STARKVILLE — It’s easy to notice Beniquez Brown before the ball is snapped.
Watch any defensive possession for the No. 1 Mississippi State football team and you’ll see Brown, a redshirt sophomore linebacker from Florence, Alabama, clapping, yelling, and/or pointing before the offense snaps the ball.
Brown isn’t trying to distract the quarterback or get the crowd into the game. Instead, he is letting his teammates know what’s coming. Those habits have helped Brown carve a niche as the brains behind MSU’s defensive brawn, the defensive doctor who diagnoses what opposing offenses are thinking
“It’s fun watching film and carrying that into the game,” said Brown, who is second on the team with 38 tackles. “The offense comes to the line and they don’t think you know what’s coming. But you know you do, and that’s a great feeling.”
It’s a trait that has turned Brown from a talented young defender into one of MSU’s most indispensable commodities. At 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, Brown gives defensive coordinator Geoff Collins an extra member of the coaching staff, one who lines up yards away from the opposing quarterback and usually occupies the space between that quarterback’s ears.
But Brown’s ability to sniff out an opponent’s play before the snap isn’t a gift, it’s a result of countless hours of film study with MSU coaches and at home, during times when most college athletes would be thinking about anything other than football.
“I watch film all the time, here at the facility and at home,” Brown said. “Anything that’s going to give me or my teammates an edge, I will do it. I pretty much use most of my spare time watching film.”
It shows. That extra work has helped Brown become one of MSU’s most dependable tacklers. He also has five and a half tackles for loss and two sacks. Collins believes much of Brown’s success is derived from a desire to be great, a common thread among many of MSU’s best players.
“He invests the time needed to be special. He puts in the work to be smart,” said Collins, who is in his second full season as defensive coordinator. “He has a unique leadership ability in that he can take what he sees in film and translate it to the other players on the team. That is special, and I think it makes him play even faster. His mind is working so fast and so efficiently that it makes him a faster player within the play.”
Brown’s production on the field and his progression away from it haven’t been surprising. Three years ago, Brown signed with MSU as a four-star prospect out of Florence High, and he chose MSU over an offer from Auburn. In doing so, he agreed to play alongside Florence teammate Kivon Coman, who also is his second cousin.
When Coman, a backup safety, joined the Bulldogs after a year at Hargrave Military Institute, he was reunited with Brown, who had morphed from a talented running back/linebacker combination in high school to the latest in a line of heralded linebacker prospects, following in the footsteps of players like K.J. Wright, now with the Seattle Seahawks, and Cam Lawrence.
“When he sees something, he lets everybody know,” Coman said. “One thing I can say about him, he’s always putting in extra work — always. “He and I will watch a lot of film together, and he sees stuff that not a lot of players can see. When you’re hungry, that’s what you do. You work as hard as you can.”
Brown credits Lawrence, the former All-Southeastern Conference linebacker now with the Dallas Cowboys, with teaching him the value of studying film.
“In high school, I just went out and played,” Brown said. “I picked up the film study here. My first year here, Cam took me under his wing and taught me how to really break down film. Now I watch it all the time. Me and (MSU All-SEC linebacker Benardrick McKinney) watch it together a lot. When we’re not watching it together, we will text each other about things we see.”
The approach has worked for the linebackers. The group features the team’s top three tacklers — McKinney leads with 45, backup Christian Holmes is third with 34 — and has been the heart and soul of a defense that ranks among the SEC leaders in sacks, tackles for loss, and rushing yards allowed.
While McKinney, a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, gets much of the national acclaim, Brown also has been a major component in the middle, always watching, learning, and teaching.
“He helps me out a lot,” Coman said. “When we watch film together, he lets me know what he sees and he lets me know what I should be seeing. He’s good at it.”
‘I was wrong’
Though few know it, Brown hasn’t been right every time this season. Asked if he can remember being wrong about a pre-snap read this season, Brown admitted a mistake Saturday in a 45-31 win against Kentucky.
“I called out a pass, and they ran the ball,” Brown said. “I was mad at myself. They hadn’t shown that on film, but I still felt bad because I yelled it out. I don’t think anybody else noticed I was wrong, but I knew it. It makes me want to get back to work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
But the mistake at Kentucky is far from the norm for Brown. The best example of his defensive acumen remains an early fourth-down play in a 48-31 win against then-No. 6 Texas A&M, a play that gave the Bulldogs a boost. Lining up to defend a fourth-and-1 at the MSU 19-yard line, Brown noticed a shift in the offensive front that indicated tailback Tre Williams was going to get the ball and run to the left behind massive offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi. Brown frantically signaled to his teammates to crash in that direction, and when the ball was snapped, he slid through a crease in the center of the offensive line and dropped Williams for a 2-yard loss.
That attention to detail should be a boon to a defense that will lean heavily on its linebackers at 6:15 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) against unranked Arkansas at Davis Wade Stadium. Going against two of the SEC’s top tailbacks (junior Jonathon Williams and sophomore Alex Collins) and two of the league’s most productive tight ends (sophomore Hunter Henry has 18 catches, senior A.J. Derby has 17), Brown’s savvy will be tested early and often.
Collins said the Razorbacks’ tendency to shift and to manipulate formations prior to the snap will test MSU’s discipline and ability to react. The biggest responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Brown and McKinney. Collins used MSU’s 34-29 win against LSU as an example of how Arkansas’ attack is different.
“LSU kind of lines up and tells you right where they are going to be,” Collins said. “Every single snap, Arkansas will shift, motion, create an unbalanced line. … It’s all about them trying to create an advantage with their numbers. For Beniquez, understanding the numbers’ advantage they are trying to create will be huge. He has to understand the mathematical part of the game to help us fix the issues they will try to create with their formations.”
The thought of an assignment like that brings a smile to Brown’s face. Asked if he has figured out a way to determine when the Razorbacks like to pass or run depending on the formation, Brown grinned.
“A little bit,” Brown said. “They do a good job of running in certain looks but then going to play-action passes in the same looks. They are good, but I am excited to get out there and play them because I expect a very physical game.”
While Brown is a physical player, Collins believes the mental aspect sets Brown apart.
“He does such a great job of understanding situations, seeing little bitty things that might tip the play off,” Collins said. “You see that through the course of the season and it shows in his performance.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.