To preview the week of preparation for Mississippi State football’s game against Tennessee, Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby met with the media for his Monday press conference. He was asked about Tennessee’s offense, creating big plays against the defense, his relationship with Josh Heupel and more.
Lebby and MSU will host the Vols at 4:15 p.m. ET on SEC Network. Tennessee beat Lebby in his first year in Knoxville, but he has Mississippi State at 4-0 to start 2025 after a 2-10 campaign a year ago.
Here’s what he said.
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On his thoughts on the team after watching film vs. NIU
“I think just the way we played in the second half in comparison to the first half was like two different football teams. Just from an energy standpoint, I felt that on the field early. Our guys, I thought, the way we came out in the second half and how we played complementary football was huge. We needed it, and there’s a ton to clean up, penalties have to clean up. That was a huge stress in the team meeting this morning. Our guys felt that urgency from us, and we got to find ways to make that happen.”
On Tennessee’s defense
“To me, the way they’re able to get after the quarterback. 15 sacks. There’s constantly pressure on the quarterback. They’ve given some things up. We’ll see if some of those guys come back in the secondary, but what sticks out is how they’re getting after the quarterback. We’ve got to keep Blake (Shapen) clean to go play the way we want to play.”
On LB Tyler Lockhart against NIU
“Proud of Tyler. He got in and was far from perfect, but he made plays. He does some things that are really, really natural and does them at a really high level. He will continue to have opportunities, obviously, with DG (Derion Gullette) not playing last week. We will see how that ends up this week, but proud of Tyler and how he played.”
On the injury status of DB Jahron Manning
“Have not (evaluated him). From an injury standpoint, really as we get into SEC play with Wednesday being our report day, that is when everything will come out.”
On DL Ray Thomas getting more reps
“Ray did a couple of good things as he was in there late. Didn’t play a ton of snaps, and I’ve continued to be consistent from the same standpoint, we’re going to need all of those guys. We’ve got a long year ahead and all those guys continuing to develop, continuing to create depth will be important.”
On the goal entering SEC play
“Just understand what’s in front of us that we have the ability to go accomplish. We got so much in front of us. Again, having the ability to have a conference opener at our place in front of an incredible crowd and great environment, that’s going to be huge for us on Saturday. That’s something that is really, really important to have, a sold-out crowd and have the energy that we need. We’ve got to take this thing one game at a time. As we look at our goals ahead, there’s a lot out there to go accomplish, but there’s no way to do it if we don’t do it one game at a time.”
On play on the offensive and defensive line
“I think when you look at us in the defensive line, we’re playing a bunch of guys and we’re going to continue to need that. That piggybacks off what I was talking about earlier, the fact that we’re going to need a ton of depth in the interior and have the ability to go play a bunch of guys so we can play free and fast with physicality. We’re nowhere near where we want to be. We have made great improvements. But our guys understand the urgency and how we’ve got to go operate and to be able to get better. Then, on the offensive line, we’ve started four different units. I think we’re close to being able to settle in. Talked a little bit after the game, we have a three-man rotation at tackle, have a three-man rotation at guard. That will help us.”
On his relationship with Josh Heupel, what he’s brought with him from knowing Heupel to MSU
“His consistency in how he leads every single day. Having the ability to be able to work for him for those two years, it’s been a long-lasting relationship there. Able to see him in the moment, in the building every single day, as a leader, as a first-time head coach when we went to Orlando together. There’s a ton of things I learned in those moments. Obviously, incredibly appreciative of that time I got to spend with him.”
On his view of the SEC
“The league is pretty well-documented of what our league stands for, the success our conference has had. It is a one week, one game at a time. If you start trying to look at the big picture from an opponent standpoint, then you’ll get lost in it. For us, it’s about having the best Monday we’ve ever had, have the best Tuesday we’ve ever had, to give ourselves a chance to go 1-0 on Saturday. It’s that simple. That’s the process for us, and that’s what it is going to be as we get into league play.”
On what he saw on film about QB Blake Shapen’s deep ball
“I love that Blake is as hard on himself as he is. Fundamentally, we weren’t great on Saturday. He’s been really clean just from a body position standpoint, all the things we talk about fundamentally in the pocket. That was something that hadn’t shown up and I think there’s great awareness and urgency to get back to doing exactly what he was doing. We missed on a couple of throws that had chances to create chunks and create separation earlier. That’s the stress. We can’t waste a snap as we move forward.”
On college football having one portal window
“I do like the fact that it is going to one window. In season, we’re constantly going through the roster, me and Mark Votteler. Having the ability to continue to build this the right way and to go sustain. There’s going to be plenty of movement that happens. There is a lot going on inside of the high school recruiting right now. This will be a huge weekend for us here. We’re constantly looking at every single piece of it to make sure we’re fitting this thing out the right way.”
On QB Blake Shapen being hard on himself
“It’s all about telling the truth. There’s good and there’s things that aren’t good enough. The best players want the truth constantly so they have the ability to go fix things. That’s exactly who Blake is. As we’re watching it, we watch it one snap at a time. Fundamentally, what am I doing to put myself in the best position to go be really accurate as I push it down the field? Then we are able to adjust and go have a great day today.”
On feeding off energy from the stadium
“It’s a very real thing. Home-field advantage is very real. With our opponent coming to town, their first true road game, they had a neutral site game to open the year, but their first real road game. It needs to be an atmosphere and energy that is really, really, really hard for the opponent to come play in. That’s going to be a huge piece of it on Saturday. Our people will have great energy. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Our guys are going to be excited to keep them involved in the game by how we play.”
On if his preparation changes for an SEC game
“There’s literally not one single thing. From the schedule standpoint, there is no change. How we do what we do the previous four weeks is going to be the exact same as we move forward and get ready for Saturday.”
On cleaning up penalties
“There are things that are happening from a non-playing standpoint. We have the third-and-four where we have the procedure where we don’t got enough on the line of scrimmage, and that’s bad football. That’s just the attention to detail. We have three holds. I thought one of them was here and there, but I thought the other two were no doubt, and we were in a good body position. We’ve got to let go and not hold. We’ve got a huge run on one of those plays where it’s not just a 10-yard penalty, it’s understanding what it’s doing to us situationally and how it’s taking chunk runs off the board. Again, the playing penalties we’ve got to clean up from a fundamental standpoint, from a technique standpoint, and the five penalties on special teams was the most we’ve had by far since we’ve been here and that can’t be who we are. We have a goal on special teams every single week to have zero penalties and we show up and have five. It’s not playing winning football. We were able to overcome, but we don’t want to have to overcome. Want to be able to go play clean.”
On the secondary improving this year
“For our guys, there’s going to be a great challenge and great test this week. Tennessee is throwing the ball really, really well. They’ve been explosive. They’ve got playmakers on the perimeter. For us, it’s trusting our technique and doing exactly what we’ve done and playing inside the scheme. I think there has been great growth because you look at guys like Brylo (Brylan Lanier) and Hunt (Hunter Washington) and Isaac (Smith), Kelley Jones and DeAgo (Brumfield), it’s year two in the system. And then Jayven (Williams) and Jett (Jefferson) and JMan (Jahron Manning), those three guys came in and have done a nice job, as well. I think a lot of those guys playing have played a lot inside the system. I think it’s showing up.”
On RB Fluff Bothwell
“Having Fluff and his addition has been huge for us. It’s been great to be able to get him going. I think the good thing for him is he sat in here and watched the tape today and we left a lot out there, too. That’s the stress. I talked about not wasting a play and being able to score. Now, if you have a chance to get a first down on second-and-eight, getting it. All those things, the game inside the game, are critical. As he watched, I thought it was really good for him after feeling like he played well. And he did. He played really tough, but there was still a lot left out there and that’s what he is excited about.”
On red zone efficiency
“It’s huge. We got to score points down there, most importantly, we got to score touchdowns. That is going to continue to be a huge piece for us. When we get down there, it’s about having the ability to score now and not wait and not waste a play. We’ve got to continue that trend for sure.”
On Tennessee replacing four offensive line starters, how they can pressure Joey Aguilar
“They are playing really well up front. That was one thing that I did last night was watch their offense vs. Georgia and that’s what stuck out to me. The way they’re playing up front right now, having the ability of keeping the QB clean and then how they’re being able to push the ball down the field and make some competitive plays jumped off the tape. For us, it’s going to be about stopping the run first. That is going to be a huge part of it. They want to get the run game going, that’s when they have their most success. So we have to find ways to limit that.”
On conversations with players about redshirting and entering the portal
“For our guys, all that stuff will happen internally as we move forward. That is just the way college football is set up right now. Each individual guy is specific to his own situation. We’ll keep all those things in-house as we move forward.”
On scoring from far against Tennessee’s defense
“We’re going to have to make competitive plays down the field. That’s a huge part of it. We’ll have to get the football in space and win one-on-ones. That’s how you create those chunks and have the ability to do exactly that. To me, it comes back to how we are protecting Blake (Shapen). Keeping him clean is going to be a huge part of Saturday afternoon.”
On what it means to the team to be 4-0
“It was huge. Huge for our program. We got good momentum right now. We need to keep the momentum and we need to build on it and Saturday is going to be a huge step in that direction.”
