Mississippi State Offensive Profile vs Arizona State

• "Yeah, I mean, he's a, he's an experienced, poised quarterback. He makes good throws under pressure, he's he's He knows when he's about to get hit, and he has the courage to be able to step into some of his throws. You know, he's also a guy that, you know, he trusts his receivers to be in spots.

So he does a great job of putting the ball in spots against certain coverages and and there's an offense to that really exploits space. And so he's, I think he's a really, I think he's just a really talented quarterback and a leader, and he's able to get the ball downfield."

Shapen is surrounded by three potentially standout running backs in senior Johnnie Daniels, sophomore transfer Fluff Bothwell, and senior Davon Booth. The dynamic trio presents one of the major positions that can compete with what Arizona State has on the flip side. C.J. Fite, Jacob Rich Kongaika, and Zyrus Fiaseu will be three players that will be tasked with disrupting the run game.

As for the pass catchers, the Bulldogs are likely to rely on senior TE Seydou Traore, senior WR Brenen Thompson, and junior transfer Anthony Evans III. Traore is the most proven of the three, but there is much less tangible backing for the group statistically speaking compared to Arizona State's assortment of weapons.

Playstyle

The Bulldogs run a variant of the run-and-shoot offense (veer-and-shoot) - a spread concept that predicates three particular thingss.

1. Utilizing anywhere from three to five receivers at the line of scrimmage at any given time to force the defense to cover the entirety of the field at all times.

2. Utilizing horizontal-based route trees to allow the quarterback to make quick decisions. There will be an occasional option route that the quarterback can target over-the-top. The "veer" represents an emphasis on running between the tackles to make the front seven work extra hard on a rep-by-rep basis - in turn tiring the personnel out in theory.

3. The Bulldogs will frequently run no-huddle sets - testing the depth, communication, and speed of the Sun Devil defense. Although the Arizona State defense is talented, this is the first major test that they have faced since January's loss to Texas - will they be able to hold up?

Read more on what the strong week one showing from the Big 12 means for the Sun Devils here, and on what Arizona State players could fit on the Pittsburgh Steelers here.