The memory is hazy, and that is to be expected. Five years is a long time to go between facing a team with such a unique offensive approach.
But Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen was quickly reminded of just how challenging it is to prepare for Georgia Tech as soon as he flicked on the tape earlier this month. While the Bulldogs have played teams with option concepts, they have not faced a triple-option team since playing the Jackets in October 2009.
It just so happened to be Mullen’s fifth game on the job.
Mullen did not go back and study the tape from that game when beginning preparations for the Capital One Orange Bowl against No. 12 Georgia Tech, because so much is different about both teams. He said he does not remember how he approached practice then, either.
But what he does remember is how difficult it is to simulate the offense with his scout team. He remembers the difficulty in simulating cut blocks during practice. He also remembers Georgia Tech is a team that can toss the ball around, too.
In that 2009 game, the Jackets ended up with more yards passing than rushing thanks to a matchup advantage receiver Demaryius Thomas had all game. Josh Nesbitt threw for 266 yards -- the highest passing total against an FBS opponent under Paul Johnson.
Georgia Tech won 42-31.
“The last time we played them it was a role reversal,” Mullen recalled in a phone interview with ESPN.com. “We ran the option up and down the field on them and they threw all over us in the opposite of what you’d associate with both programs.
“The key with us [now] is having the extra time. If we were going to play them in a week you might look a little differently at it, but knowing we had the extra time, we feel good about our preparation schedule.”
Mullen paused before adding, “Doesn’t mean we’ll stop them. But we feel good about our preparation.”
There is a bit of a role reversal for Mississippi State from that 2009 game as well. The Bulldogs were just getting started under Mullen, and ended up 5-7 that season. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, was ranked at the time the two teams played and ended up going 11-2.
Now, both teams are ranked in the top 12. This happens to be Georgia Tech’s best team since 2009, the last time it made an appearance in the Orange Bowl. The Jackets ended up losing to Iowa, but there is at least one offensive similarity between the teams.
Like Nesbitt that season, Justin Thomas has efficiently run the triple-option offense. This year, Georgia Tech ranks No. 2 in the nation in rushing offense, No. 1 in third-down conversions and No. 3 in time of possession. In 2009, Georgia Tech ranked No. 2 in rush offense, No. 2 in third-down conversions and No. 3 in time of possession.
“He makes it all happen,” Mullen said of Thomas. “He’s very good at running what they want him to run within the option part of the offense. He makes plays with his arm; he extends plays and scrambles around to make throws off balance. He can improvise and make things happen.”
The extra time to prepare has been a boon for Mississippi State, especially since it has had to do so without defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, who left for Florida.
Mullen spent time with his defensive coaches during bowl prep in Mississippi, making sure the scout team could give adequate looks to his defense -- incredibly important since some Bulldogs players have never had to play against this type of scheme.
“This will be the first real deal since high school and it was hard to stop then, so it's going to be even harder to stop on this level,” Mississippi State cornerback Jamerson Love told reporters in South Florida. “They want to run the ball, but they will sneak it and throw it on you. They have some huge receivers. We just have to go out and play physical all game.”
Mullen added the biggest challenge is “the chop blocks -- you can’t simulate that at practice. When you’re getting that type of speed and how aggressive all the chop blocks are, that’s one of the things that’s a huge challenge in preparing for these guys and how fast we adjust to the speed of the game.”
Ah yes, the cut blocks, a subject that generally draws scorn from Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson.
“There’s a big misnomer that everyone is getting cut every play and that’s not really true,” Johnson told reporters in South Florida. “You’re trying to not back guys off the line and create some distance. … You just have to play your scheme. We’ve got to do what we do, diagnose things. Be sound. Play your responsibilities. There’s nothing special except just doing your job.”
That’s precisely what Georgia Tech did back in 2009.
