Everything Jeff Lebby said at his Monday morning press conference

Mississippi State is headed into its SEC opener against No. 15 Tennessee with an unblemished 4-0 record.

Reports: Mississippi State's three annual SEC opponents have been revealed

On Monday, Bulldogs' coach Jeff Lebby talked about the upcoming game against his former boss, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel. Here's everything he said:

Going back and reviewing the film. Did it kind of confirm your feelings on Saturday night or were there some other things that popped up?

Yeah, 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, felt that on the field early. Our guys, I thought the way we came out in the second half and how we played complimentary football was huge, we needed it. And there's a ton to clean up. The penalties have to clean up. That was a huge stress in the team meeting this morning. Our guys feel that urgency from us and we've got to find ways to make that happen.

Tennessee's had some real challenges kind of defending the throw game due to some injuries. When you watch them, what kind of stands out about them on defense?

Yeah, I mean, to me, the way they're able to get after the quarterback, 15 sacks. There's constantly pressure on the QB. 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. And we've got to keep Blake clean to go play the way we want to play.

Saw Tyler Lockhart gets more reps on the defense, especially towards the end of the game. What did you see from his performance and do you expect that to continue?

Yeah, I'm proud of Tyler. He did, he got in, he was far from perfect, but he made plays. He does some things that are just really, really natural and does them at a really high level. So he'll continue to have opportunity, obviously, with DG not playing last week. We'll see where that ends up this week, but proud of Tyler and how he played.

And then Jahron, got banked up, have you had a chance to evaluate him?

Have not. So again, from an injury standpoint, really just be as we get into SEC play, with Wednesday being our report date, that's when everything will come out.

Coach, last couple weeks we've seen Ray Thomas get a little bit of run, and he's producing when he's been out there. Is he a guy that you think can get some more reps early on in the game, moving forward, and what have you kind of seen from him so far?

Yeah, Ray did a couple of good things as he was in there again late, didn't play a ton of snaps. I've continued to be consistent from the standpoint, we're gonna need all of those guys. We got a long year ahead, and all of those guys continuing to develop and continuing to create depth will be important.

You talked about how you guys have a lot of goals for this season, and how do you accomplish two year on to the next one. Talk a little bit more about what value these goals have to you guys and what the next one is.

Yeah, just understand what's in front of us that we have the ability to go accomplish. We've 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 a great environment. That's gonna be huge for us on Saturday, and that's something that is really, really important to have, man a sold out crowd and have the energy that we need. But again, we've got to take this thing one game at a time as we're looking 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 at a time.

You and some of the other assistant coaches talked in the off season about how important it would be to get bigger and stronger, especially in the trenches. How do you kind of assess how that's gone so far through four games?

Yeah, I think when you look at us in the defensive line, again, we're playing a bunch of guys and we're gonna continue to need that. And kind of piggybacks off of what I was talking about earlier, the fact that we're gonna need a ton of depth in the interior and have the ability to go play a bunch of guys, so we can go play free and fast with physicality. So we're nowhere near where we wanna be. We have made great improvement, but our guys understand the urgency of how we gotta go operate to be able to get better. And then on the offensive line, we've started four different units. I think we're close to being able to settle in and talked a little bit about it after the game. But have a three man rotation at tackle, have a three man rotation at guard, and that'll help us.

You've had a long relationship with Coach Heupel at Tennessee. What's something from your time with him that you brought to your program?

His consistency and how he leads every single day. And again, having the ability to be able to work for him for those two years. There's been a long lasting relationship there. So 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 that I learned in those moments. And obviously incredibly appreciative of that time that I got to spend with him.

Now that you've been through the league as a head coach for last year, just what is your opinions of the league as a whole, and seeing some of those same teams this time around?

Yeah, I mean, the league, it's 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. You start trying to look at the big picture from an opponent standpoint, and you'll get lost in it. For us, man, it's about having the best Monday we've ever had, having the best Tuesday we've ever had to give ourselves a chance to go one and all on Saturday. It is that simple, that's the process for us. And that's what it's gonna be as we get into league play.

Blake obviously wasn't happy with his performance on Saturday, missing the big shots. What did you guys see on film? He's been pretty consistent hitting those big plays. Just didn't hit them on Saturday. What'd you see when you look back on that? What was kind of your message to him?

I love that Blake is as hard on himself as he is. Fundamentally, we weren't great on Saturday. And he's been really clean just from a body position standpoint. All the things that we talk about fundamentally in the pocket, that was something that hadn't shown up. And I think there's great awareness and urgency just to get back to doing exactly what he was doing. Again, we missed on a couple of those throws that had chances to create chunks and create separation earlier. And that's the stress we can't waste a snap as we move forward.

Now we're in game week, but I know you're in recruiting mode every day. Changes coming with the portal, with maybe one portal window. What are your thoughts about that? And how does that maybe change the way you do things in season?

I do like the fact that it's gonna go to one window. In season, we're constantly going through the roster piece of me and Mark Butler and having the ability to continue to build this thing the right way to go sustain, there's gonna be plenty of movement that happens. There's a lot going on inside of the high school recruiting right now. This weekend is gonna be a huge weekend for us here. So, man, we're just, we're constantly looking at every single piece of it to make sure we're fitting this thing up the right way.

Going back to what Robbie asked you about Blake being hard on himself. As a coach, do you have to come in behind him and say, well, let me show you the good things that you did as well? Or how constructive is the criticism?

Yeah, it's all about telling the truth. There's good and there's things that aren't good enough. And so the best players, they do, they want the truth constantly, so that they have the ability to go fix things. And that's exactly who Blake is. So as we watch it, man, we're watching it one snap at a time. Fundamentally, what am I doing to put myself in the best position and go be really accurate as I push it down the field? And then we were able to adjust and go have a great day today.

You had to generate some of your own energy in the stadium on Saturday because the crowd was one of the smaller ones you played in front of. Arizona State, you didn't have to do that, expecting a similar crowd on Saturday. How do your guys feed off the atmosphere? Is that a real thing?

It's a very real thing. Home field advantage is very real. And with our opponent coming to town, their first true road game, they had a neutral site game to open the year, but their first road game, it does. It needs to be an atmosphere and an energy that is really, really, really hard for the opponent to come play in. And that's gonna be a huge piece of it on Saturday. Our people will have great energy. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And then our guys are gonna be excited to be able to keep them really involved in the game by how we play.

What, if anything, changes in terms of your preparation for this week compared to your four non-conference games?

Yeah, there's literally not one single thing. From a schedule standpoint, there's no change. How we do what we do, the previous four weeks is gonna be the exact same as we move forward and get ready for Saturday.

The issues with the penalties, what are you seeing and talking about with the team, and how do you kind of clean that up?

Yeah, I mean, there's things that are happening from a non-playing standpoint. We have the third and four where we have the procedure and don't have enough on the line of scrimmage. It's bad football, that's just the attention to detail. We have the three holds where 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 gotta let go and not hold, and we've got huge runs on those plays, where it's not just a ten yard penalty. It's understanding what it's doing to us situationally, and how it's taking chunk runs off the board. So again, the playing penalties, we gotta clean up from a fundamental standpoint and a technique standpoint. And then 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. And so we have a goal on teams every single week to have zero penalties, and we show up and we have five. And again, it's just it's not playing winning football. We were able to overcome, but don't wanna have to overcome. Wanna be able to go play clean.

Coach, one of the biggest areas you guys have improved from last year to this year is obviously the back end, the secondary. It's been playing spectacular to start this season. What do you think is the biggest source of improvement heading into a week like Tennessee, which I mean, they like to throw the ball out in the field.

Yeah, for our guys, there's gonna be a great challenge and a great test this week. Tennessee's 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's been great growth because you look at guys like Brylan and Hunter and Isaac and Kelly Jones and DeAgo. They're year two in the system. And then Javen and Jet and J-Man, those three guys came in and have done a nice job as well. But I think a lot of those guys playing have played a lot inside the system. I think it's showing up.

Coach, Fluff Botwell, he's averaging six yards carries, 90 yards last two games, plus 90 yards last two games. How important was it to stack a guy from the quarter like him? And then also, how important has it been to also add a balance attack to the offense?

Yeah, having Fluff and his addition has been huge for us. It's been great to be able to get him going. I think that the good thing for him is he sat in here and watched the tape today. We left a lot out there too. And that's the stress. Again, I talk about not wasting the play, being able to score now. If you got a chance to get the first down on second eight, getting it. All those things, the game inside the game are critical. And so as he watched that, I thought it was really good for him after feeling like we played well. And he did, and played really tough. Man, there's still a lot left out there. And that's what he's excited about.

You were six for six in the red zone. And just talk about taking advantage of those opportunities and how big that is for your team.

Yeah, it is, it's huge. We gotta score points down there. Most importantly, gotta score touchdowns. That is gonna continue to be a huge piece of it for us. When we get down there, man, it's about having the ability to, again, score now. And not wait and not waste a play. So we've gotta continue that trend for sure.

I believe Tennessee replaced four or five starters on the offensive line, but it doesn't look like it. I mean, their numbers are still very, very good. Obviously, they're well coached. In many respects, it looks like this may be a game of who influences the quarterback, who can pressure the quarterback. When you kind of watched them, how have they been so successful kind of keeping Aguilar unaffected?

Yeah, they are playing really well up front. That was one thing that I did last night was watch their offense versus Georgia. And that's what stuck out to me. I mean, the way they're playing up front right now, having the ability to keep the QB clean. And then how they're being able to push the ball down the field and make some really, really competitive plays jumped off the tape. So again, for us, it's gonna be about stopping the run first. That's gonna be a huge part of it. They wanna get the run game going. That's when they have their most success. So we've gotta find ways to limit that.

Something that happens now in college football every year, week four, you see a lot of players who are down the depth chart. Maybe you wanna take a red shirt and go ahead and maybe even get into the transfer portal. Have you had any of those kind of conversations with anybody on your roster?

Yeah, 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. And each individual guy is specific to his own situation. And so again, we'll keep all those things in house as we move forward.

You talked about how important it is to score from far and against Northern Illinois. It seemed a little bit tough to get that going until later on. What's it gonna take to be able to make sure you're able to do that as more often than not against Tennessee?

Yeah, we're gonna have to make competitive plays down the field. That's a huge part of it. We're gonna have to get the football in space and win one on ones. That's how you create those chunks and have the ability to go do exactly that. But again, to me, it's gonna come back to how are we protecting Blake. Keeping him clean is gonna be a huge part of Saturday afternoon.

Now that you guys have started the season 4-0 through non-conference, you talked about how that was your first goal that you guys wanted to accomplish. To actually get it done and now move into the second, I don't wanna say phase of the season, but move on to the second goal. What did that mean for you and what does it mean for the locker room?

Yeah, it was huge, huge for our program. Again, we've got good momentum right now. We need to keep the momentum, we need to build on it. And Saturday's gonna be a huge step in that direction.