Mississippi State quarterback update: Who plays against Kentucky?
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Matt Bush - USA TODAY Sports[/caption]
Another week... Another opportunity for Kentucky to face a backup quarterback? Maybe.
Mississippi State's senior quarterback Tommy Stevens went down after back-to-back sacks in the second quarter of the Bulldog's game against Southern Miss two weeks ago. He started for the Bulldogs the following week, but he was pulled from the game in favor of true freshman Garrett Shrader, who also came in for Stevens following the initial injury. Stevens' shoulder has been "stiffening up" during the games, potentially affecting his passing ability and accuracy.
Bulldogs head coach Joe Moorhead noted Stevens' health is further along this week than it was before the game against Kansas State last Saturday. Stevens seemed to agree, although he did say he's "taking it day by day."
"I don’t know – it’s kinda hard to think about as far as where I was last week. It’s a whole new week," Stevens told media members in Starkville. "Yeah, I’d say it’s fair - I think I feel better."
The starting quarterback may not sound 100 percent confident in his response, but his coach hopes he's able to play a full game against Kentucky this weekend.
"It would be awesome, just from a consistency standpoint," Moorhead said. "We fell off from a completion percentage standpoint [against Kansas State without Stevens]. There were times where protection broke down on some third-down stuff, too."
Stevens was pulled from the game last Saturday after several mistakes leading up to the Bulldog's eventual loss to Kansas State. In the first half, he threw his first interception of the season and later fumbled; in the second half, he missed an open target, then threw another interception. Coach Moorhead subbed in Shrader following the senior's second turnover. However, that was far from the Bulldog's original plan, even after Stevens' Week One injury.
"Tommy [Stevens] was very motivated to play and wanted to come back and help the team... I think he has earned that right as a fifth-year guy that if he is healthy enough to play that we give him the start," Moorhead said of his decision to start Stevens last week. "He wanted to try it out and see how it went. It just got to the point where we didn’t want to leave him in the game if he wasn’t going to be able to perform at 100 percent. We had to move on."
Matt Bush - USA TODAY Sports[/caption]
Another week... Another opportunity for Kentucky to face a backup quarterback? Maybe.
Mississippi State's senior quarterback Tommy Stevens went down after back-to-back sacks in the second quarter of the Bulldog's game against Southern Miss two weeks ago. He started for the Bulldogs the following week, but he was pulled from the game in favor of true freshman Garrett Shrader, who also came in for Stevens following the initial injury. Stevens' shoulder has been "stiffening up" during the games, potentially affecting his passing ability and accuracy.
Bulldogs head coach Joe Moorhead noted Stevens' health is further along this week than it was before the game against Kansas State last Saturday. Stevens seemed to agree, although he did say he's "taking it day by day."
"I don’t know – it’s kinda hard to think about as far as where I was last week. It’s a whole new week," Stevens told media members in Starkville. "Yeah, I’d say it’s fair - I think I feel better."
The starting quarterback may not sound 100 percent confident in his response, but his coach hopes he's able to play a full game against Kentucky this weekend.
"It would be awesome, just from a consistency standpoint," Moorhead said. "We fell off from a completion percentage standpoint [against Kansas State without Stevens]. There were times where protection broke down on some third-down stuff, too."
Stevens was pulled from the game last Saturday after several mistakes leading up to the Bulldog's eventual loss to Kansas State. In the first half, he threw his first interception of the season and later fumbled; in the second half, he missed an open target, then threw another interception. Coach Moorhead subbed in Shrader following the senior's second turnover. However, that was far from the Bulldog's original plan, even after Stevens' Week One injury.
"Tommy [Stevens] was very motivated to play and wanted to come back and help the team... I think he has earned that right as a fifth-year guy that if he is healthy enough to play that we give him the start," Moorhead said of his decision to start Stevens last week. "He wanted to try it out and see how it went. It just got to the point where we didn’t want to leave him in the game if he wasn’t going to be able to perform at 100 percent. We had to move on."
Despite "moving on" to Shrader in the second half, the Bulldogs fell to Kansas State, 31-24. Here's a quick comparison of both QB's numbers from the game, via ESPN.
"Quite frankly for a true freshman, I think he’s performed at a very high level," Moorhead said of Shrader. "You don’t want to put it all on a true freshman’s back and have him throw the ball all over the yard. But he rushed the ball for [82] yards and had some nice completions."
When you look at both teams' stats from the entire four quarters, it's hard to believe Mississippi State found a way to lose that game.
However, Shrader isn't the only backup option for the Bulldogs. Keytaon Thompson also earned reps leading into the Kansas State game, although Coach Moorhead says the junior is still recovering from an upper-body injury suffered during camp. Thompson's earned two career starts during his time with the Bulldogs, but he lost the preseason quarterback competition to Stevens this season. He entered the transfer portal before ultimately deciding to remain at Mississippi State. Thompson hasn't appeared in a game so far this season, despite being listed as a co-backup alongside Shrader on the Bulldogs' depth chart.
As far as the Wildcats are concerned, Mark Stoops doesn't see a QB change affecting Kentucky's defense.
"There's really not much difference in what they do and how they call plays, how they run the offense," Stoops said at his press conference Monday. "There's really not much difference at all. Both of them are very effective at running the [quarterback] run game that they like to do; both of them are throwing the ball well. It's set up off of their power run game. Not much has changed."
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