WATCH: Linebacker Stone Blanton set for Mississippi State debut

There’s a lot of question marks surrounding Mississippi State’s defense entering Saturday’s season opener against Eastern Kentucky and rightfully so. Not only did the Bulldogs lose a lot of familiar faces from last year’s defense but there’s a lot of new transfers along with a new defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler.

One of those newcomers is junior middle linebacker Stone Blanton, who spent his first two college campaigns at South Carolina. Earlier this week after practice, Blanton visited with the media to discuss the upcoming debut of the Bulldog defense among other topics:

Q: How ready are you to hit someone in a different uniform this weekend? Your thoughts on Eastern Kentucky?
Blanton: I’m excited to play them. I think they’re a good team. They’ve got a lot of old guys on the team so they’re an experienced group. We’ve got to handle business, play as hard as we can and play to the best of our abilities.

Q: What do you think about the new helmet communication this year with the coaches and players?
Blanton: I love it. I feel like in the stadium it can be a little harder to hear. We still have our signals so you can’t totally rely on it. But it is helpful when you can have communication with (Hutzler). You can tell us the play and be a little faster. Against tempo teams that will be very helpful. But I’m just not sure about the noise levels and how the stadium is going to affect it or not.

Q: Do you like being the guy that has that communication to give to the rest of the defense?
Blanton: I do. I like it a lot and it’s fun. It gives you more to prepare more and people are relying on you.

Q: With so many new faces on defense, how’s it been getting everyone on the same page communication-wise?
Blanton: I don’t feel like we’re new faces anymore. We’ve been here for 6-7 months and this team has really bonded. We’re one unit. I feel like we’re moving really well together and we’re communicating at a high level right now.

Q: Jeff Lebby has stressed using a lot of rotation on defense this year. How beneficial will that be?
Blanton: I think it’s huge. When you’re running up your snaps 70-80 plays a game you start risking injury and it’s a higher risk for injury. I think being able to have a rotation where every guy is really talented and has their own skill set, I think that’s really beneficial to the defense. There’s not a drop off. Everybody plays as hard as they can and they’re smart dudes and they want to get better. I think that’s a great thing to have in the linebacker room.

Q: How was it playing against Mississippi State last year?
Blanton: That was the best game I played last year, the most fun game I played. It was a tight game. Our defense did not play great, I’ll say that. But it was unreal playing them. Being able to be here and play for them, I’m excited.

Q: How much is Coleman Hutzler emphasizing turnovers with the defense?
Blanton: It’s game changing. It’s a game-changing play. If you win the turnover margin, which means your team produces more turnovers and your offense gets the ball back, your win percentage goes crazy high. If you win the turnover margin you have a great chance winning the game. So you want to get the ball out.

Q: Is there any risk going for a turnover and not getting the tackle?
Blanton: Yeah and it is give and take. You got to be smart about it. If you’re the only person around a guy, obviously, get them on the ground. But if you got a lot of guys around you, you can go for the ball and be more aggressive. You just have to be smart and know your surroundings, know your leverage and attack the ball as much as you can.

Q: What did you learn last year at South Carolina being in a dogfight with FCS foe Jacksonville State?
Blanton: A lot of people say they weren’t a good team. But they went 9-4 last year and they were a pretty solid team. I understand they weren’t SEC but there’s players everywhere and all over. We treat this game like it’s the biggest game of the season because it’s the next one. That’s what Coach Lebby emphasizes and it’s what we emphasize. It’s the biggest game we got right now. So we’re not treating it like we’re going to go out there and steam roll. That’s not how we play. We treat this as the biggest game and we’re going to go out there and play as hard as we can and get the W.

Q: Being your first game at Mississippi State, how many tickets did you need to get this week?
Blanton: A lot. My whole family is coming for the first time, like all at once. So it’s pretty cool.

Q: Besides getting the win, what do you want to see from this defense on Saturday?
Blanton: We have a thing called ‘get six’. It’s where you have third-down stops, turnovers, fourth-down stops and stuff like that. So you want to try to get six of those. So that’s kind of a goal we have going into every game. Get six and you have a great chance of winning the game. You can always say you want a shutout and that’s everyone’s goal every single time you step on the field. So that’s what we’re going to play like. But just play extremely hard, control your effort and attitude and let everything else fall into place. Do our job and we should have good results.

Q: Any thoughts on the other new rules like in-game video on the sidelines?
Blanton: IPads are the coolest thing and I love having that on the sideline and be able to see exactly what went wrong and what went right, and make an adjustment right then and there. It’s a lot easier when you’re not doing it with Xs and Os on a board and everybody screaming at you. It’s easier when you have the actual footage and not pointing fingers on who did what. I think that’s the biggest change, having IPads on the sidelines.

Q: How will the emotions be on Saturday?
Blanton: I’m just excited to play. I’m ready to put on a Mississippi State jersey and go out there and hear the cowbells. I’m super excited, having my family wait for me after the game. It’s going to be fantastic.

Q: Your thoughts on Eastern Kentucky’s offense?
Blanton: They’re talented guys and they have some players that can play. Like I said, they’re an experienced group. They’ve got a big quarterback that sits in the pocket that is going to deliver the ball. He’s not a scrambler or anything like that. They’ve got a fast back and a good tight end. I think we just need to do our job and play as hard as we can.