STARKVILLE – To hear Mississippi State defensive end Ryan Brown tell it, 2014 could go down as the Year of Preston Smith.
“I was talking to my mom earlier and we were talking about this,” said Brown, a junior defensive lineman from New Orleans. “Every good player has a year where he can do no wrong. I think this is Preston’s year, where he stands out over everybody.”
Brown would get no argument from anyone involved with MSU’s football team. Smith, a 6-foot-6, 267-pound terror at defensive end has done a little bit of everything this season for the 9-1 Bulldogs.
After entering his final campaign in Starkville with 6.5 career sacks, Smith has erupted to lead MSU with eight quarterback stops this season, and he also has a team-best 12.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a pair of blocked field goals.
In short, Brown was right. This has been the Year of Preston Smith.
“I guess it has been a great season,” said Smith, a native of Stone Mountain, Georgia. “As a team, we are just trying to refocus after the loss to Alabama, making sure we do our jobs and get back on the winning track. Defensively, we are trying to finish strong.”
MSU defensive coordinator Geoff Collins is another believer in Smith, who has made the transformation from solid Southeastern Conference player into one of the league’s most disruptive players as a senior. Smith has nine straight games with a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, and he has sacks in each of MSU’s last five games. That included a takedown of Alabama quarterback Blake Sims on Saturday, a play that was an exhibition of Smith’s next-level combination of size, strength, and speed.
But Smith has always had those attributes. To Collins, an added strength has emerged this season.
“Just maturity,” said Collins of Smith. “Preston always had freakish natural ability, he could always rush the passer. But this offseason, I think he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He started working harder, he started developing as a run stopper. When that happened, it began to feed into his pass rushing, and he has been great this season.”
On a team full of lightly recruited players who have developed into all-conference types, Smith’s leap is one of the biggest. As a sophomore in 2012, he finished with 35 tackles and 4.5 sacks despite not starting a game. In 2013, he ramped up to 44 total tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss, but his sacks dipped to just 2.5. This season, however, Smith has been phenomenal across the board.
He already has 35 total tackles through 10 games, and his eight sacks has produced two turnovers. He also has played a part in two defensive touchdowns, a 26-yard interception return against UAB and a blocked field goal in the season opener that turned into a 70-yard kick return for a score by senior safety Jay Hughes.
“I have worked hard, we all have,” said Smith. “That’s how you get on the field in this program, by working hard. It’s been a great year for all of us.”
While Smith’s production has been top-notch, he’s also developed in other areas. According to Collins, Smith has become a vocal leader on an MSU defensive line that ranks second in the SEC in sacks.
“Preston has kind of taken that role over,” said Collins. “Guys like Ryan Brown, A.J. Jefferson look up to him. They want t be the next in that line that makes the jump he has made.”
Brown agrees.
“We always compete with each other, all day every day,” said Brown of Smith. “He knows I want to be just as god as he is, and we push each other. But I am anxious to see where he gets drafted, and what comes next for him. Because I want to follow his path.”
Smith’s path has taken him from a lightly regarded three-star prospect four years ago to the NFL’s doorstep, as he is projected to be drafted in the first three rounds according to ESPN.com.
First things first, though. Smith and his teammates, trying to rebound from their first loss in over a year, will host Vanderbilt at Davis Wade Stadium this Saturday night at 6:30. For Smith, it will be bitter-sweet, as he and his fellow seniors will be playing their final game at home.
“It came real fast,” said Smith. “I never even thought about playing my final game here. We have the greatest fans in the world, the greatest family…It’s a little sad, playing in front of them for the last time. But it’s great, too, because how many guys can say they were No. 1 and 9-1 in their senior season? I’m going to enjoy it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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