STARKVILLE — Jamal Peters and Mark McLaurin were certain they were going to be redshirted this season.
The Mississippi State freshman safeties entered the week of the season opener against Southern Mississippi pessimistic about their chances to earn playing time. But it was all in their heads, as Peters played against the Golden Eagles and McLaurin played in the team’s second game against LSU.
“They’re very talented athletes, and that’s why we decided to let them play and put them on the field and see what they can do,” MSU safeties coach Tony Hughes said. “It’s the plays they make in practice that gives you the confidence you have. They were able to execute in practice and you give them an opportunity to play in a game.”
Peters, who won three Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 2A State championships as a member of the Bassfield High School football team, has played in all three of MSU’s games and has seven tackles (1.5 for loss) and one sack. McLaurin, who led Collins High to a Class 3A State championship last season, has four tackles in two games. Both players will look to play their part at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) when MSU (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) plays Auburn (2-1, 0-1) at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.
MSU coach Dan Mullen told Peters he was going to play, but Peters still was unsure after a week of practice. Mullen told McLaurin that they were going to wait and see how the depth chart looked before making a decision, but he decided to let McLaurin make the choice.
“He told me he was thinking about my future, but after that he told me it was really going to be my choice,” McLaurin said. “I told him however I could help the team I’ll do it.”
In Mullen’s first six seasons at MSU, 30 freshmen have played. This season, Peters, McLaurin, wide receiver Malik Dear, and tight end Justin Johnson have seen action. Peters and McLaurin had to earn their way onto the field through special teams.
“Jamal came in and did a great job on special teams right from day one,” Mullen said. “He’s a guy we realized we could get him out there on special teams.”
In a 62-13 blowout victory against Northwestern State last week, Peters had a feeling he was going to get more playing time. He was right because he and McLaurin earned extended minutes at safety.
Senior Kendrick Market was held out of the game as a precaution due to an injury, which opened the door for Peters, who had four tackles, and McLaurin, who had three.
“I wasn’t really getting a lot of reps in practice, but he (Hughes) just told me I needed to step up and make plays in the game,” Peters said.
Moving forward, both players would like to get more playing time at safety. The Bulldogs entered the season with little experience at the position, and many believed Peters and McLaurin were going to have immediate impacts, but it’s going to take a lot of trust for that to happen.
“The most important thing we always talk about is they have to earn the trust of the locker room,” MSU defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. “The worst thing we can do is throw them in there if the team doesn’t really believe that they’re worthy of going in there.”
Diaz said earning the trust of the locker room won’t be easy for Peters and McLaurin to do, but they are working toward that every day in practice. Practice and the film room are the best place for Peters and McLaurin to prove themselves.
“If we learn our plays faster, we should be on the field every Saturday,” Peters said. “We might not be getting the reps like we should, but if we constantly stay on film and learn our plays more, they should bring us along.”
McLaurin shined in preseason scrimmages, as he had four interceptions in the second scrimmage. That was good enough to get him more repetitions with the second string.
“It really boosted my confidence because it’s hard coming in at the SEC level and having all this competition,” McLaurin said. “Everybody has the same amount of talent. The coaches said just keep playing, just keep believing, and I just kept going.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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