Film Room: MSU’s Goal Line Stand vs. LSU
One of the biggest moments in the game vs. LSU was the 1st quarter goal-line stand by the MSU defense. It was a huge statement to Les Miles, the LSU team and the fans at Tiger Stadium that Mississippi State was there to play – and the momentum it generated added more fuel to the fire the Bulldogs used to get a win in Death Valley. The following were the 11 guys on defense for State on all four plays:
- Taveze Calhoun
- Deontay Evans
- Preston Smith
- Kaleb Eulls
- Nelson Adams
- Chris Jones
- Ryan Brown
- Kendrick Market
- Christian Holmes
- Benardrick McKinney
- Richie Brown
After a questionable pass interference call on Will Redmond, LSU had the ball at the two yard line with 1st and goal to go. 1st down
Holmes and McKinney are circled. The defensive line will hold their ground so they can come up to make the tackle.
The hand off is to Darrel Williams. As you can see none of LSU’s offensive lineman are able to get a good push off the ball.
McKinney gets the first lick on Williams and Holmes comes in to finish him off for no gain.
2nd down
LSU lines up in the ‘I’ with three TE on the right side. The fullback moves to TE on the left side, one TE from the right moves to fullback, then another TE goes in motion to the left side. So at first it looked like they were stacked heavy to run to the right, but by the time the ball was snapped they were loaded up to run left.
It looks like a good lane with the fullback leading the way, but MSU’s linebackers are waiting to pounce….
Leonard Fournette gained one yard on pitch but is unable to score.
3rd down
LSU is in the ‘I’ again, but this time they hand the ball off to Kenny Hilliard lined up as the fullback.
MSU clogs up the middle and forces 4th down with a loss of one on the play….daring Les Miles to go for it.
4th down
This time Anthony Jennings keeps the ball and looks for a seam on the right side of the line.
This doesn’t fool Richie Brown at all. He anticipates the play perfectly and makes a sound tackle to force a turnover on downs!
Time to celebrate the stop! The offense then proceeded to drive 99 yards in just five plays to make it 14-0.