STARKVILLE — Mississippi State sophomore linebacker Nathaniel Watson rarely answers to his first name. Heck, even those closest to him barely recognize it. There’s no Nathaniel this, or Nate that. To those that know him best, it’s just “Bookie,” emphasis on the double-o.
Watson gets the nickname from his father, Nathaniel Sr. In his youth, Nathaniel Sr. was “Big Bookie,” or just “Bookie,” while Nathaniel Jr. was “Little Bookie.” But as Nathaniel Jr. grew older, started playing football, and eventually grew into the 6-foot-2, 250 pound frame that’s seen him terrorize Southeastern Conference offenses this fall, the younger Watson laid claim to the family’s prized moniker.
“Everybody saw how big I was (and) they just started calling me ‘Bookie,'” he quipped.
Through nine games this season, Watson has seen his number called more often than anticipated. Slotted behind roommate Aaron Brule and senior captain Erroll Thompson in the early going, the path to playing time at inside linebacker was largely blocked. But as injuries, COVID-19 positive tests and contact tracing have left the Bulldogs thin in the center of its defense, Watson has become a direct beneficiary.
“He’s played every single linebacker position for us throughout the course of the season,” MSU defensive coordinator Zach Arnett said. “To have a guy like that…just him alone makes you two-deep at each position.”
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Special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach Matt Brock stood outside the team hotel ahead of a visit to Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia and began barking orders.
Entering the Nov. 21 game against Georgia, MSU was left to less than 45 scholarship players due to COVID-19 positive tests and contact tracing. But rather than postpone the game as was allowed under SEC guidelines regarding its minimum scholarship player threshold, the Bulldogs decided to hash it out.
Using his hands to teach and speaking through his deep drawl that dates back to his childhood in Kansas, Brock began teaching Watson the ins and outs of playing the Sam linebacker position in the hotel parking lot. The problem? Watson had never played the position in full. Oh yeah, and he was slated to start against the No. 13-ranked Bulldogs that next day.
“It’s not easy,” Brock said through a laugh. “I’ll put it this way, I’ve never been in that position to coach it. But to his credit he handled it pretty well. Most people would’ve flinched in that situation and Bookie just looked at it as an opportunity and that’s what you love about him.”
“I had repped half of it in fall camp, so I basically knew what to do half of the job,” Watson said. “(Brock) just gave me some more pointers to prepare for Georgia.”
But before getting to Watson’s night in Athens, more context on Watson’s journey can be found going back to his days in Maplesville, Alabama. It’s a town of just more than 700 people and whose college football pipeline is more closely associated with Auburn than any other SEC school.
The Red Devils play 1A ball, the kind of football reserved for the smallest schools with the most limited resources around the state. But with Watson in the fold, Maplesville built on what had been a limited gridiron tradition at the state level. Between 1984 and 2000, the school won 10 regional championships, but just a single state title. During that run, Watson’s uncle, Harold Morrow lined up at fullback in the Red Devil backfield before heading to Auburn and later a nine-year NFL career.
“When you come from a small town you don’t really think as big as going to Auburn or Alabama,” Morrow told Auburn Undercover in May. “It’s always a dream of every kid growing up, but coming from a town of 700 people you really have to open some eyes.”
Watson, indeed, opened some eyes.
The Red Devils took home state championships in 2014, 2015 and 2016 during his time in the prep ranks. He lined up on both sides of the ball. From safety and linebacker to wide receiver and wildcat quarterback, Watson quite literally played almost every position on the field. He finished his junior year with more than 1,000 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. He added another 376 yards and four touchdowns rushing. And then there’s the 70 tackles he notched defensively, just for good measure.
“He’s like a Swiss Army knife,” Brule said. “He can play every position on the defense.”
Playing on both sides of the ball took its toll, but it never stopped Watson. Maplesville head coach James Hubert recalled him breaking a tooth when a hit caught him under his chinstrap.
He also suffered a boxer’s fracture in his hand by punching the turf after he caught a pass but failed to tap his toes in bounds. Surgery followed. He missed one game.
“He wasn’t a big hollering and yelling type person,” Hubert told The Dispatch. “But he was always giving great effort and that carried over into people following him and doing those things that way.”
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Fast forward to the weekend of Nov. 21, to a parking lot, where Watson, for the first time, was asked to play meaningful snaps at a position he’d never really attempted at the college level against a team that had come minutes from winning a national championship just two years prior.
Channelling the unique athletic ability that allowed him to fly around the field at Maplesville, he took to the challenge with ease. Watson recorded four tackles, his most in a game to that point in the season, and 1.5 of which were tackles for a loss.
“I’ve never had experience with it,” Arnett said of having to thrust a player into a new position the day before a game. “But fortunately for us, Bookie is a greatly intelligent football player. He can sit in linebacker meetings as a Mike or a Will and learn what the Sam is doing.”
Described as goofy and fun-loving, Watson has enjoyed the recent ride. He and Brule enjoy a healthy friendship off the field while watching over Thor, the goldendoodle Watson and his girlfriend adopted together. Hubert, who’s known Watson as “Bookie” since kindergarten, also characterizes him as a loose, entertaining guy.
Speaking with the media for the first time all season, Watson donned an ear-to-ear grin as he answered varying questions regarding his run to the top of the depth chart of late.
“I just kept stacking up on plays, preparing for the moment in case a player went down,” Watson said in reference to the spring. “But mostly I just had extra film work, so I’ve got a better understanding of the game.”
For MSU, the 2020 season has had its ebbs and flows en route to a 2-7 record entering Saturday’s game against a surging Missouri squad. But for what the season has lacked in wins, those outside the program are finally becoming familiar with the one they call “Bookie.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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