College football: Biggest Achilles’ heel for every Top 25 team

College football 2018: Biggest Achilles’ heel for every Top 25 team

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (13) celebrates and holds up the CFP Trophy after the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs on January 8, 2018 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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24. Mississippi State

Achilles’ heel: The back seven on defense

We should be ready to see big things from the Mississippi State Bulldogs offense in the 2018 season. That, of course, starts at the quarterback position with Nick Fitzgerald. As a sophomore, Fitzgerald accounted for 2,423 yards and 21 touchdowns passing to go with 1,375 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing. While he took a step back in one fewer game in 2017, he still had 29 total touchdowns and over 2,700 yards passing and rushing combined.

As if having a dual-threat quarterback the caliber of Fitzgerald wasn’t enough, the Bulldogs also have running back Aeris Williams behind him, fresh off of running for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns a season ago. Pairing that duo with new head coach Joe Moorhead, who proved his offensive prowess as a coach while working under James Franklin at Penn State, could make for something special.

What’s more, the defensive front-four at Mississippi State is quite impressive, headlined by the likes of Montez Sweat and Jeffery Simmons, both of whom are garnering buzz already as quality prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft. The biggest issue for this team lies behind them, however.

While Mark McLaurin will be back in his role in the secondary, the rest of that unit and the linebackers for the Bulldogs are ultimately a group that is best characterized by their lack of experience. When you take that and put it with a new coaching staff, you’re likely looking at a situation where there are going to be plagues of inconsistency throughout the season. So even if the offense is indeed great, that could come to haunt this team.