COLUMBIA, Mo. — Chris Jones was tired of seeing the Missouri quarterback Drew Lock not go down when he met him in the backfield.
The Mississippi State defensive tackle rushed after Lock two times. Both times he wrapped his arms around him only to have the freshman escape and deny Jones a sack.
That didn’t sit too well with the junior from Houston High School.
“I kept on telling myself, ‘I’ve got to get him, I’ve got to get him,’ ” Jones said. “I gave up in the first half, and I knew I just had to get him.”
Jones’ persistence finally paid off in the third quarter Thursday, when he sacked Lock to help No. 24 MSU take down Missouri 31-13 at Memorial Stadium.
Jones arrived at MSU in the fall of 2013 as one of the nation’s most sought after recruits. He had a big freshman season with 32 tackles (seven for loss) and three sacks. His production went down as a sophomore (26 tackles, three-and-a-half for loss, and three sacks), but he returned this season as a new man and has pushed through a slow start every day in practice.
“I try to get better by the week,” said Jones, who has two-and-a-half sacks. “I’m my biggest critic, so every week I try to get better. I try to find out what I didn’t do last week, what my mistakes are, and I try to better myself.”
Jones had two tackles (both for loss) and one quarterback hurry against the Tigers. He said it was an “OK” performance, but it was one of his better ones because he affected the game and disrupted what the Tigers wanted to do in the passing game.
MSU coach Dan Mullen said he would have to watch the film to give a final grade to Jones, but he said he thought the junior played really well.
“I felt his presence out there on the field,” Mullen said. “He played what could be one of his best games so far.”
The Bulldogs (7-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) played tough in the rain and only allowed the Tigers (4-5, 1-5) to pick up 322 yards (215 rushing, 107 passing) of total offense. Andrew Baggett kicked two field goals and Russell Hansbrough’s 15-yard touchdown in the first half accounted for Missouri’s scoring.
With MSU leading 14-13 at halftime, Jones helped the defense impose its will on Missouri in the second half by controlling the line of scrimmage.
“I saw a motor from him that’s been carrying on since game one,” MSU junior safety Kivon Coman said. “He’s hungry, and that’s how he practices, and that’s how he plays.”
Jones hopes the game is something he can build on in the final three games of the regular season.
“Every game is a learning process,” Jones said. “You can learn from every mistake, so I can find out what I can get better at from this game.”
Mullen expects Jones to learn a lot from the performance. He also expects him to duplicate his effort against Alabama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss.
“He’s going to look and say, ‘Hey, when I’m paying, I can make things happen out there on the field,’ ” Mullen said. “If he wants to be an All-SEC type player, he has to show that every single week.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.