Miss. St. defense hopes to spread the fun, too

STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - All offseason anticipation has built around Mississippi State's shiny new spread offense.

Even middle linebacker Jamar Chaney admits he can't wait to see the Bulldogs unleash Dan Mullen's attack.

``I'm excited to see how it's going to look at game time, too,'' the senior said. ``The fans aren't the only ones excited about it.''

Don't forget the Bulldogs' defense, though. Ignored amid the ad campaigns, debate over starting quarterbacks and fretting about the number of wide receivers on the roster, the group expects to build a little excitement, too.
Think blitzes. Lots and lots of blitzes.

``The defense is going to be a blitzing defense, playing with our hair on fire,'' defensive tackle Pernell McPhee said.

Mississippi State was known for its stout defenses under coach Sylvester Croom and former defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. But Johnson moved to South Carolina before last season after his defense helped push the Bulldogs into a bowl and Mississippi State was pretty vanilla last season, finishing 10th in the Southeastern Conference in total defense and 11th in scoring defense.

At their best, Croom's defenses were stout, physical and hard to move.
Dan Mullen's new defensive coordinator, Carl Torbush, brings a different philosophy to Starkville. The former North Carolina head coach preaches a sermon similar to Mullen's approach on offense attack, attack, attack!

``Now I think it's more like relentless effort,'' Chaney said. ``I mean everybody runs to the ball. They stress that every single play in practice. No matter where we're going, you're running, you're jogging. If you're on the football field or off the football field in the weightroom, you go 100 mph and give everything you've got left in the tank. That's the difference.''

Croom left behind quite the collection of tinker toys for Torbush to build his defense with. There's hard-hitting strong safety Charles Mitchell and outside linebacker K.J. Wright, called ``The Freak'' by his teammates because of his unnatural athletic ability. There's Marcus Washington at right corner and McPhee, a Croom recruit who decided to stick after the coach resigned.

Most importantly, though, the Bulldogs return Chaney. By rights, the 6-foot-1, 245-pound lineman should be in the NFL right now. But he broke his leg in last season's first game and decided to return for his senior year.

His importance as a leader, a tackler and a resource can't be overstated. McPhee has nicknamed Chaney ``Football 101.''

``I don't think anybody knows the defense like he does,'' McPhee said. ``He's one of them guys that stays in the playbook and every time I walk in the field house he's in the film room and doing things going toward football. His mindset is football.''

Chaney was off to a fast start last season with 12 of his 192 career tackles in the season opener but couldn't return the next week after X-rays showed a fracture. The decision to stay was difficult, but nine months later, he believes it's the best one he's ever made.

``I think of it as a blessing in disguise,'' Chaney said. ``At first when it happens you don't see it. You're kind of sad and down, but as of right now just going through he whole process ... I'm looking for big things, not only individually but as a team. I'm really excited to see what we do this year as a team.''

Much of that excitement is generated by Torbush's presence. A former head coach with a proven record of producing NFL defenders, Torbush had taken a step back from coaching at the highest levels and served as assistant head coach at Carson-Newman from 2005-08 while his son wrapped up high school. Once he graduated, Torbush was ready to get back into a prominent college football program.

When he saw that Mullen had been hired at Mississippi State, he quietly faxed a resume that Mullen found in a pile handed to him by his secretary.

``So I'm like, 'Is this that same Carl Torbush?''' Mullen said.

Indeed, it was. Former head coach of the Tar Heels and Louisiana Tech, former defensive coordinator for Texas A&M, Alabama and Mississippi.
Mullen invited him to Starkville for an interview.

``He and I hit it off,'' Mullen said. ``We spent a great deal of time together talking football, talking philosophy. Really I feel very fortunate that the person I was looking for almost fell into my lap.''

His players are, too. They seem most excited about the way Torbush's mind works. They say fans can expect zone blitzes, disguised coverages, all kinds of crazy things.

``The blitzing, that gets the linebackers free, that gets (the defensive line) free,'' McPhee said. ``That gets the offensive line's minds screwed up. They don't know who to pick up or when to pick up. They won't know where we're coming from.''