Senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun laughs after a question is asked during a Cotton Bowl media conference on Dec. 16, 2015 at Spartan Stadium. Select members of the football team answered questions posed by numerous media outlets regarding the upcoming Cotton Bowl against Alabama.
In MSU’s 42-41 victory over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl last season, then-redshirt junior defensive tackle Joel Heath had a split sack with then-redshirt junior defensive tackle Shilique Calhoun and a split tackle-for-loss with then-redshirt junior linebacker Darien Harris.
"We’re prepared and ready for a lot of big players and a big team in general. I think we are definitely putting an emphasis on who he is and making sure we have our mark on him."fifth-year senior defensive tackle Joel Heath
“We’re prepared and ready for (Henry),” Heath said. “We’re prepared and ready for a lot of big players and a big team in general. I think we are definitely putting an emphasis on who he is and making sure we have our mark on him.”
Henry has 1,986 yards rushing this season with a 5.9 yards per attempt average and 23 rushing touchdowns. Henry is also sixth in career yards rushing at Alabama and tied for fifth in career rushing touchdowns.
“He is a power runner, he is really great at making plays and breaking tackles,” Heath said. “I think he is a big body, so if you don’t wrap up at his legs, if you don’t really get to his body in general, he can take that away from you and make plays where most guys wouldn’t be able to.”
For Calhoun, now a fifth-year senior, the challenge of playing against Henry is the No. 1 thing he is looking forward to.
“A great opportunity for us to showcase our talents,” Calhoun said. “We pride ourselves on stopping the run so I think it will be a great challenge for our program and the defensive linemen.”
The Alabama offensive players will be answering many of the same questions this week in context of playing an elite unit on the opposite side of the ball, though. And rightfully so, because Calhoun, Heath, emerged sophomore defensive tackle Malik McDowell and fifth-year senior defensive end Lawrence Thomas are playing their best collective ball right now.
“I think we are gelling more,” Heath said. “I think we have all of our components back, which is huge, and so I think once everybody was confident and injury free we played our best, we played our best game. So we are all just all kind of gelling and we understand what we have and I think if you have confidence you can do anything.”
Thomas has bounced around at different positions during his four years as a Spartan, but he found his home on this defensive line. Thomas said the “brotherhood” that has been formed upfront is making sure each other are ready to step up against Henry and Alabama.
“It’s going to be a fist fight,” Thomas said. “They’re a great group and we are a great group, so we are going to come in with the mindset that we are not going to get beat and I’m pretty sure they are going to have the same mindset. So we are doing a great job preparing right now and we are going to see how it is on the 31st.”
