Football
Joel Coleman, Senior Writer
Mississippi State’s defense shines on a day the Bulldogs honor the two legends.
STARKVILLE – Saturday was a special day at Mississippi State as the Bulldogs honored a pair of legends and the school’s first-ever black varsity football players – late heroes Frank Dowsing, Jr. and Robert Bell.
There were special uniforms. There was a halftime ceremony for the families of the two trailblazers. All of it happened under a beautiful, sunlit Starkville sky. It all seemed perfect.
And if all this wasn’t enough, the Dawg defense saw it fit to throw a little icing on the cake.
In a lopsided, 45-14 win over Bowling Green, Mississippi State defenders made certain to put the clamps on the Falcons in an effort that surely would’ve had Dowsing – a former defensive back, and Bell – a former defensive lineman, grinning from ear to ear.
“Give ’em hell, Robert Bell,” State fans used to shout.
Well 50 years since those chants came from the stands, it was MSU’s current linemen creating chaos and frustrating the Falcons.
“I thought our [defensive] line affected their quarterback, and when the good things happened for us, it was when our defensive line was affecting the quarterback,” MSU head coach Mike Leach said.
Just how much did State impact things in the trenches? The numbers – particularly the early numbers – speak for themselves.
The Bulldogs allowed only 19 first-quarter yards. State forced a three-and-out on four of Bowling Green’s first five possessions and five of the Falcons’ first seven.
MSU’s leading tackler Saturday,…
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