Can Mike Leach work his magic with K.J. Costello at Mississippi State? Reggie Bush is a believer

Expectations are high for Mississippi State quarterback K.J. Costello.

It will be so much fun watching K.J. Costello sling it in Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense at Mississippi State this year.

The former Stanford quarterback transferred to Mississippi State the night of Super Bowl 54. Costello was limited to only five games of action in what was his final season as the Cardinal quarterback. Though he was Second-Team All-Pac-12 as a sophomore, Costello opted to transfer to the SEC play this in this high-octane aerial assault offense.

Because FOX’s Reggie Bush has seen what it can do first-hand at his alma mater USC, the former Trojans standout running back believes Costello will be the transfer in the country this season. Here is what Bush had to say about Costello on Big Noon Kickoff‘s webcast from Wednesday night.

"“I truly believe that any quarterback that plays in that system with Mike Leach, because he’s such an innovator we talked about the air-raid style offense that Graham Harrell has brought over to USC with Kedon Slovis, who we often talk about as well. That all came from Mike Leach.You know Mike Leach was one of the pioneers of that air-raid style offense, and there’s a lot of gimmicks to it and there’s a lot of moving parts to it. But, if you can find the right quarterback to run it is successful. And it is nearly impossible to stop because you got so many different route combinations.They have so many different outlets and check-downs and I just think it’s a tough offense to stop. So I’m interested to see how that relationship works out in one year. Because a lot of people, including me, had K.J. Costello as a preseason favorite last year.”"

What K.J. Costello brings to Mississippi State football

It’ll be interesting to see how close Costello gets to matching his Stanford career passing totals in one season at Mississippi State. While he’s not going to play like Joe Burrow did for LSU last season, Costello might approach his 6,151 career passing yards in his lone year in Starkville. The Air Raid asks its quarterbacks to throw the ball 90 percent of the time, putting up gaudy numbers.

Whether it was players like Kliff Kingsbury or Graham Harrell at Texas Tech or Luke Falk, Gardner Minshew or Anthony Gordon at Washington State, the Air Raid is the most prolific passing offense in football at any level. If Costello approached 5,000 yards from the ‘gun in Starkville, it wouldn’t be the least bit shocking. But as for if he’ll be the most impactful transfer, let’s pump the brakes.

Looking at Mississippi State’s schedule, the Bulldogs could maybe go 8-4 if they’re lucky, but will likely be fighting for bowl eligibility in late November. It just might come down to the most anticipated rendition of the Egg Bowl of all time when Leach, Costello and company take on Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway in Oxford.

Will Costello be the catalyst to help install Leach’s Air Raid culture at Mississippi State? Absolutely, but the Bulldogs won’t contend for anything close to a division title. Two other graduate transfer quarterbacks in Jamie Newman and D’Eriq King have great chances to win division crowns this year at Georgia and Miami, respectively. Costello could be great, but he’s not going to Atlanta.

What will be important though is for Costello to stay healthy, put up numbers and be a dynamic leader on his new team. The two-time team captain at Stanford has a tremendous opportunity to lay the foundation of a new era of Mississippi State football. It will surely be better than the two-year Joe Moorhead disaster, but can the Leach era rival that of Dan Mullen’s tenure? We’ll see.

Costello can have a great year, but it won’t be as notable as what Newman or King can accomplish.

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