Mississippi State’s offensive line has experienced mixed results this season and injuries have played a role in that. But the Bulldog linemen have taken steps forward the past couple of weeks and are hoping to keep that momentum going.
Earlier this week, Mississippi State senior center Canon Boone met with the media to discuss the offensive line and what needs to happen the rest of the way. Naturally, there are mistakes to clean up from the overtime loss to Texas but Boone feels like better days are ahead, starting this weekend at Arkansas:
Q: When you look back at the Texas film, what sticks out?
Boone: First of all, there’s a lot of good. For the most part, I thought we played out butts off. Protection-wise, I think we were a lot better than we were the past few weeks. That’s definitely something we emphasized last week and it definitely showed up. Obviously, there’s a couple of things early in the game where we couldn’t get the run game going. We picked it up later in the game but if we had gotten it started earlier, I think it would’ve helped us a lot. Other than that, we just really need to start fast. It’s something we’ve got to work on.
Q: Have you had a chance to look at Arkansas’ defensive changes yet?
Boone: A little bit. We started the gameplan process today. Like you said, there’s been a lot of change and a lot of movement and stuff like that. They’ve done a lot of different things on defense. I think one thing us in the offensive line room has to emphasize is the best part of their defense is up front. I think if we handle the four-down front we will have a good chance on Saturday.
Q: Texas started to get more pressure on the last drive of regulation and in overtime. What changed there?
Boone: I think fundamentally we have to be better, be better with our calls up front. Making lanes for the running back behind us and we all have to work together and protecting anything they bring us.
Q: Last year’s Arkansas game was a tough deal for you. How excited are you to go on the road and face them again?
Boone: Obviously, any time you get the chance to play in this conference, especially on the road, is a huge deal. From the past few weeks, you just got to flush it, flush what’s happened and move on to the next game. The next game is a huge step for us. Going into the week and into practice, and show out Saturday. It should be an exciting day.
Q: What’s the mindset of this team right now after coming up short in so many games?
Boone: I think it’s a big deal to just stay focused. Obviously, we’re just a couple of plays in each game away from instead of being 4-4 and being 7-1. I think just learning from the past few weeks, learning from that experiences and just flushing it and moving on to the next opponent. At the end of the day, no matter what happens on Saturday night, the sun is going to rise on Sunday morning. So like I said, learn from it and use what you learned going forward.
Q: Trevor Mayberry has emerged lately on the offensive line. You play beside him sometimes so what has he done to improve lately?
Boone: A lot of good. Obviously, he has grown in his role from the start of the season to now. I think he’s done a really good job accepting where he’s at on the line. I think going more and more into the season the next few weeks, he’s going to see a lot more playing time in the rotation up front. I am super excited to play next to him. I think he’ done a really good job.
