When Jeff Howie signed with Mississippi State in the spring there was a question of which side of the ball he would play on.

The 6-foot-4, 300-pounder earned first team MAJC All-State honors on both the offensive line his freshman year at Itawamba Community College before switching over to defense as a sophomore. Howie hoped to be given a shot at defensive tackle first in Starkville and he made the most of it.

"I'm glad I stayed on defense because that's where I started out as," Howie said. "But if they would have asked me to play offensive I would have done that just for the team. I don't hate offense and I don't hate defense. I just know how to play both of them."

Howie saw action in 10 games for the Bulldogs recording 10 tackles including four stops for loss.

"Things have been going pretty good," Howie said. "I came in here and got a lot of time. I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the people and am starting to adapt to Mississippi more and more. I expected to come in and show everybody what I can do. I didn't expect to start but I expected to be in the rotation."

The Medina, Pa., native credits his development on one the defensive front to working with defensive line coach and co-coordinator Chris Wilson.



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