A Dandy Day For The Dawg Defense
October 21, 2023 | Football
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It seemed only fitting that Saturday's game at Arkansas would come down to a defensive stop.
And just as it had all day, Mississippi State's defense rose to the occasion.
With four seconds remaining, quarterback K.J. Jefferson heaved the football from midfield hoping to have the collective prayers of the Razorbacks answered on a Hail Mary.
Shawn Preston Jr. had other ideas. The Bulldogs' graduate safety skied in front of 6-foot-4 Arkansas receiver Isaac TeSlaa at the goal line and got both hands on the ball but was unable to secure the interception. Fortunately for State, the pigskin fell innocently to the turf inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
"I saw the ball in the air and it was coming straight to me," Preston said. "I really should have just knocked it down, but I'm happy with the result."
The result was a 7-3 victory for MSU, its first in conference play this season and improved the Bulldogs to 4-3 on the year. It was also the first time State has held an SEC opponent out of the end zone since a 45-6 victory at Vanderbilt on Oct. 23, 2021.
Mississippi State's stingy defense held the Hogs to just 200 total yards. Arkansas averaged only 2.9 yards per play, its worst showing over the last 55 games dating back to 2018.
"We've got a lot of competitors on that side of the ball and we've got a lot of competitors in our program," said head coach Zach Arnett. "We've seen the stats and knew the results weren't up to our satisfactory level so they went to work during the bye week. That's what you do. There isn't a magic formula. You put in the work, show up every day for practice, take a critical eye at situations where you've failed to perform and go about correcting them. I give credit to all those guys for being man enough to take coaching during the bye week and actually put it to good use and see the fruits of their labor."
The open date also allowed some of the Bulldogs' battered and bruised defensive standouts time to heal following a grueling first half of the year. MSU responded by amassing seven tackles for loss, four sacks and two turnovers against the Razorbacks. Â
"The bye week came at a great time," said linebacker Jett Johnson, who finished second of the team with 11 tackles. "A lot of us were banged up. We got healthy, got some confidence and I think that went a long way."
Much of defensive coordinator Matt Brock's game plan centered around slowing down Jefferson, Arkansas' 6-foot-3, 247-pound dual-threat signal caller. The Bulldogs limited the redshirt senior to just 97 yards through the air, 32 of which came on the final drive of the game.
Jefferson also gained 74 yards on the ground but netted just 38 yards rushing once State's four sacks were factored in.
"We did a good job of limiting his yards in scramble situations or quarterback designed runs," Arnett said. "He's going to get his obviously because he's just such a special player. But again, our guys knew that if you're going to slow down that offense right there, you've got to start by slowing down that quarterback and I think they were excited for the challenge."
Linebacker Nathaniel Watson compared tackling Jefferson to trying to stop "a big bus". Watson stacked up a season-high 14 tackles and now has 303 for his career, 32 shy of cracking the school's top 10 in that category. Two of his stops were sacks (tying a career-high) and marked the fifth consecutive game he has had at least a half-sack.
The Bulldogs' defense also had some firsts on Saturday. Decamerion Richardson and Corey Ellington each recorded their first career sacks with Ellington also forcing his first career fumble on his strip sack. Â
Preston came up clutch on the game's final play but was an integral playmaker for the defense all day long with an interception, one tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
Saturday's win was certainly a much-needed shot in the arm for State's confidence and will now look to close out the final five games of the regular season strong in hopes of extending the school's bowl streak to 14 straight.
"We have to build on this," Preston said. "This can't be the Super Bowl for us. We have to build and continue to strive to beat our next opponent and opponents in the future."
