STARKVILLE — Justin Malone is versatile.
The Mississippi State senior offensive lineman has played guard ever since he arrived on campus in the summer of 2011. He played tackle in high school, but they needed him elsewhere.
He began the 2013 season as the starting right guard, but was injured and became the starting left guard last season. In a 31-13 win at Missouri last Thursday night, Malone had to play tackle for the first time since his senior season at Madison-Ridgeland Academy. Senior left tackle Rufus Warren went down with an injury right before the first half ended. Malone was moved to left tackle for the remainder of the game.
“I told them when I first got here, I would do whatever it takes to help us win,” Malone said. “I took my lumps, but as the game went on, I got better and I got better. From here on out I have to be ready.”
It looks like Malone will go back to left guard this week as Warren said he is ready to go. Malone’s transition wasn’t all that smooth, but it worked as the Bulldogs won. If it happens this week, Malone will have something to fall back on. The No. 20 Bulldogs (7-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) play host to No. 3 Alabama (8-1, 5-1) 2:30 p.m. (WCBI/CBS) Saturday afternoon at Davis Wade Stadium.
MSU co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach John Hevesy said Malone has taken reps at every offensive line position the last couple of weeks in practice due to the injuries on the line. Malone did get beat by Missouri’s Charles Harris once and that resulted in a sack.
But Hevesy said he liked what he saw from his veteran.
“He did alright,” Hevesy said. “I give him a lot of credit for going out there. He’s been around here five years, knows the system, and keeping him on the left side didn’t hamper his stance.”
They brought Warren to the locker room and put a brace on his leg, and they were going to keep him off the field, but Warren didn’t want to do that. Even if he couldn’t play, he wanted to be on the sideline to provide advice for Warren.
“I told them I wanted just to be a voice to him,” Warren said. “I know it killed me not to be out there physically, but I was always in their ear when they came to the sideline. From what I saw, at first he had his moments.”
The starting offensive line this season for the Bulldogs has mainly been Warren at left tackle, Malone at left guard, junior Jamaal Clayborn at center, junior Devon Desper at right guard, and junior Justin Senior at right tackle. That was thrown out the window when Warren went down.
Malone was moved to left tackle, Desper to left guard, Clayborn stayed at center, redshirt freshman Deion Calhoun took over at right guard, and Senior remained at right tackle.
Missouri has one of the best defensive lines in the country, so it wasn’t an easy process for the Bulldogs.
“I think it was a very good performance,” Malone said. “It might not show on paper and it might look a little sloppy when you watch, but the thing is they were one of the best defenses in the country. It shows no matter what we’re put into, we can adjust and we can work with it.”
Hevesy says they try to get every offensive lineman reps at different positions during practice for situations like last Thursday. It paid off.
The line should go back to normal this week, but an even bigger challenge looms for MSU. The Crimson Tide have one of the best defensive lines in the country. Senior defensive end Jarran Reed — a former East Mississippi Community College Lion — leads the defensive linemen with 44 tackles. He also has 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and six quarterback hurries. Junior defensive end A’Shawn Robinson has 29 tackles (4.5 for loss) half a sack, and eight quarterback hurries.
The Bulldog offensive line will have to be aggressive if they are going to have any chance of giving quarterback Dak Prescott time to pass and the running game a path to follow.
“We have to beat them to the punch,” Warren said. “Just put hands on them and move your feet. We know they’re big and stout, so this week is going to be all about coming off the ball and controlling the line of scrimmage.”
The Tide defense is only allowing 16.3 points (seventh in the country and third in the SEC) and 265.3 yards per game (third in the country and tops in the SEC).
The defensive line has been a big part of that.
“You watch them up front, they’re going to put their feet in the ground, they’re going to get their hands on you, they’re going to block you out, they’re going to look for the ball, and they’re going to defeat blocks,” Hevesy said.
Last week’s performance gave the Bulldog offensive line some confidence knowing they can step to the challenge even when players are shuffled around and are out of their comfort zone.
The mistakes that happened last week, in Malone’s mind, can’t happen this week.
“We have to do our job to give ourselves a chance to win the game,” Malone said. “They’re a good team, so we have to play our best game of the season.”
n, quarterback Dak Prescott is MSU’s nominee for the 2015 C Spire Conerly Trophy, given to the top college football player in the state of Mississippi.
Prescott won the award last time and is looking to become the first two-time winner since Ole Miss’ Eli Manning in 2001 and 2003.
Prescott has passed for 2,351 yards and 18 touchdowns with just one interception. He leads the Bulldogs with 418 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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