State defense grades out among nation’s best in week one

A season after struggling to stop just about anyone on the football schedule, Mississippi State’s defense was one of the highest graded in the country for game one.

In State’s 34-17 win over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Pro Football Focus graded out the Bulldogs’ defense fourth nationally in week one with State’s pass coverage coming in at No. 2 in the country.

The Bulldogs held USM to just 301 yards of total offense with 199 yards passing and 102 on the ground – holding the Golden Eagles to just 2.9 yards per rush. 116 of those total yards came in the fourth quarter with the Bulldogs leading by three touchdowns and playing backups with 69 yards passing coming in the last frame.

“I thought we found a way to play really good football in the red zone. We found a way to get off the field when we needed to,” head coach Jeff Lebby said after the game. “I don’t like how the game ended. For us, it was about creating depth. Every single defensive player that made the trip played today. I love that for a bunch of our young guys, for a bunch of our special teams players. Those guys got to play that entire last drive. I don’t like the result of it but there’s going to be growth because of it.”

Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year and the conferences 2024 Newcomer of the Year Braylon Braxton was held to just one touchdown drive in the first three quarters. He finished the game 26-of-39 for 199 yards with two touchdowns and an interception and rushed for 58 yards and no scores. The USM running game had 44 yards rushing on 23 carries otherwise.

Several Bulldog defenders earn Team of the Week honors

With the high grades in for the Bulldogs came some individual accolades from PFF as well. The publication had defensive end Will Whitson on the National Team of the Week as one of only two SEC players on the list, joining LSU CB Mansoor Delane.

The Coastal Carolina transfer Whitson had a huge game and led all State defenders with a grade of 89.7. He finished with four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack in the win.

The SEC Team of the Week would include four Bulldogs on the list and that would be more players from a single team than any other squad in the conference besting Kentucky and Missouri’s two selections.

Joining Whitson on there would be cornerback Kelley Jones, LB/S Isaac Smith and S Brylan Lanier.

Jones had a coverage grade of 84.7 after knocking away two passes and making two tackles in the first start of the year as State’s CB1. Lanier came up with the defense’s second best grade as he was right behind Whitson at 89.2 and led the team in coverage at 89.3 after making six tackles and coming up with a big interception in the second half.

For Smith, it was another game of leading the team in tackles, but the help around him took a bit of the load off of his shoulder. The preseason All-SEC player and last year’s conference leader in tackles had a tackling grade of 81.6 as he tied Tennessee transfer LB Jalen Smith for the team lead with seven tackles.

“It was really fun,” Smith said of the game. “I felt like we had a dominant game on defense. They had a touchdown on 4^th down late in the fourth quarter that I’d like to say was luck, but we’ve got to get off the field there. I feel like we played a really good game all together.”

After the productive weekend, the Bulldogs have to stack another great performance this week. State is set to host Arizona State on Saturday (6:30 p.m. ESPN2) at Davis Wade Stadium in a “Black Out”. The No. 11 Sun Devils (1-0) come to town as 7.5 point favorites and are looking to build on a College Football Playoff season last year.