WATCH: Linebacker Branden Jennings, Mississippi State defense face major challenge at No. 1 Texas
After a tough 1-3 start to the season, the sledding only gets tougher for Mississippi State this weekend. The Bulldogs travel to Austin, Texas, for a 3:15 p.m. kickoff against top-ranked Texas in what will be the Longhorns’ first-ever SEC matchup on the gridiron.
Following Tuesday’s practice, Mississippi State junior linebacker Branden Jennings discussed Saturday’s challenge among other topics:
Q: A big challenge this week at No. 1 Texas. How is the team approaching that?
Jennings: We just want to capitalize off everything we’ve been doing better each and every week. We just want to continue to tackle better and fix our execution.
Q: You appear to be one of the emotional leaders on the defense. Talk about your passion for the game and for your teammates.
Jennings: I try to lead by example but I’ve tried to get better at vocalizing and just talking to everybody, getting our younger guys and older guys all together.
Q: What is the basis of alternating guys at your position?
Jennings: We’re just trying to stay fresh. We both know we are going to play. We just try to get everybody in and out of there. We just try to keep everybody fresh, to be honest.
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Q: What have you seen from this Texas team on film?
Jennings: Obviously, they’re the No. 1 team in the country. I feel like they’ve got two good quarterbacks, have a good tight ends room, their Oline is definitely solid. They’ve got some good threats, some speedy guys. They’re a pretty good all-around team and we’re going to try to execute as best we can and try to make plays and capitalize on our turnovers.
Q: There’s been some times where the defense didn’t have the right fits against the run game. What are you seeing there?
Jennings: Really sometimes guys are not in the right fits, to be honest. It’s not just the so-called call that we’re in. We just need to execute the call better, to be honest.
Q: Is that the same concept with the pass rush, too?
Jennings: I would say our pass rush in some of our games, depending on what defense we are in, we may have certain things coming our way. We just have to try to dismantle the quarterback as much as we can.
Q: In practice, how’s it been going against Michael Van Buren?
Jennings: We got to see both of the quarterbacks – Mike and Chris (Parson). I think it was definitely a different look for us, of course. I think it will definitely help us in the game, as well. We’re trying to get them ready as much as possible.
