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Welcome back to the Tigers Football Insider, where we bring you the latest news and analysis from The Daily Memphian’s Frank Bonner II, Geoff Calkins and John Martin each week.
Mississippi State beat writer Stefan Krajisnik from the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal gave me a call to get more familiar with Tiger football.
We chatted about key players to watch and who would need to play well for each team to succeed. The obvious names for Memphis were Seth Henigan and Brandon Thomas, who have helped the Tigers lead the nation with 1,267 total yards in the first two games.
Arkansas State is third in the nation after totaling 681 yards against Memphis last week. The Tigers are going to need to do better clamping down on defense against Mississippi State. Allowing big chunk plays were a major problem last game, but the good news for Memphis is that Krajisnik said the Mississippi State defense has a similar issue.
The Tigers have running back Brandon Thomas who can break free for a big gain at any time. Henigan has receivers Calvin Austin III, Javon Ivory and even tight end Sean Dykes who can create big plays.
Henigan has done a solid job protecting the football, but Mississippi State has already grabbed three interceptions and recovered two fumbles to start the year.
An interception at some point in the season is inevitable for Henigan, but the freshman looks to have enough poise to bounce back once it happens. The Bulldogs will try to force Henigan into throwing his first pick of the season. We’ll see how he recovers from if they succeed.
Krajisnik and I discussed one of the biggest Mississippi State weaknesses for the Tigers to exploit is the offensive line. The MSU offensive line has struggled in the first two games, especially with quarterback Will Rogers holding the ball a little too long at times. Krajisnik said the guard position is where the O-line is at its worse.
Memphis did a solid job of getting pressure on Nicholls quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. but couldn’t tackle him. The Tigers brought good pressure against Arkansas State and had two sacks.
Chasing havoc in the backfield against Mississippi State could help neutralize Mike Leach’s air raid offense. If the defense can do its job while the offense continues to play as it has been, the Tigers have a good chance at going 3-0.
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