All About The Team
October 05, 2022 | Football, Joel Coleman
Even after an award-winning week, Emmanuel Forbes is only focused on helping the Bulldogs win.
STARKVILLE – Will Rogers is thankful.
Many times in Mississippi State football practices, the Bulldog quarterback has dropped back to pass. On a lot of those occasions, fellow Dawg – cornerback Emmanuel Forbes – has made Rogers' job difficult.
"He just always seems to find his way around the football," Rogers said. "I'm glad he's on my team."
Everyone in Maroon and White shares Rogers' opinion. The same incredible talent that makes Forbes such a headache for the Bulldog offense out on the practice fields makes him a weapon each and every Saturday.
Over the last three years, Forbes has developed into one of the country's top defensive backs. The junior out of Grenada, Mississippi, showed it again last weekend with a blocked field goal and a pair of interceptions that helped lead MSU to a win over then-No. 17 Texas A&M.
The awards rolled in as a result.
Forbes was picked as the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday. A day later, it was announced he'd been chosen as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week.
High honors. Amazing accolades. But as great as it all is, you won't find Forbes dwelling on any of it.
"It means a lot, but I'm just here to help my team win and keep getting better each and every week," Forbes said.
Forbes' humility and desire to simply be a piece of the Bulldogs' success as a whole is genuine. It's who he is. However, there's no downplaying all he's done in his three years in Starkville.
One of Forbes' interceptions last weekend was returned for a touchdown. It marked his fourth career pick-six, making him Mississippi State's career record holder in the category and tying him for the active career lead in all the FBS. Forbes is only the fifth-ever SEC player to record four or more pick-sixes and is just one shy of the all-time conference record.
This season, Forbes leads the SEC with three interceptions. He now has 11 total picks in his career making him the league's active career leader. He's second in passes defended this year with seven.
Forbes is unquestionably a cornerstone of the Dawg defense. But what is it, exactly, that makes him so good?
"He's just so instinctive," Rogers said. "You hear the comparison all the time of wide receivers playing DB. I think that's something that helps him. He played wide receiver in high school and he's got ball skills like that. He's so instinctive and just so football-smart."
Rogers might be on to something. As a high school senior at Grenada back in 2019, not only did Forbes have eight interceptions on the defensive side – he also caught 31 passes for 499 yards and seven touchdowns as a wideout.
These days, receiving is in Forbes' past, but the pass catching continues to the chagrin of opposing quarterbacks. Don't expect Forbes to brag about the individual success he continues to have though. He's too locked in.
"I just play one play at a time," Forbes said.
With Forbes, any one of those plays could be a gamechanger for the Bulldogs.
