more than 20 yards. Walk-on Adrian Marcus, who played mainly on special teams in all 13 games last season, provided what may have been the highlight of the day with a 38-yard rumbling, tackle-breaking dash for a score.

While it wasn’t the best of days for the Dog Defense, Corey Broomfield picked off a pass in the endzone and Dennis Thames intercepted a tipped pass and returned it deep into offensive territory.

While most of the possessions began at the minus-35 yardline, the ball was placed on the 30 for the final two drives. With 1:45 remaining on the clock, the offense had one timeout and needed to score a touchdown. Both Relf and Favre led their teams to scores in the improvised two-minute scenarios. Relf hit Brandon Heavens for a 14-yard touchdown with 10 seconds remaining on the clock, while Favre connected with Michael Carr for a 35-yard score with less than a minute left to end the scrimmage.

The Bulldogs will return to the practice fields on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons this week before kicking off the Maroon-White Spring Game at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 9. The spring game is part of Super Bulldog Weekend presented by Regions, and a crowd in excess of 40,000 is expected.

SCORING SUMMARY

Bumphis 65 pass from Relf

DePasquale 35 FG

Ballard 25 run

DePasquale 45 FG

Perkins 23 run

Smith 8 pass from Favre

Clark 5 pass from Russell

Favre 2 run

Relf 1 run

Marcus 38 run

Hemphill 4 run

Heavens 14 pass from Relf

Carr 35 pass from Favre

Mississippi State University Athletics

Offense Shines In Biggest Test Of Spring