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Simmons speculation dominates pregame buzz in Starkville

Jeffery Simmons

As the South Carolina defensive line looks to contain Damian Williams, Mississippi State’s capable dual-threat quarterback, four words describe the mood surrounding the Bulldogs’ defensive front, if not the entire MSU program and the town of Starkville itself, in the wake of their stunning 21-20 loss to South Alabama last Saturday.

Will Jeffery Simmons play?

The highly-touted five-star prospect, ranked the No. 1 strongside defensive end nationally and the No. 15 overall prospect for the 2016 recruiting cycle, is expected to make his much-anticipated debut in maroon and white Saturday when Mississippi State hosts South Carolina at Davis Wade Stadium (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

However, much like Will Muschamp and how he handled the Gamecock quarterbacks heading into the season opener at Vanderbilt, MSU head coach Dan Mullen has been noncommittal about Simmons' availability or how much he will play.

“We’ll see what happens Saturday and how the week of practice goes,” Mullen said Wednesday during his weekly appearance on the SEC teleconference. “Then we’ll make that decision come game time. I wasn’t involved in the suspension decision, but Jeffery, since he’s been on campus, has done everything we’ve asked him to do and been a great teammate in everything. He has fulfilled everything we’ve asked to the best of his ability.”

Simmons, a native of Macon, Miss., was the subject of late spring’s hottest controversy in college football when Mississippi State decided to allow him to enroll for summer school and join the football program despite being videotaped hitting a woman in March.

Mississippi State explained the decision allowing Simmons to enroll in school in an official release, contending the situation involved Simmons trying to break up a fight between his sister and another adult woman.

The announcement was made in the middle of the SEC spring meeting in Destin, Fla., shortly after the football coaches had left town (no, the timing was not a coincidence). Thus, Mississippi State AD Scott Stricklin was left to answer a barrage of questions from the media horde, curiously claiming he was “comfortable” with the decision to admit Simmons into school.

Twenty-four hours later, Stricklin’s nonchalant use of the word “comfortable” drew an angry response from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, who openly chastised his poor choice of words.

Simmons, undeniably the crown jewel of Mississippi State’s 2016 signing class, was handed a one-game suspension, so we’ve known for three months that he would likely make his college debut against South Carolina in Week 2.

Over the last three months, the eagerness surrounding Simmons’ debut has mushroomed by the day as the Mississippi State faithful awaited for the game he finally stepped on the field.

Is Saturday finally the day Bulldog fans have been wait for as MSU hosts the Gamecocks in a virtually must-win game for the home team? After all, Mississippi State risks falling to 0-2 without a significantly better performance by its defense than the one we saw against South Alabama in Week 1?

While most of the chatter in Starkville revolves around Simmons, the Gamecocks are preparing for a Mississippi State offense that schematically is vastly different than the Vanderbilt offense they faced last week in Nashville.

Whereas the Commodores ran a pro-style, power I scheme not unlike most NFL, Mullen has coached the spread for a long time and his system requires a mobile quarterback able to make plays both with his arm and his feet.

Dak Prescott thrived in the system, spearheading Mississippi State to a No. 1 ranking in 2014 and was rewarded by being drafted in late April by the Dallas Cowboys.

“What he always brought was great leadership to the team,” Mullen said Wednesday. “When you have a guy who is an alpha dog strong leader, guys try to step up and look to for the leadership. Now, that guy is missing that everybody counted on as a leader to pick everybody up.”

Based on his performance last weekend, Williams looks to be the best choice at quarterback for Mississippi State, although Nick Fitzgerald started the South Alabama game before being quickly yanked after throwing incompletions on his first three passes.

Williams played the final 3-1/2 quarters and led the Bulldogs in rushing (93 yards on 12 carries) while completing 20-of-28 passes for 143 yards as Mississippi State stuck to an intermediate range passing attack. Top receiver Fred Ross made six catches, but totaled just 34 receiving yards, averaging just 5.7 yards per reception.

Williams is a threat both running and throwing the football, so USC’s preparation has demanded a different approach.

“It changes up what we have to do schematically on defense,” USC defensive lineman Dante Sawyer said. “There are certain things we can’t do on the line as far as defending the run. The defensive ends have to be less aggressive. We know we have to have containment all the time. Both their quarterbacks can run. They are both athletic enough to get out of the pocket if the play is not developing. We have to be more disciplined on our side. If we do that, we’ll be all right. We know they are going to come out differently than how they did against South Alabama.”

Even though the Gamecocks allowed just 10 points to the Commodores, they exited Vanderbilt Stadium realizing they had given up excessive broken tackles in the ground game.

“We didn’t fit it right and there were too many broken tackles,” Sawyer said. “We got back to how we’re supposed to tackle on Monday. We knew from camp and last season there were some areas in tackling we had to take care of. We adjusted, so we’ll be fine.”

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