Brenen Thompson now looking for more wins during his breakout season

It’s been a breakout senior season for Brenen Thompson since arriving to Mississippi State back at the beginning of the spring.

After transferring in from Oklahoma by way of Texas, Thompson has already enjoyed more success in just over half a season than he did in his previous three years combined. After hauling in 27 passes for 503 yards and four touchdowns at Texas and Oklahoma, Thompson has already found great success in the Veer and Shoot with Jeff Lebby.

Over the first eight games, Thompson has 35 catches, 609 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs in receiving. What is grinding his gears, however, is the fact that it is not leading to enough wins.

The Bulldogs (4-4, 0-4 SEC) head into this weekend’s matchup with Arkansas (2-6, 0-4 SEC) in Fayetteville having lost in three of their SEC games by devastating fashion. The Razorbacks have pretty much done the same, and both teams enter with something to prove.

Thompson talked with the media this week about the matchup with the Razorbacks, his thoughts on the State offense and what the Bulldogs need to do better.

Question: It seems like the offense has shown a lot of great things and then sometimes it gets a little bogged down. What have you seen?

BT: “I think it just comes down to execution. Getting the reps in practice and on tape. It obviously starts on Monday and Tuesday and goes throughout the week. It’s making sure that we’re on the right page and when we’re on the right page, it’s hard to stop us. Just being on the right page and on the right side of things.”

Q: You and Anthony Evans haven’t had any issues transitioning to this season but now Ayden Williams is starting to break out. What have you seen from him?

BT: “I think that’s something this whole team has seen since he got here. He’s done nothing but work hard and I knew his moment was going to come. You could see it more this past weekend. I expect nothing but great things from him and it only helps me and Ant and the whole offense if we have someone else that can go. I’m happy that he’s seeing the process pay off for him and I couldn’t be more happy for him.”

Q: What have you guys done to handle the emotions of the last few days?

BT: “I think I played my worst game on Saturday. I think we played good enough to win, but obviously we didn’t. It’s just learning from the tape, learning from the mistakes. There’s ultimately so much more football left to play. We still have four games left and everything still in front of us. We just try to flush it, learn from it and move on.”

Q: The passing offensive has put up the best numbers of the season the last two weeks. What has been working for you guys?

BT: “I think just getting on the right page and just executing  – everybody doing their one job and their 1/11 and we’ll see this offense really take off like it’s supposed to. It’s impossible if everyone doesn’t do their job.”

Q: The running game had a lot of success in the redzone early in the season and now the passing game seems to be hitting its stride there. What has changed there for you guys?

BT: “I just think we have to play complimentary football on the offensive side of the ball with the run and the pass. I think they both compliment each other really well, so continue to create chunk plays in the pass game and with the run game having those explosives and 3^rd and 4 and stuff. It opens up both sides and both lanes. I’m happy for that running back room. The receiver room, we have to keep going. There’s a lot of things that we want to accomplish, we just have to put our head down and work.”

Q: What has your experience been like with Lebby in this offense and how happy are you to be in Starkville?

BT: “I’m as happy as I could be. There’s not another place in this whole world where I would want to spend my last college year. I’ve got nothing but respect for Lebby and I think he knows that. I couldn’t be happier that he is my head coach and offensive coordinator. Happy that I am with this team and we’re going through something that none of us quite understand yet. I spoke to the media a few months ago and I said that I think I’m brought here for something bigger than football. Still trying to figure that out, keep my head down, trust in God, trust in Leb and trust in my teammates. Just play as hard as I can every single snap. To be able to do that and play for a guy that I respect but also love, it makes my job and me feel a whole lot better.”

Q: How do you describe the feeling when the offense is clicking and when it’s not, how do you fall back on the production you know you can have?

BT: “When you get into the rhythm of the game and feel like you can’t be stopped, there’s a certain feeling to that. I’m not sure how to describe that, but it’s an awesome feeling. It’s just getting everyone on the same page and if everyone is on the same page, I don’t think we can be stopped. It’s executing every play that’s called, no matter if it’s a good play or bad play. If we do that, we’ll like where we’re at the next four weeks.”

Q: Some people look at the Arkansas game as the best chance to get an SEC win. Do you guys talk about that at all?

BT: “Not at all. I think every game in this league is hard to win. I think winning is hard as it is no matter what league it is, especially this league. Every game gets diagnosed the same, every game gets the same amount of effort put into it, at least for me. I don’t think any game is any different than the last one we played or the next one we’re about to play. We’ve got to be physical and go win the football game.