Was very impressed with the Bulldogs watching their spring football game. They’re a good football team. Chris Relf looked so confident and he’s always had talent. At 6’4″, 245, he’s a load and he’s got a cannon for an arm. He has really taken to Dan Mullen’s system and will flourish in it this year. Last year, Relf led the Bulldogs to a nine win season blasting Michigan in the Gator Bowl, 52-14, beating Ole Miss for the third straight year and defeating Florida and Georgia. Relf completed 129-of-220 passes for 1,789 yards and 13 touchdowns with five ints. He also ran for 713 yards and five tds. He looked even better in the Spring. Don’t have his Spring game numbers, but the week before in a scrimmage he was 22 of 26 for 292 yards and a touchdown. He looked every bit as good in the Spring game as he did in the scrimmage. Tyler Russell is a highly capable backup. He’s more of a drop back passer who can also run some. Dylan Favre, a redshirt frosh and nephew of Brett Favre, looks like he’s going to be a stellar player as well at qb. He was very impressive in the spring game. He is a redshirt freshman, Relf is a senior and Russell is a sophomore. Dak Prescott, a true freshman who came in early, is also very impressive. He threw for 2,900 yards and 39 tds last year in high school in Louisiana. So State is set at quarterback in 2011.
Vick Ballard returns at running back where he gained 968 yards last year and scored 19 touchdowns. He’s 5’11”, 215, a freight train with speed. LaDarius Perkins backs up Ballard. The 5’10”, 190 back ran for 566 yards and three tds last year and had a very good spring. Fullback/running backs Sylvester Hemphill , 5’11” 235, and Adrian Marcus, 5’9″, 225, will also be power runners.

State is looking for some playmakers at wideout and they’ve got some highly capable candidates. Chad Bumphis caught 44 passes for 634 yards and five touchdowns last year. He’s 5’10”, 200 and he can fly. They need to get him downfield and in the open field. Arceto Clark is another. Clark caught 25 passes for 362 yards and three tds last year. Both players looked good in the Spring. Brandon Heavens, from Bessemer, looked stellar in the spring game and was a target on three or four of Relf’s nice throws. Heavens, another speedster, caught 22 passes for 316 yards last year and two touchdowns. Look for those numbers to go up this year. Ricco Sanders, a sophomore, is another guy who will add to the vertical game. He only caught two passes for 25 yards as a freshman last year, but one of them was for a touchdown and his receptions will go up this year. He’s a guy who might be able to break it in the open field. Jameon Lewis is a redshirt frosh and another guy they expect to perform well this year.

Offensive line is somewhat of a question mark. They lost left tackle Derek Sherrod (6’6″, 305) and will replace him with James Carmon (6’7″, 330). Looks like a pretty good exchange if Carmon plays up to his size. Other key linemen are Gabe Jackson and Tobias Smith.

In all, State returns 15 starters from last year’s team.

Defense looks solid. Last year’s defensive coordinator, Manny Diaz, left to take the d coordinator job at Texas, so Geoff Collins and Chris Wilson will run the defense. Wilson was co defensive coordinator last year and Collins coached the linebackers, so they will be fine in t he coaching area. Ferlando Bohanna, a 6’0″, 225 pound redshirt frosh linebacker, was all over the field in the Spring game. He at least had two sacks and dominated on defense in the spring game. Fletcher Cox, Shane McCardell and Sean Ferguson should be very good players on the interior dline. Cam Lawrence is another linebacker who is expected to excel this year. Defensive backs Charles Mitchell, Nickoe Whitley, Johnthan Banks and Damein Anderson are players in the secondary. Banks was all over the place in the Spring game and an excellent hitter and playmaker. State is replacing their two leading tacklers from a year ago, linebackers Chris White and K.J. Wright, but it looks like they have a shot to be pretty good on defense. They need to stay healthy though. There isn’t a ton of depth.

Dan Mullen has done an outstanding job at State. If he decides to stay a while, he could build a possible powerhouse in Starkville. He is an excellent offensive mind and has good coaches around him.

State’s biggest question marks are on the offensive line and big playmaking ability. They’ve got the talent to make the big plays, but the playmakers aren’t experienced making plays. There is potential there. O line has some big guys and Mullen has recruited well, so they should be fine. With Relf and Ballard, this should be a pretty good offense.

The Schedule:

State opens up at Memphis, Thursday, Sept.1, then has a huge game at Auburn. If they can knock off the Tigers, their season could get very interesting. They then play LSU at home and follow that with La Tech at home. Then they play Georgia at Athens, UAB in B’ham and South Carolina @ home. They go to Kentucky, play Tenn-Martin at home, at home against Alabama, go to Arkansas and play Ole Miss at home.

This could be another eight to nine win season. Can State challenge for a West title and a shot at Atlanta? It’ll be hard going to Georgia, going to Arkansas, playing what should be a very good Alabama team, South Carolina at home and on the road at Kentucky. The AU game at Auburn is difficult, too. But I think State could get eight wins out of it. Going to Atlanta may be a stretch, but this team is going to be very good. Mullen has already become one of the better coaches in the conference and maybe in the country. Eight wins and a New Years Day Bowl seem highly attainable. To do better, they’ll have to stay healthy and knock off some of the big boys. They’d have to beat an Auburn, a Georgia and Arkansas. Auburn is possible. Georgia maybe. They can beat South Carolina and Kentucky if healthy. Arkansas and Alabama pretty tough. Ten wins not out of  the question if this team can avoid key injuries.

Monday: Arkansas

(Chris Relf is clearly the man at quarterback for State and primed for a big year.)