Weekly honors begin to roll in for Mississippi State after big win

Don’t be surprised if you see a lot more stories like this one this week.

Two Mississippi State players received SEC weekly honors Monday after the Bulldogs’ epic 24-20 win over then-No. 12 (and now unranked) Arizona State.

Linebacker Nic Mitchell was named co-SEC Defensive Player of the Week and Albert Reese IV was named co-SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.

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In the Bulldogs win Saturday, Mitchell tied for the team lead in tackles with nine but had arguably the most important tackle of the game when he kept Arizona State running back Kanye Udoh out of the endzone on a third-and-goal from the one-yard line. That tackle forced the Sun Devils to settle for a field goal and we know what happened next.

Reese, who started at left tackle last week and moved to right tackle after Blake Steen was injured, played every snap of Saturday’s game at right tackle. He earned a ProFootballFocus grade of 80.4 on offense and 82.3 in pass blocking while not allowing a sack or committing any penalties. Reese also landed him on the Pro Football Focus National Offensive Team of the Week for week 2, as well as the SEC Offensive Team of the Week.

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Reese was also one of four captains for Mississippi State against the Sun Devils.

Both Mitchell and Reese played pivotal roles in their side of the ball’s success.

Mississippi State’s defense held All-American wide receiver Jordon Tyson to only 68 yards and one touchdown (a massive decrease in production from the Sun Devils’ first game) and effectively ended whatever hopes of winning a Heisman Trophy that Sam Leavitt had.

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Leavitt completed just 10 of his 22 pass attempts for 82 yards and only had a net rushing total of 25 yards after accounting for the two sacks he took.

Reese helped lead the way for an offense that had 345 total yards and averaged 5.5 yards per play. It's also likely we'll continue to see Reese play at right tackle.

At his Monday press conference, coach Jeff Lebby announced Blake Steen had suffered a season-ending injury and won't return this season. He'll still have one year elibility remaining since he is a redshirt junior.