STARKVILLE — Ben Beckwith didn’t know what to expect.
A walk-on offensive lineman entering his junior season, Beckwith was going through his daily workout at Mississippi State’s football facility one spring day in 2013. During the workout, though, Beckwith was told to report to MSU coach Dan Mullen’s office.
“I didn’t know what it could be,” Beckwith said. “It really caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t know if it was good news or bad news.”
It was great news.
Following three seasons of toiling in the background after joining the team in 2010 from tiny Benton Academy in Yazoo County, Beckwith trudged into Mullen’s office as a walk-on offensive guard. He left with a scholarship.
“I had been bothering coach Mullen forever about it,” Beckwith said. “My parents always told me they weren’t worried about it. They said they’d always pay for my school. But I wanted that scholarship. I wanted to be able to earn that, so I always pestered coach Mullen and he would say, ‘You’re first on the list, you’re first on the list.’ I started to wonder if he was just messing with me.
“But that day, the first thing he said was, ‘We’re going to put you on scholarship.’ I walked out of the office and called my mom, and she burst into tears. It was awesome. That’s a life-changing deal, getting your school paid for.”
Beckwith will be one of nearly two dozen seniors who will run out of the tunnel connecting MSU’s locker room with the playing field at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday for No. 4 MSU’s game against Vanderbilt.
But unlike most of his teammates, players who were recruited out of high school and enjoyed at least four years as scholarship athletes, Beckwith’s story is different. It’s rooted in hard work, dedication, and, in his words, stubbornness.
Coming out of Benton Academy as a fullback, there weren’t a lot of Football Bowl Subdivision football teams lining up to sign Beckwith. A few Division II teams inquired about the 6-foot-3, 290-pounder, and there was a scholarship offer from Holmes Community College, but Beckwith had only one destination in mind.
“I had the JUCO offer, and there were a couple of Division II, Division III schools,” Beckwith said. “But any school who was interested, I just came out and told them that I was going to Mississippi State to play in the SEC. I was a stubborn, cocky high school kid who thought I could do it. It worked out for me, I guess, but it took a lot of hard work. I was the type of guy who wanted to prove people wrong, and I feel like I have done that.”
Beckwith went to work at MSU. As part of Mullen’s first full recruiting haul at MSU, he quickly learned how hard the road would be. Working his way from unknown to the limelight included “so many massacres. There were 5 a.m. workouts that made it seem like that first year would take forever. That was new to me because we barely had a weight room at my high school. But I stuck with it and it paid off.”
Beckwith isn’t alone. What’s left of the 2010 class and a few members of the 2011 group of signees will take the field for the last time at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network). Beckwith and players like wide receiver Jameon Lewis, tight end Malcolm Johnson, cornerback Jamerson Love, and others escaped relative obscurity and are the backbone of a team that has won 12 of its last 13 games and is No. 4 in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s weekly rankings. Additionally, MSU’s senior class has helped MSU reach a school-record five-straight bowl games, and has it in contention for a conference and national championship.
None of that surprises Beckwith.
“This group is special,” Beckwith said of MSU’s seniors. “We came in together, and we were close from day one. We put in the work together. We’ve been through highs and lows. … I’m proud to be part of it. Those guys will be my friends for life. We had an end goal in that we wanted to make a splash in this program. I think we’ve done that.”
None of it surprises Mullen.
“Ben is one of those guys you want,” Mullen said earlier in the season. “He’s a player who comes to work every single day, whether it’s practice or a game. He wants to be a great football player, and he works to make become a reality.”
‘It will be emotional’
Slowly but surely, Beckwith transformed from timid freshman who felt like his redshirt season would last forever into an indispensable veteran who plugs several holes in the offensive line. He started 12 of MSU’s 13 games a year ago and has started all 10 this season.
Beckwith isn’t just a body. Instead, he’s one of MSU’s best offensive lineman, a versatile piece that has started games at multiple positions. He also has won SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors twice this season, the first after a dominating performance at center — filling for suspended starter Dillon Day — against Texas A&M.
“We trust all of our linemen, but I knew Ben was going to do a great job,” MSU quarterback Dak Prescott said after the 48-31 win against Texas A&M.
But another game stands out to Beckwith as this season’s turning point.
“It’s been just crazy, this whole season,” Beckwith said. “I think we got the monkey off our back at LSU. We were hearing, ‘You can’t do it, you can’t do it.’ But within this team, within these walls, we knew what we had. We knew we had playmakers on both sides of the ball. We went in and played loose, and I don’t think the score indicated how badly we won that game. After that, we went on a roll.”
That roll included a 9-0 start that ended last week with a 25-20 loss at Alabama. Despite the loss, MSU remains in contention for the College Football Playoff. MSU needs to beat Vanderbilt and Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl to stay in the hunt for a SEC Western Division title and a spot in the top four of the College Football Playoffs.
But Beckwith said the focus is on Vanderbilt, even as he and his classmates prepare to play their final home game.
“It’s going to be emotional,” Beckwith said. “I am an emotional guy. I’ve never hidden that from anybody. This place means a whole lot to me, to my family, and to all the people who come up here and support me.
“It’s going to be a sad day and an awesome day at the same time. Yes, it will be my last time to play at home, but just knowing I’m going out as part of one of the best teams that’s ever played here, that’s amazing.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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