Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Defense Rises To The Challenge
September 11, 2021 | Football
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's defense knew it had a monumental task ahead on Saturday night trying to slow down an NC State squad that racked up 525 yards and 45 points in its season opener last week.
The Bulldogs passed that test with flying colors, holding the Wolfpack to just 32 yards rushing and forced three turnovers in a 24-10 victory.
"We were just focused on being the more physical team," said MSU safety Jalen Green, who had two of those takeaways. "Coach challenged us to be the more physical team tonight and that's what we proved."
NC State's tailback tandem of Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person – who rushed for 163 and 105 yards respectively in the opening week win at South Florida - only had two total runs over 10 yards against the Bulldogs all evening.
"NC State had a phenomenal first week with those two really, really good backs," said linebacker Jett Johnson, who posted a career-high nine tackles. "We stepped up to the challenge as a whole defense. It was very fun and a good win."
The Wolfpack finished with 335 total yards, 141 of which came during the final quarter. NC State scored its lone touchdown with 1:06 remaining in the game.
It was also during that fourth quarter that Mississippi State notched three of its four sacks. Defensive linemen Jaden Crumedy and Randy Charlton reached the quarterback during the final quarter, as did Emmanuel Forbes on a fourth down cornerback blitz.
Defensive end Aaron Odom was credited with the other Bulldog sack during the third quarter, also forcing a fumble on the play.
"I thought our D-line – even if they didn't always get to him – did a good job of affecting their quarterback," said MSU head coach Mike Leach.
A dozen different players combined for nine tackles for loss in the contest, led by Forbes and Crumedy with 1.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage each. Forbes topped the team with 11 total tackles, nine of which were solo stops.
"I did think we did a good job tackling on the perimeter," Leach said.
Green intercepted a jump pass in the end zone on NC State's opening drive of the game and later fell on a fumble that was forced by Johnson to start the second half.
Safety Fred Peters picked off the Wolfpack's final pass of the night giving MSU 36 interceptions in its last 39 games.
The Bulldogs passed that test with flying colors, holding the Wolfpack to just 32 yards rushing and forced three turnovers in a 24-10 victory.
"We were just focused on being the more physical team," said MSU safety Jalen Green, who had two of those takeaways. "Coach challenged us to be the more physical team tonight and that's what we proved."
NC State's tailback tandem of Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person – who rushed for 163 and 105 yards respectively in the opening week win at South Florida - only had two total runs over 10 yards against the Bulldogs all evening.
"NC State had a phenomenal first week with those two really, really good backs," said linebacker Jett Johnson, who posted a career-high nine tackles. "We stepped up to the challenge as a whole defense. It was very fun and a good win."
The Wolfpack finished with 335 total yards, 141 of which came during the final quarter. NC State scored its lone touchdown with 1:06 remaining in the game.
It was also during that fourth quarter that Mississippi State notched three of its four sacks. Defensive linemen Jaden Crumedy and Randy Charlton reached the quarterback during the final quarter, as did Emmanuel Forbes on a fourth down cornerback blitz.
Defensive end Aaron Odom was credited with the other Bulldog sack during the third quarter, also forcing a fumble on the play.
"I thought our D-line – even if they didn't always get to him – did a good job of affecting their quarterback," said MSU head coach Mike Leach.
A dozen different players combined for nine tackles for loss in the contest, led by Forbes and Crumedy with 1.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage each. Forbes topped the team with 11 total tackles, nine of which were solo stops.
"I did think we did a good job tackling on the perimeter," Leach said.
Green intercepted a jump pass in the end zone on NC State's opening drive of the game and later fell on a fumble that was forced by Johnson to start the second half.
Safety Fred Peters picked off the Wolfpack's final pass of the night giving MSU 36 interceptions in its last 39 games.
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