STARKVILLE — Darius Slay has taken the long road to Mississippi State.
The 6-foot-1 defensive back signed twice with MSU (once out of high school and again after two years at Itawamba Community College) before he was able to return last week to his home state of Georgia to make his first big play in Division I football.
In his first significant playing time at MSU, Slay returned an interception 72 yards for a touchdown in a 24-10 loss to the University of Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga.
The payoff was worth it for Slay, who was a first-team All-State selection by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution out of Brunswick, Ga., after recovering from a torn medial collateral ligament in his knee. He chose MSU over Kentucky, Georgia, and Oklahoma State.
“It was about sticking with my commitment out of high school,” Slay said. “It was a tough situation at first. I knew when I came here it wasn’t going to stop the fact I had to work.”
MSU defensive coordinator Chris Wilson wasn’t worried Slay would be nervous going home to play against Georgia. Slay said he thought about going home to play against Georgia enough for the both of them.
“It was real hard not to think about it,” Slay said. “I wanted to go home and give my family something to see because when they’ve come to previous games, I hadn’t played a lot.”
Before the week of the Georgia game, members of the MSU coaching admitted they worried about Slay potentially regretting his decision to come to MSU. But Wilson saw Slay make consistent improvement to earn playing time in a critical Southeastern Conference game.
“I told the coaching staff (before the Georgia game) I felt it was time to play him,” MSU cornerbacks coach Melvin Smith said. “I think he was second-guessing his decision because if somebody researches my style they’ll know if I play a lot of corners, I’m not really sure who my starting corners are.”
With only two years of eligibility to make an impact, Slay faced a depth chart with freshman All-American in Corey Broomfield and Johnthan Banks in front of him.
“It’s huge because we are a developing program and when you look at the track record, we need them to contribute sooner and rather than
later,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said. “Those guys have to really speed up their development, and Darius has done that. A lot of guys come in as freshmen and then the next year they get to kind of play on special teams and eventually become a star player. Junior college guys skip those steps.”
Trailing Georgia 24-3 in the fourth quarter, Slay gave MSU (2-3, 0-3 SEC) life with his interception return.
“I’ve seen the play a bunch,” Slay said. “It’s on YouTube and everything.”
Before Slay received the opportunity, Broomfield broke his right thumb in the loss at Auburn. Broomfield started against Georgia even though he struggled to play with a cast on his dominant hand. Slay lined up at the second cornerback on the opposite side of the field as Banks.
“I’ve just told (Broomfield) that as long as he’s having a hard time with his hand then I got his back,” Slay said. “I knew at that moment I had to step up my game and practice harder to prepare.”
Slay’s return arguably was MSU’s most positive play in the loss. It also helped him make an impression on Mullen to give him more playing time on special teams, where he had been rotating with juniors Chad Bumphis and Banks on punt coverage.
Before arriving at MSU, Slay was a first-team All-State selection by the Mississippi Junior College coaches on defense and as a kick returner. He had 27 tackles and returned 10 punts for an 11-yard average last season for ICC.
“They already knew I had a lot of speed, so I guess that’s why I was in practice on punt return team,” Slay said. “I’ll be ready for that if it’s something they asked me to do. At the JUCO level, I had three touchdowns on punts and two on kicks. I feel real comfortable back there.”
After his performance Saturday, Slay may have put himself in position to earn his first start at MSU. Either way, MSU can afford to give its cornerbacks a break now that Slay has shown he can provide quality depth at that position.
“There’s a reason it’s a cliché, but the way he practiced was the way he played Saturday,” Wilson said. “That’s the standard and expectation for him right off the bat.”
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