The Mississippi State University community lost two of its Bulldogs Friday night in a fatal car accident.  MSU Athletics will host a public memorial service honoring the Bulldogs at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in Humphrey Coliseum. 
Marshean Arkeith Joseph Jr., freshman kinesiology major and defensive lineman for the Bulldogs as well as his father Keith Joseph Sr. were killed in the tragic accident while traveling to attend a Pascagoula High School football game Friday night.
Keith Sr. played football for the Bulldogs as a linebacker from 1989-92.
MSU Athletic Director Scott Stricklin released a statement via Twitter Friday night that expressed his shock and sadness at hearing the news.
“Words can’t express the sorrow we feel by having lost not one, but two members of the Bulldog Family, Father and son,” Stricklin’s post read. “I was a classmate of Keith Sr. and took pride in having Keith Jr. follow in his dad’s footsteps at MSU. Both will be missed greatly. It’s such a tragic reminder that life is precious, and every day is a gift from God. Hug those you love tonight.”
During a press conference Monday afternoon, Head Coach Dan Mullen requested everyone keep the Joseph family in their prayers.
“We ask everybody to keep the Joseph family in their prayers as well as our players and everybody in our football family,” Mullen said. “Losing a family member like that, there is nothing more devastating that is going to happen to you as a coach, a football team, or a program.”
Mullen elaborated on Keith Jr.’s work ethic on the field and in the classroom.
“Keith was such a great young man. He gave unbelievable effort in everything he was doing,” Mullen said.
“He was a 4.0 student here at Mississippi State. He was the scout team player of the week every week. We had to share the award with other people just because it wouldn’t have been fair. He was the guy that gave everything that he had at whatever it was that he was doing. He gave his absolute best every single day. It is just a tragedy to lose such a great young man.” 
Mullen elaborated on what he was doing when he heard the news.
“I was recruiting at a high school game when I got a phone call from Coach (Rockey) Felker to let me know. He had a state trooper, Keith’s uncle, call me to explain the situation,” Mullen said. “We immediately wrote up something because all of our players were gone for the weekend. I wanted them to hear from us but I wanted to make sure we respected the family first. We sent out a group message to the entire team about what had happened. We had all of the coaching staff contacting the players on our team, especially a lot of the freshmen. Jamal Peters and Mark McLaurin had just dropped him off with his dad. We gathered the team last night to meet for the first time together as a team.”
MSU Quarterback Dak Prescott also spoke during the press conference and said this week will be emotional for the team.
 It’s an emotional situation, but we can’t let it be an obstacle. We have to do as Keith would do and go hard every day in practice and get better,” Prescott said.
Prescott recalled meeting Keith Jr. at camp, stating he knew the freshman was a good person from the start.
“I met him at camp and knew he was a good guy. I knew they had a great father-son relationship. I think many people can look to that and feel for that. It’s hard for their family, and I feel for the family. Prayers to their family. It’s just a hard situation,” Prescott said.
Taveze Calhoun, teammate and friend of Keith Jr., posted on Twitter about his late teammate.
“Prayers up for the Joseph family. Although it hurts, we still know that God knows best. Forever our brother Keith,” Keith’s post read.
The Bulldogs will wear a helmet decal honoring the Josephs with the letters “MJ.” Keith Joseph Jr. was affectionately known as “MJ” to his MSU teammates.  A moment of silence will be observed prior to MSU’s game against No. 3 Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Davis Wade Stadium.