STARKVILLE — Beniquez Brown wasn’t fooled.
Early in the first quarter of Mississippi State 48-31 victory against Texas A&M, Brown, waited patiently as quarterback Kenny Hill approached the line of scrimmage for a critical fourth-and-1 inside MSU’s 20-yard line.
After scanning MSU’s defense, Hill changed Texas A&M’s plan to run off the right side of its line to the left. Brown knew what Hill was thinking.
As soon as the ball was snapped, Brown, a sophomore outside linebacker from Florence, Alabama, knifed through the offensive line and tackled tailback Tre Carson for a 2-yard loss, giving MSU the ball and momentum it used to go on to the 17-point win.
“Big down, fourth down in our territory,” said MSU defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, “and they checked the play. Beniquez knew where the ball was going, and he ran back there and made the play. That’s special.”
The play was an example of Brown’s intelligence. It also was a display of force from a linebacker group that has been outstanding all season.
Players like Beniquez Brown, All-SEC candidate Benardrick McKinney, Richie Brown, and outside linebacker Matthew Wells have emerged as leaders who have helped the group become one of the Southeastern Conference’s best.
No. 3 MSU (5-0, 2-0 SEC) will try to get the same kind of play from its linebackers at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (WCBI) when it plays host to No. 2 Auburn (5-0, 2-0) at Davis Wade Stadium.
“We are clicking on all cylinders,” said McKinney, who leads the Bulldogs with 35 tackles. “Playing with guys like Beniquez, Richie, that motivates me.”
Motivation hasn’t been a problem for MSU’s linebackers. Three of MSU’s top five tacklers are linebackers. Beniquez Brown is second on the team in tackles with 25. The group has been crucial for a defense that Collins says, “lives for forcing the negative play, for getting in the opponents’ backfield and making big plays.”
McKinney, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound junior from Rosa Fort who is listed as a potential first-round NFL draft pick by ESPN.com, has three sacks. McKinney, Beniquez Brown, and Wells have combined for 13.5 tackles for loss.
Additionally, Richie Brown, a redshirt sophomore from Long Beach, had all of his team-leading three interceptions against Texas A&M.
“It felt good,” said Richie Brown of his big day, which yielded the National Player of the Week from the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Week award. “A lot of that comes from the defensive line doing their job, making it easy for me to get those picks.”
For Collins, who in his second season as defensive coordinator, the linebackers are the heart and soul of a unit he refers to as “a psycho defense. We run around and make as many plays as possible.”
But how have MSU’s linebackers, who have helped the Bulldogs lead the SEC in tackles for loss and are part of a defense that is second in the SEC against the run and in sacks, become so important?
“We just have so much depth and experience in that spot,” Collins said. “When you have a guy as your leader who is an All-American, and his backup is the defending national defensive player of the week, that says a lot about the depth and talent we have.”
But the linebackers are about more than statistics. Collins said the bond between players like McKinney and Richie Brown epitomizes a defense that cares more about each other than it does about individual accolades.
“The thing that’s neat is that the person happiest for Richie Brown’s success on Saturday was Benardrick McKinney,” Collins said. “For all intents and purposes, these guys are competing for the same spot (McKinney starts at middle linebacker, Richie Brown is his backup). But here they were. Richie is Benardrick’s biggest fan, and Benardrick is Richie’s biggest fan. You don’t see that everywhere. It’s the same thing with Matthew Wells and Zach Jackson, the same thing with Beniquez and (Christian Holmes). These guys are competing, but they are family.”
Gritty, workmanlike, tough … These are all three adjectives Collins has used to describe his linebackers, and all three are accurate. McKinney is the poster boy for a defense that has allowed an average of 10 points in the first three quarters of all five games. A physical specimen who was largely overlooked on the recruiting trail in high school, all McKinney has done is become one of the nation’s best middle linebackers, and his influence can be seen all over the defense. It’s present in Beniquez Brown, a hybrid outside-inside linebacker Collins says, “is one of the smartest, most physically gifted guys on our team.”
Beniquez Brown has 25 tackles (4.5 tackles for loss) and one sack. He has emerged as a likely candidate to step up as the emotional leader on defense when McKinney graduates or leaves for the NFL draft.
“Beniquez has stepped up,” McKinney said. “He is similar to (former MSU linebacker Cam Lawrence). He knows the plays before the offense runs them. He helps me out a lot.”
Then there’s Wells, an “Athletic freak,” according to Collins. A senior from Puckett High School, Wells has used his 6-3, 222-pound frame to wreak havoc in opposing backfields. He doubles as MSU’s best linebacker in pass coverage. He leads the team with five pass breakups to go with 17 tackles.
Richie Brown has 14 tackles and a fumble recovery.
The MSU linebackers will face their toughest test this weekend. A year after dropping a hard-fought 24-20 decision in the final seconds against Auburn, the No. 3 Bulldogs will deal with quarterback Nick Marshall and an offense that leads the SEC with 44 points per game in conference play.
McKinney said it will be just another day in the SEC.
“It’s a huge challenge taking on an offense like this with a quarterback like Nick Marshall,” McKinney said. “He can scramble (and) he can throw. Even on third and long, he can make plays with his feet. We have to be at our very best.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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