Senior season battles underway at offensive guard for Jacoby Jackson

A lot has changed in the Mississippi State offensive line room since last season, and even massive changes came to the group since the spring.

Former Colorado offensive line coach Phil Loadholt took control of the unit in January and made his own changes in the form of working the transfer portal for bigger and more talented blockers. It’s a room that has gotten a facelift in many ways, but also still has some experienced voices returning from last season.

Jacoby Jackson is one of the most experienced of the group as he enters his senior season as a returning starter at left guard for State. The Texas Tech transfer started 14 games in two seasons for the Red Raiders and then became a full-time starter in year one with State.

Having seen plenty of competition during his previous three seasons in the Power 4, he’s never been shy of that challenge. This year brings more of it.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces and tons of competition everywhere,” Jackson said. “Nothing is solidified. But competition is what you need and should be what you want because competition keeps you going. You can’t get too complacent. We’ve got tons and tons of talent in this room and I’m excited to see how things end up.”

Battles ongoing for Jackson within offensive line and across it

Jackson enters year two with State battling things out at guard with the likes of Luke Work, Canon Boone, Trevor Mayberry and Zach Owens, among others. The latter two are part of an overload of talent from the portal as Loadholt has seven newcomers from other schools to compete at every position on the line.

Across from that line, there was a massive influx of talent as well. Defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler and line coaches David Turner and Vincent Dancy are working to get the Bulldogs on a 180 degree turn from the poor season the team had in 2024. Jackson immediately saw a difference in the spring and training camp has continued that run.

“Jamil Burroughs has been great, Jaray Bledsoe is crazy twitchy, (Kedrick Bingley-Jones) is back and going against him has been getting me better because he’s an older guy with experience. They’ve been looking real good over there.

“I would say it looks a lot more like what we’re going to see. In the SEC, it’s a standard of size, strength and twitchiness within the d-line room. You truly see that SEC size and talent this year.”

Jackson comes to practice every day looking for a way to get better as a player. Whether it is competing against his fellow offensive guards or trying to win a rep against one of the new faces on the defensive front, Jackson pushes himself to be the best he can be.

One of the biggest things that he takes pride in is his leadership, however. As a fifth-year senior, Jackson has been there and done that. Helping bring along the younger players is part of his journey and there are two freshmen offensive tackles that he sees tremendous upside in their game.

“I’d be wrong if I didn’t talk about the development of Spencer Dowland. He’s been real good and is coming along,” Jackson said. “You can see the confidence in his game. It’s pretty simple – he just cares. He loves football, he cares about football, he puts in the effort and does extra effort. You can tell the difference between guys that really care and guys that are just getting by.

Breyden Turnage is a big body that’s really athletic. Going from the high school to the SEC is a big jump, but their development has been great.”

The freshmen blockers’ time is coming, but it’s Jackson’s time now.

A sense of urgency has set in for the experienced lineman that this is his final year and he’s preparing for the last 12 games he’ll play in a college uniform. Doing it under a coach like Loadholt brings comfort to the Texas native that he’ll get the best out of him.

“With his experience, you can’t get any better than him as far as a coach,” Jackson said. “He did it at the highest level so everything he’s been saying, you better apply it. He’s saying it for a reason.”