STARKVILLE — Taveze Calhoun’s leadership role has increased.
The Mississippi State senior cornerback saw fellow senior corner Will Redmond have his career come to an end with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last week in practice. On Oct. 3 against Texas A&M, senior safety Kendrick Market suffered a torn ACL, ending his career. Those injuries leave Calhoun as the only senior in the secondary. The Bulldogs (6-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) have this week off before traveling to Missouri (4-4, 1-4) for an 8 p.m. Thursday game next week at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
Calhoun has accepted the challenge head on.
“I do take a lot of responsibility now,” Calhoun said. “It’s been pretty good so far.”
There are four juniors in the secondary though. Cornerbacks Tolando Cleveland and Cedric Jiles and safeties Kivon Coman and Deontay Evans are all in their third year of playing. Between the four, they have played in 121 games and have 20 starts.
Redmond and Market played in 69 combined career games with 27 starts. Calhoun has seen action in 45 games with 31 starts.
After Redmond’s injury was announced to the team on Friday, Calhoun spoke to the team. Junior defensive lineman A.J. Jefferson said his message was plain and simple: play every play like it’s your last.
That’s when Jefferson realized Calhoun was taking on a larger leadership role.
“I feel like he’s done a great job,” Jefferson said.
In a 42-16 win over Kentucky Saturday, Calhoun played like a leader. He recorded his first two interceptions of the season and totaled three tackles. He was the spark plug that the defense needed and the Bulldogs held the Wildcats to six points over the final three quarters.
Both Redmond and Market are still around the program and are at practice and in meeting rooms, so Calhoun doesn’t have to assume a leadership role by himself.
But MSU coach Dan Mullen sees a larger leadership role for Calhoun happening in an actual game.
“I think the leadership role is more of a playmaker on Saturday,” Mullen said. “I think you understand that as an older guy. I’m going to have to play at an even higher level now that this guy’s out. I’m going to have to make some big plays like I did Saturday night now that the other playmakers are kind of out of there.”
Leading into the game with the Wildcats, Jefferson had a feeling Calhoun was going to have a good game. He said he was a different kind of animal in practice and only one catch was recorded against the cornerback, and he said that was on an out route.
One of Calhoun’s interception made ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10. After watching the film, even Calhoun was surprised with how well he played.
“I think I was impressed,” Calhoun said. “I was shocked myself. I really don’t know how it happened. I was just able to make a good play and just thank God for it. It is pretty impressive seeing it on TV.”
The Morton native has 26 total tackles (4.5 for loss), four pass breakups and six passes defended this season. With the two interceptions this year, he now has six in his career.
Calhoun says he hasn’t felt any pressure with the added weight of being the most veteran defensive back. Along with the four juniors, the Bulldogs have some talented young players who are making plays this year and being regular contributors.
At the safety position there’s redshirt freshman Brandon Bryant, and freshmen Jamal Peters and Mark McLaurin. All three have gotten more playing time as the season has gone on and they have showed they can handle being in big situations. Bryant is starting in Market’s absence.
At the cornerback position, sophomore Jamoral Graham and redshirt freshman Chris Rayford might see more playing time.
“I still have to do my job and they still have to do their job,” Calhoun said. “I can’t make every play. I can’t go back there and play safety for our safeties, so I wouldn’t say it’s any pressure. I just have to stress the younger guys and the younger guys have to grow up.
“I think a lot of guys are stepping up and they are maturing real fast. My leadership is really not needed as much as I might think.”
Calhoun said he will spend the bye week getting back to 100 percent healthy, coaching up the younger guys, watching a lot of film, and doing drills to stay fresh with his technique.
He feels good about the defense moving forward and said the Kentucky game was the best game they have played all season long. He sees some positives and negatives the team and himself can build on with just four games remaining in the regular season.
“It’s always something you can get better at,” Calhoun said. “Anytime you start making plays, it always builds your confidence. It’s confidence on the field and confidence in making plays. Hopefully I can continue to make big plays for our teams and create more turnovers in the games coming up.”
n Senior quarterback Dak Prescott was named the AutoNation National Offensive Player of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America Tuesday morning, before being named the Davey O’Brien Award National Quarterback of the Week in the afternoon.
The honors come one day after the signal caller was named the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career, and a Manning Award Star of the Week by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Prescott threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 117 yards and three more scores.
n Junior defensive end A.J. Jefferson was named to the midseason watch list for the 2015 Ted Hendricks Award, the Ted Hendricks Foundation announced late Monday. Dating back to its inception in 2002, the award has been presented annually the best collegiate defensive end in the country.
In just eight games this season, Jefferson has 38 tackles, four sacks, and 11.5 tackles for loss, all career season highs.
The Ted Hendricks Award is named after college football’s first three-time first-team All-American. On-field performance, exceptional winning attitude, leadership abilities, contributions to school and community and academic preparedness are some of the criteria used to determine the award’s winner.
Members of the national media, head coaches, professional scouts and former winners are included in the award’s voting committee. The committee will cast two votes: one to narrow the list of candidates to 4-6 finalists, and one to choose the winner, which will be announced Dec. 9.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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