Will Rogers

William Wyatt Rogers III (born August 19, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Rogers holds Mississippi State program records in nearly every major passing category and Southeastern Conference (SEC) records for single season and career completions.

Rogers was born on August 19, 2001, in Louisville, Mississippi. He spent his early years in Louisville before his family moved to Brandon, Mississippi, when he was in the seventh grade. The second of three children, his mother Judy attended the University of Alabama while his father Wyatt, a football coach, attended the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). His paternal grandfather Bill Rogers also attended Ole Miss, playing on the school's baseball team with Archie Manning. Rogers grew up an avid fan of the Ole Miss Rebels football team, idolizing quarterbacks Eli Manning and Bo Wallace. A strong athlete, he played a variety of sports growing up, including baseball and soccer. However, he was the most passionate about football, where in elementary school he ran drills with his father's high school players. While in middle school, Rogers would be mentored by future National Football League (NFL) quarterback Gardner Minshew, whom his father coached in high school, with the two forming a bond that continued even after Minshew had left Brandon to play college football.

Rogers attended Brandon High School, where he played football under his father who served as the team's offensive coordinator. He became the team's starting quarterback as a sophomore, throwing for 2,476 yards and 18 touchdowns. In his second season as a starter, Rogers threw for 3,009 yards and 23 touchdowns, 14 of which were caught by future 2nd round draft pick Jonathan Mingo, and helped Brandon reach the state semifinals. As a senior, Rogers threw for 3,572 yards and 38 touchdowns and was named a member of the Mississippi All–Star Team.

Recruiting

Rogers was a 3 star prospect coming out of high school, ranked by 247Sports as the 29th best pro–style quarterback of his class. There was little mutual interest between Rogers and his childhood team of Ole Miss, as the Rebels had hired Rich Rodriguez as their offensive coordinator, whose read option offense typically utilizes a dual–threat quarterback rather than a pro–style quarterback. Rogers instead committed to play college football at Mississippi State University over an offer from Washington State, citing his relationship with Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead and the team’s playing style as the reasons for his commitment.

2020

Soon after Rogers enrolled at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs fired head coach Joe Moorhead in favor of Mike Leach, who had unsuccessfully recruited Rogers while at Washington State. In the offseason, Rogers and K.J Costello battled to become the teams starting quarterback, with Leach ultimately deciding to start Costello for the season's first game. Rogers would make his collegiate appearance against Kentucky, replacing a struggling Costello. Rogers was unimpressive in his debut, throwing two interceptions. The following week, Rogers was once again put in to relieve a struggling Costello, and threw for his first career touchdown in 28–14 loss to Texas A&M. Against the eventual national champion Alabama, Rogers would for the third week in a row replace Costello mid–game, this time due to Costello suffering a concussion. Rogers had a mediocre statistical performance against Alabama, but was praised by coach Mike Leach. He would make his first career start the following week, throwing for 224 yards and a touchdown in a 24–17 win over Vanderbilt. Rogers served as the Bulldogs starter for the remainder of the season, recording a 3–3 record. His best performance of the season came in the teams Egg Bowl rivalry game against Ole Miss, throwing for a then career–high 440 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 31–24 loss.

2021

Rogers entered the Bulldogs 2022 campaign as the team's starting quarterback, beating out transfer Chance Lovertich for the position. In the season opener against Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs fell behind 31–14 in the 4th quarter before Rogers led the team to three straight touchdown drives to win the game 35–34, in what was then the largest comeback in program history. Two weeks later, he threw for a season–high 419 yards on a school–record 50 completions in a 31–29 loss to Memphis. On October 2, he recorded his second 400 yard game of the season in a 26–22 upset victory over Texas A&M. For his performance against Texas A&M; he was named the SEC offensive player of the week. The following week against top five ranked Alabama, Rogers suffered an AC joint sprain but remained in the game, throwing for 300 yards, but would post his only sub–100 passer rating of the year in a 49–9 loss. On October 30, he completed 36/39 passes in a 31–17 victory over Kentucky, setting an SEC record for single game completion percentage. The following week, he once again threw for 400 yards as well as four touchdowns in a 31–28 loss to Arkansas. On November 13, Rogers would have a historic performance on the road against Auburn. After falling behind 28–3, Rogers threw for six touchdowns, setting a school record for single–game passing touchdowns and leading the Bulldog's to their largest comeback in school history, ultimately winning 43–34. In the Bulldog's final game of the regular season against Ole Miss, Rogers threw for 336 yards but the team fell to their in–state rival for the second year in a row. Rogers finished the season having thrown an SEC record 505 completions and set program records with 4,738 passing yards and 36 touchdowns.

2022

Rogers got off to a strong start in 2022, throwing for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns in the Bulldogs opening game victory over Memphis. Three weeks later he threw for 409 yards and 6 touchdowns in a blowout win against Bowling Green. On October 8, Rogers had his third 400–yard performance of the season, and broke the Southeastern Conference career completions record. In doing so he eclipsed the 921 completion mark set by Aaron Murray, despite playing in 24 fewer games than Murray. Following losses to Alabama and Kentucky, Rogers bounced back by throwing for 3 touchdowns in a 39–33 win over Auburn. Two weeks later he posted a 194.0 passer rating, his highest of the season, in a blowout win over East Tennessee State. In the Bulldog's final game of the season against Ole Miss, Rogers earned his first victory against his childhood team in a 24–22 victory. Two weeks prior to the Bulldogs bowl game, coach Mike Leach died after suffering a heart attack. Rogers would lead the Bulldogs to an emotional victory in their bowl, dedicating the win to Leach in a postgame interview. He finished the season with 3,713 passing yards and 34 touchdowns. Entering the 2023 season Rogers holds Mississippi State records in career passing yards, completions and touchdowns.

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