Kevin Barbay details his trust in Mississippi State running back room

Mississippi State‘s air raid offensive attack will look different this season with new offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay calling the plays for the Bulldogs. Barbay’s calling card at previous stops has been a balanced attack featuring an effective run and pass game. And recently at fall camp, he was asked how he’d be addressing the workload specifically in the run game this upcoming season.

“I think Woody (Jo’Quavious Marks) is a phenomenal back and to be honest with you I’m probably not at that point yet to go hey, this is how many carries this guy or this guy or this guy needs to have,” Barbay admitted. “But again, it’s going back to playing to the strengths of what you’ve got.”

Marks was Mississippi State’s leading rusher last season with 582 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground, but Barbay’s offense last season at Appalachian State featured a stable of rushers. The Mountaineers finished third last season in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing yards per game, with four different running backs rushing for over 350 yards, something that could potentially be seen this year for the Bulldogs.

“App State, we had a really deep running back room and so I need to feed those guys, right? And that’s complimentary football because some of those guys are hard, powerful, downhill runners and we added a guy like Keyvone Lee and (Jeffery) Pittman here. Some of those guys are more outside runners that can stick their foot and get vertical and create explosives like Woody, and Simeon (Price), and Seth Davis,” Barbay explained. “And so I think all of them together complement each other.”

But at Barbay’s previous stop, Central Michigan, his offense featured one bell-cow running back with Lew Nichols, who ended the 2021 season with 1,848 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground along with 40 receptions for 338 yards and two receiving scores.

“You alluded to Central Michigan, obviously we had the leading rusher in America at Central Michigan and he was one of those guys that needed enough to get himself going,” Barbay said. “After you gave it to him about ten times or so, then he was really ready to rumble.”

Barbay’s offensive philosophy is centered on getting his best players the ball in space, showing a willingness to be flexible and adapt to his personnel in the past. There’s no question that he has a stable of running backs this season that have a multitude of different skill sets, and it will definitely be interesting to see how he utilizes them this upcoming season.

“And so everybody is a little bit different, if I have a deep room like that don’t be surprised if I roll out in a wildcat set and just snap it directly too that running back in order to simplify his package …. a guy that can create explosives for us, no matter what position, is all I’m really looking for,” Barbay concluded.