Tech fans should know the importance of a good (and healthy) offensive line. Last year, eight different Bulldogs filled the five offensive line spots, and it hasn't looked much better in 2018. The lack of consistency lead to struggles in both the run blocking and pass protection for Louisiana Tech, a problem the other Bulldogs in maroon haven't faced.

The offensive line section of the depth chart of Mississippi State has not changed game-to-game like it has for Tech because the big men have been able to stay healthy. Due to this stability up front, the line has gelled and have put up great numbers while facing SEC front sevens.

As a unit, Mississippi State is 4th in the country in "Standard Down Line Yards per Carry" with 3.17. That's a mouthful of a stat, but it basically means MSU has gained an average of 3.17 on a "Standard Running Down" (1st Down, 2nd and less than 8, and 3rd/4th and less than 5).

Even better, the line ranks 3rd in "Opportunity Rate", a stat that looks at how many rushing attempts go for at least four yards. The idea being that if a RB gets 4 yards, the offensive line has done its job. Mississippi State has ran for at least 4 yards 60.3% of the time they've kept the ball on the ground.

The group looks amazing now, but the season didn't start that way. After breezing through Stephen F. Austin, Kansas State, and ULL (none of which are above .500), the O-Line struggled against it's first real test: Kentucky.

The Bulldogs, although favored coming into the game, fell to their conference opponent 28-7 (wait, that sounds familiar). In the post game conference, coach Joe Moorhead shifted some of the blame onto the offensive line that was only able to open up the defense for 2.0 yards per carry.

Those struggles didn't last long, however. Two weeks later, Mississippi State faced off against Auburn and cruised to a 23-9 victory behind a stellar performance by the offensive line that didn't give up a sack and parted the Blue-and-Orange Sea well enough for the running game to average 6.1 yards per carry.

The Bulldogs faced a challenge the next week at LSU, where although the team lost by multiple possessions, the offensive line kept their intensity, creating the room for 5.4 yards a rush and only allowing a single sack. That momentum carried into last week's victory over a ranked Texas A&M.

Mississippi State's offensive line is led by a senior, center Elgton Jenkins. As of now, he's projected to be drafted sometime in the first half of the draft, so it's fair to say he's not too big of a secret.

Junior Darryl Williams stays a bit further back from the spotlight, but he is equally as talented. In the eight games Williams has played this year, he has scored a 71.7 overall PFF score. That's broken further down into a 73.4 score while run blocking and an 82 score while pass blocking.

Williams graduated from Bessemer (AL) High School as three star guard and gathered attention and offers from nearly every SEC school (and also USM and UAB). His recruitment was rather uneventful as he committed to and signed with Mississippi State.

Luckily for Williams, he plays the Guard position, so he won't be lining up across from Jaylon Ferguson, but Ferguson's presence has created problem's all across the offensive lines of Tech's opponents. So maybe Tech will be able to negate the progress made by the Mississippi State's offensive line throughout the season. But on the other hand, maybe we'll see something like this:

Nathan is also a contributor to gtpdd.dog, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to follow @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter.