Questions for Mississippi State football at this weekend’s SEC Media Days

STARKVILLE — The start to Mississippi State’s football season inches closer with this weekend’s Southeastern Conference media days held in Nashville. The Bulldogs will be represented this year by first-year head coach Zach Arnett, senior quarterback Will Rogers, senior defensive lineman Jaden Crumedy and senior running back Jo’quavious Marks. Crumedy is the only one to have attended SEC media days in the past. With more than seven weeks before MSU opens its 2023 season at Davis Wade Stadium against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 2, there is still much to learn about this year’s Bulldogs, as they work through a transition era this offseason. What else can we find out about Zach Arnett as a head coach? Arnett, MSU’s defensive coordinator since 2020, has coached one game since taking over for the late Mike Leach last December in the Bulldogs’ ReliaQuest Bowl victory over Illinois. That game, played less than a month after Leach’s death and with Leach’s staff, served as a very thin baseline as to what we can expect from Arnett as a head coach. Every coach has his own style in gameplans, clock management, timeout management, creativity, as well as offensive, defensive and special teams philosophy, and we just don’t have a big enough on-field sample size yet to know what Arnett’s are. How is MSU’s offense making strides in the new scheme? Just as there is much to learn about Arnett, there is still much to learn about MSU’s new offensive scheme under Kevin Barbay, previously at Appalachian State. It is no secret that the Bulldogs are moving away from Leach’s air-raid offense to a more pro-style concept under Barbay. Fans got a small glimpse of it during April’s spring game as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. While there is going to be expected growing pains learning a new system, things should be getting to ramp up with training camp next month. What else is there for Will Rogers to accomplish? Rogers, a Brandon native, had the option to turn pro last offseason after accomplishing just about everything there is to do at MSU. Rogers is the only quarterback in SEC history with more than 1,000 completions and holds school records in career passing yards (10,689), passing touchdowns (82), most 300-yard passing games (18), 200-yard passing games (26) and owns the single-season touchdown record (36 in 2021). With two years of eligibility still left, what is still driving Rogers to play in Starkville? Can MSU’s defensive front seven be one of the best in the SEC? Crumedy is part of a MSU defensive front that is returning four starters, two on the defensive line with Nathan Pickering joining Crumedy and Jett Johnson and Nathaniel Watson, last year’s top-two tacklers in the conference, also back. As MSU’s offense gels, its defense should keep it in games because of its returning talent. The Bulldogs finished 39th last season in scoring defense, allowing 23.1 points per game. Does this group have another surge in them? Where can Jo’quavious Marks rank with more volume? Only one team in college football, Boston College, ran the ball less than MSU last season. The Bulldogs finished 130th, rushing for 81.7 yards per game. Under Barbay’s offense, that number should increase, meaning a larger workload for Jo’quavious Marks. Marks, who finished with 582 yards on 113 carries, split time with Dillon Johnson, who finished with 488 yards on 89 carries. Johnson is now with Washington, meaning the backfield belongs to Marks. Marks made the most of his carries last year, averaging 5.2 yards per attempt. With a larger sample size this season, can Marks be one of the SEC’s best backs? Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.