Smith Shines As Dawg Defense Comes Together As One

STARKVILLE — For any unit in football to succeed on the gridiron, it takes focus, dedication and determination to leave it all out on the field for your teammates.

Sophomore Isaac Smith did exactly that in State's 56-7 victory over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night.

"I saw a guy playing the game the way it's supposed to be played," head coach Jeff Lebby said of Smith's performance. "You know, a guy that is violent when he gets to the football, [and] he is playing incredibly hard. [We've] got plenty of things to clean up, but that part of it is evident. So, if we can get 11 guys every single snap playing that way, I think we got a chance to get done what we're trying to accomplish."

In the victory over EKU, Smith recorded 11 tackles and one pass breakup as he swarmed the field alongside his teammates in State's athletic secondary.

In the first game of the season, the Bulldog defense as a whole ushered in a showtime era of its own by holding the Colonels to 3.9 yards per play.

"We got to do a little better challenging at times, but I saw guys playing the game the way we want them to play – flying around, hats to the ball, nonstop," Lebby said. "I'm so proud of the way our defense finished."

Smith was such a key piece of State's stinginess. The talented safety from Fulton, Mississippi, was a high school standout at Itawamba Agricultural High School before coming to MSU. Coming out of high school, he was ranked as the fifth-best prospect in the state and the No. 25 safety in his class.

On Saturday, Smith showed why he thought of so highly when he was just a prospect. His success was a result of months of hard work grinding in the Mississippi heat paying off. But most importantly, his showing was proof of the incredible chemistry he has with his teammates.

For Smith, the biggest and most important quality of his unit is their ability to come together as one and lay everything out on the field for each other. That mindset will consistently be one of the most integral aspects of State's defense.

"That was one of our biggest things, talking about pregame – communication on all sides of every position during the game," Smith said. "I feel like as a whole our defensive staff and our [safeties coach Matt Barnes] emphasized that communication and playing our man and doing our own job was a key. Yeah, communication was the main thing. We kept that the main thing."

It is a long season and there is still much work to do, but Smith, Lebby and the Bulldogs are all zeroed in on improving each week after Saturday's solid start.

"I think there was a whole lot of good," Lebby said. "Proud of our guys for their energy and their competitive spirit, the toughness they played with. But there are so many things to clean up. I think that's the biggest takeaway is that you got a chance to go win the way we won, but we are going to need to play better, play cleaner and that's what we are going to look forward to as we get back into it."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Smith Shines As Dawg Defense Comes Together As One

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