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Mississippi State

Will Whitson earns SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week after game one

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk09/01/25RobbieFaulkOn3
will whitson
Photo by Jared Thomas, Maroon and White Daily

It didn’t take long for Will Whitson to make his impact with Mississippi State.

After just one week, Whitson has earned a spot on the SEC Players of the Week list after his standout performance against Southern Miss. Whitson was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week as he helped the Bulldogs to a 34-17 win to get to 1-0 on the year.

The senior lineman shares the award with Ole Miss defensive tackle Zxavian Harris.

Whitson put together a strong start to the season as he had four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack to help the Bulldogs to get off to a good start on the season. Pro Football Focus graded Whitson out higher than anyone on the defense and he was among the top graded defensive players nationally by the publication which named him All-SEC this week with State players Kelley Jones, Isaac Smith and Brylan Lanier.

“For Will, he puts the tape on and he’s got a bunch that he wants back,” head coach Jeff Lebby said on Monday. “He did a lot of really good things. He’s one of our best players on the defensive line and he’s got to continue to play better. He had a couple of opportunities to add a couple more sacks.

“He did a great job pushing the pocket, so continuing to develop him in a way where he can impact the game. Proud of how he played and looking forward to seeing where he’s going.”

After the Bulldogs struggled to get any kind of production from the defense all season last year, Whitson was brought in with several transfer portal players to provide depth and production. The former Coastal Carolina standout had 63 tackles in his two seasons there with 8.5 TFL and 5.0 sacks. He had 42 tackles as a junior in 2023 with 3.0 sacks and was off to a great start last season with 21 tackles and 2.0 sacks in just four games before going down with a season-ending injury.

The Cincinnati, OH native began his career at Independence Community College and had a huge sophomore year with 11.0 TFL and 6.0 sacks and three fumbles in nine games. He was a coveted transfer portal prospect last season and the Bulldogs won that battle for his signature.

Whitson and the defensive line is back on the field with a much bigger test on Saturday evening. State will have its home opener take place at Davis Wade Stadium under the lights at 6:30 p.m.

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