100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 54 Days – Looking back at State great Titus Brown
Jeff Lebby’s era of Mississippi State football has arrived.
The Bulldogs are on their third coach in as many years as Mike Leach’s tragic passing opened the door for defensive coordinator Zach Arnett’s debut as head coach last year. That experiment failed before the year even ended for State and now it’s Lebby’s turn to take the wheel.
While there is always a risk in hiring first time head coaches, Lebby brings to Starkville an exciting offensive scheme that has been productive everywhere he’s been. The coach has also brought with him some swagger that has the fanbase ready to see what’s next.
Over the course of the next 100 days, we will take a look at Lebby’s roster and even some fun historical rewinds that will bring back memories for Dawg fans of all ages.
Today, we look back at a player that is among one of the most underappreciated in Bulldog history.
100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 54 Days – Looking back at State great Titus Brown
There weren’t many great moments over the five-year period that Sylvester Croom roamed the Bulldog sidelines, but Brown was a player that enjoyed a great career. Croom recruited the state of Alabama very early on when he arrived in Starkville and Brown was one of the first players that he brought in out of Tuscaloosa.
The middle linebacker was a great athlete but was a developmental player at 6-4, 210 pounds. He was a two-star recruit, and it was expected that he would take a few years to adjust to the college level before being an SEC contender. MSU didn’t have a few years to spare, however, and Brown was readymade to put on the field.
Croom had Brown on the field in 2004 where the true freshman cut his teeth playing MLB. The results were Brown finishing fourth on the team in tackles as he played the last nine games of the season and made five starts. It was apparent he was going to be a defensive factor as all 59 tackles on the season came within the last eight games. He added 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks on his way to SEC All-Freshman honors.
Year two became a bit of a transition for Brown as he was moved to defensive end. He started to add the needed weight and had gotten up to over 240 pounds becoming a solid pass rusher for the Bulldogs’ defense. As a sophomore, Brown was one of MSU’s top pass rushers as he played in 10 games with two starts and made 30 tackles. He added another 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks and looked primed to become a star at that position moving forward.
As a junior, Brown made a big jump. He became a big part of the Bulldogs’ defense and was starting to pick up recognition around the league as he earned second-team All-SEC honors and was a starter for all12 of the contests played. Brown led the Bulldogs with an astounding 14.5 tackles for loss (3rd in the SEC) and 7.5 sacks (5th in the SEC) out of his 38 tackles. He was becoming more than solid, he was becoming a special pass rusher for the Bulldog defense, one they hadn’t had since the late 1990’s.
All the hard work that Brown put in led to a season in 2007 that he wouldn’t forget. For all of Brown’s efforts his first three years, the team had nothing to show for it with three losing records. That would change in ‘07, his last year on campus.
Brown picked up at least one sack in four of the first five games including a couple of quarterback bags on the road at South Carolina. By the fifth game of the year, he was one of the top pass rushers in the league with six sacks and eight tackles for loss and MSU was climbing closer to bowl eligibility.
With a 5-4 record, MSU needed one more win over the last three games of the season. It was no better time for Brown to have a game to remember than taking the field against a top-25 Alabama team, one that turned down the hometown defender just four years prior.
The Bulldogs were hanging in the ball game in the first half trailing 9-3 but Alabama was set to really take advantage of MSU late in the first half. The Tide was facing 3rd and Goal from the 2 yard line and 21 seconds left and State’s only hope was to force the fourth field goal of the first half and keep the game within striking distance. Little did anyone know that Brown had different plans.
The relentless pass rusher blew through the right side unblocked as the tight end went for a route in the end zone. Quarterback John Parker Wilson had no choice but to get rid of the the ball as Brown drove him into the ground and it was intercepted by Anthony Johnson. The Bulldog defensive back would haul it in and return it 103 yards to the end zone for one of the most exciting plays in Davis Wade Stadium history.
As the stands literally shook from the excitement, Brown and his teammates could sense that something special was in the air that day. The Bulldogs took a lead at the end of the half on that interception that they would never relinquish, and Brown fittingly ended the game with a sack as time expired. Brown had helped his team to a rare win over Alabama and two of the happiest people on the field would be him and his coach, both of whom felt there was something to prove.
His Bulldog career is often overlooked, but Brown will go down in history as one of MSU’s best defenders of all time. The four-year letter-winner currently sits seventh in Bulldog history with 18.5 sacks over that span.
Brown played four seasons in the NFL after becoming an undrafted free agent for the Cleveland Browns in 2008. He finished his career as a linebacker with 17 tackles and a sack in 28 games played from 2008-11.
