HAILSTATEBEAT: Williams, Simmons lead way as Bulldogs find new identity

No one can be all that surprised by it. When Dak Prescott finished his college career and moved to Dallas to become the Cowboys' starting quarterback, there was a hole left in his wake at Mississippi State, a vacuum of personality, charisma, leadership and style. He was the biggest star Starkville, Mississippi had ever called its own, and by nearly any measure, he was the greatest player in the history of MSU football.

When his career came to a close, it left Dan Mullen's program with a lot of questions to answer. For years, it seemed, their identity had been simple – it was Dak. That easy. Everything the Bulldogs did permeated from their star, and after he left, it sometimes seemed they weren't quite sure what to do next.

Prescott's last game at State came in the final days of 2015, and now, nearly two years later, the Bulldogs have figured themselves out again. With an elite rushing attack behind one of the country's best offensive lines, and with an aggressive defense shutting opponents down at record levels, 7-2 Mississippi State has found it's new identity.

"We have a little physical mentality to us with the defense and the physicality in running the football," Mullen said. "I think the whole team takes pride in that – that physicality, that mindset. The defense is like, 'OK, why don't you guys throw a 6-8 minute drive together right now. We're going to sit and catch our breath for a while. You go pound on them and put some pressure on them, then we're going to come out and get after them again.' I do think they're starting to learn that identity."

MSU, to sum up his words, is the aggressor. It's an old cliché, but when you play against the Bulldogs, you feel it the next day. Win or lose, they'll make you work for it. That's the identity of this team, and with so many of its players back next year, that will be their identity in 2018, as well. On the shoulders of bruising backs, dominating defensive linemen and a host of aggressive, physical players, MSU has emerged from the shadow of the Dak Prescott Era and is now casting its own light as a physically dominant team.

And it all starts with two people. Everything MSU does on offense runs through junior tailback Aeris Williams, and everything MSU does on defense starts with junior defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Others get the praise and attention, as all-everything quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and back-to-back SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week Montez Sweat can attest, but all that each unit is able to do spreads from Williams and Simmons who mirror each other as the driving force in the middle of each side of the ball.

On the offensive side, Fitzgerald fills the highlight reels with long runs down the field and deep passes to receivers, while Williams is relegated to smashing himself over and over into the heart of the opposing defense, typically more than 20 times per game. His job is to get the hard yards, thus making easy yards a real thing for the rest of the offense.

"You know, Aeris Williams, you look at his stat line," Mullen said, "it's not awe-inspring. But boy, it's pretty impressive. He takes pride in the pounding and pounding and getting the tough yards that eventually allow for some of these big hits. Now, he might not always be getting the big hit, but he's doing that.

"I think it is critical, his play," Mullen continued. "That style of play has set up everything else in the offense."

It's something Williams and Fitzgerald see every time the ball is snapped. No matter who gets the ball, no matter where it looks like the ball is going, there is hesitation. When Fitzgerald rolls to the outside, he often finds himself a step, or several steps, ahead of the defenders. Because Williams barrels into the middle of the defense so often, they have to account for it on every play. So when Fitzgerald fakes the handoff, they better be absolutely certain it was really a fake. If it wasn't and they're not there when Williams arrives, he's getting to the second level before they can trip over their own feet in attempted recovery. Just the fear of such a mistake is enough, creating the time Fitzgerald needs to take off for another one of his bulldozing runs through the secondary on his way to the endzone.

On the defensive side, Simmons is tasked with a similar goal: draw the attention of the opposition and force them to worry about him while his teammates exploit advantageous matchups. Simmons is, of course, one of the best defensive tackles in a league full of great ones, and to hear his defensive coordinator Todd Grantham talk about him, it's no surprise that he's consistently able to draw double-teams in the middle of the fracas at the line of scrimmage.

"He's a good player," Grantham said. "He's got good size. He's explosive. Any time you have big people that are explosive and have some burst and run and have acceleration and quickness, those things are very hard to handle inside, particularly with defensive linemen. He really has all those tangibles and he's fun to coach."

The metaphoric tip of the spear of MSU's defense, Simmons – like Williams – is the battering ram that brings down the castle gates. Fellow defensive lineman Braxton Hoyett said the attention Simmons draws is what helps people like him, Sweat, linebacker Gerri Green and many others make the plays they do.

"[Offenses] know he's one of the star players on the defensive line," Hoyett said. "Everybody wants to scheme for him, try to run away from him. It opens things up for Gerri, me, Sweat, any other backers that come in. He's done a fantastic job just with the double teams. He doesn't care about that. He plays hard and he still makes plays."

The parallels between what Williams and Simmons do are easy to see, and the similarities between their styles and the identity of the team is doubly so. They're succeeding through their physicality, a blue-collar approach that could hardly be more appropriate for MSU. The key, of course, is having talented teammates surrounding them, players with the ability to take advantage of the things their offensive and defensive catalysts set in motion.

Mullen is respected for his spread offense, but by another definition, he's become a spread team on both sides of the ball. MSU isn't just spreading out in terms of using the whole field – they're spreading out the resources of their opponent.

Grantham was asked about the success his group has had when Simmons and Sweat are lined up next to each other. His answer was about defense, but it's the same philosophy Mullen employs on offense with Fitzgerald and Williams on the field together.

"Any time you can put good players into a position where you're next to another good player, it reduces the amount of double teams you get," Grantham said. "It forces people to one-on-one block you."

In short, make the other team account for everyone on the other side of the ball. And that's what MSU has been able to do this year, thanks to the oft-unheralded efforts of Williams and Simmons. Does it bother the two at the center of it all to be the grinders instead of getting the glory? Williams answered for them both.

"No," he said. "I like to win. I'll do whatever it takes to win."

In this new era of physical domination, that's all that matters.

Mississippi State University Athletics

HAILSTATEBEAT: Williams, Simmons lead way as Bulldogs find new identity

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