STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen challenged his defense in practice this week.
After what he felt was an average performance in the first five games, Mullen wanted to see more of an edge from his players, so he told his defense, “Don’t step on that field unless you’re ready to play our style of defense and get after people.”
MSU responded Saturday in a 45-17 victory against Troy at Davis Wade Stadium.
“We had 11 guys on the field playing nasty and running to that football,” Mullen said. “I liked that edge we kind of had to us. Guys were playing with that chip on their shoulder.”
In three of the first five games, MSU (4-2) held its opponents to less than 400 yards of offense. Southern Mississippi had 413 yards in the season opener, while Texas A&M had 516 yards last week. That was unacceptable to Mullen and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. They wanted the defense to get back to its aggressive style.
The defensive players knew changes needed to made and they attacked practice.
“I felt like everybody was more into it this week,” MSU junior defensive lineman A.J. Jefferson said. “I could tell a big sense of urgency. Everybody was juiced up. (Coach Mullen) challenged the defense this week, and I felt like we answered the bell.”
MSU allowed 254 yards of total offense — 142 passing and 112 rushing. Jefferson had seven tackles, including two for loss. The Summit native remembers showing up at the Leo Seal Football Complex for breakfast one morning last week and seeing ropes waiting on him. He knew he wasn’t about to get anything to eat and the Bulldogs were going to do rope pulls. That’s when he knew things were going to be different.
The Bulldogs opened things up in practice and defensive players were flying all over the field.
“It was full tackle,” Jefferson said. “We were tackling people to the ground.”
The defense set the tone in the first quarter when Brandon Bryant sacked quarterback Brandon Silvers and caused a fumble. The ball rolled into the end zone and Nelson Adams fell on it for a touchdown that gave MSU a 14-0 lead with 13 minutes, 16 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. MSU allowed 51 yards in the first half (-21 yards rushing) in building a 38-0 lead.
The Bulldogs entered the game three forced turnovers. The fumble was the first one MSU has recovered. It helped the Bulldogs win the turnover margin (plus-2) for the first time.
“Coach Mullen tells us all the time they come in bulk, so hopefully that leads into next week and the week after that,” Brown said.
Brown intercepted a Dallas Tidwell pass on the first possession of the second half for the third interception of his career. The Florence, Alabama, native had seven tackles, including a half tackle for loss.
“That’s big time defense right there now,” Mullen said.
Former East Mississippi Community College standout Dontreal Pruitt sparked the Trojans (1-4) in the second half, scoring a 5-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. The Laurel native was 12 of 17 for 90 yards. He had 18 carries for 56 yards and a one touchdown.
“I was just kind of grateful for the opportunity to come out and lead the team,” Pruitt said. “I haven’t had many chances, but I felt like we came out and accepted the challenge in the second half.”
The Trojans added to their total thanks to a 74-yard touchdown from Brandon Burks and a 21-yard field goal from Jed Solomon with 27 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs finished with four sacks. Along with Bryant, Ryan Brown and Tolando Cleveland had sacks, while Jefferson and Kivon Coman were credited with half a sack each. MSU also had 15 tackles for loss, the most since it had 15 against Alcorn State in 2010.
“I think they’re going to be able to watch this film now and we can show, ‘That’s what we’re looking for, that’s what we’ve been expecting, and that’s what we’re going to demand here on out,’ ” Mullen said.
MSU will play host to Louisiana Tech at 11 a.m. Saturday (SEC Network) for its Homecoming game.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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