Everything Jeff Lebby said at Monday morning's press conference

As he does every Monday morning, Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby held his weekly press conference to talk about a variety of things from last weekend and the upcoming game against Alcorn State.

Here's everything he said:

One thing I think about is we talk so much about that last touchdown, but the ball placement and the ball tracking from Brennan Thompson on that big touchdown in the second quarter. I mean, it's a great job by everybody. I mean, maybe kind of take us through all the reps that make that play possible.

Yeah, I think that the key point for us when throwing the ball vertically down the field because we've got real speed on the perimeter is making sure we're putting a lot of air on the let these guys go right underneath it. And the ball was left just a little bit outside and Brennan did an unbelievable job. Great body control and tracking it over his shoulder right there, his outside shoulder to go make the play. So, drill it non-stop. Talk about putting air on the ball to give our guys a chance to go chase it down and run it down. It was a great play.

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18 games in a row Mississippi State has started games on offense even before you were here. I mean, why is it that you like to start games on offense when a lot of other teams are always deferring the kick go?

Yeah, for us, especially on Saturday, it was about keeping their offense off the field and dictating how the game was played. You know, I wanted our guys out there first offensively, create juice, momentum, be able to put a drive together. We've been able to do that two weeks in a row. We have not sustained the way we need to, but that that was the thought behind that.

Coach, we asked about Will Whitson the other night. You had a couple of days now. Do you have an update on his status?

Yeah, just an update on Will and Blake. Both those guys are down for the season. So, won't get either one of them back. Incredible opportunity for our next guys in not going to have either one of those guys.

You talked a little bit last week about, you know, trying to refocus uh after a win, after celebration. Was it a little bit different this time around after the emotion on Saturday night?

You know, the emotion that was very real the way we won the game. Just the atmosphere and the energy again was so special. You know, it did on Sunday, you could feel it just taking longer. Again, as we get in the building this morning, man, it is business as usual. And we've got to do an incredible job of creating great focus on getting better. There's stuff all over the tape where we have the ability to play better. We're going to have to play better moving forward. That's the focus. I think our older guys understand that. And man, you got to respect the game. You got to prepare the right way if you want to go play the right way.

Coaches talk about getting better from game one to game two. What did you see last week from your team? Improvement that that it took to get that big win on safety.

Yeah, I saw offensively just the penalties cleaning up in a huge way and then taking great care of the football. I think the best thing defensively, obviously the way we played in the first half, but then the way we played on third down situationally after not playing great the first week situationally, those were where I saw these huge jumps. Defensively, we got to continue to tackle better and be able to sustain in the second half. But offensively, we've got to find a way to make the play out of the three and outs. That's a huge piece of it to where we can create a little momentum for our D and play off our D with how well they play.

You faced a pretty good run defense this past weekend, but what do you see from the running game so far this year and what's got to get better there in your mind?

Yeah, there there's been multiple things in the run game that has kept us from being explosive and kept us from being where we need to be and from a you know whether it's run per play average being over five yards a carry where that's our goal, that's where we want to be. But then also the explosive part, we need chunks in the run game uh to go do what we want to do, and it has been. It's been something a little different every time. Arizona State did a really good job of heavy in the box. That's what created a bunch of the chunks. And for us, man, the ball me man finish mentality has to continue to get better so that we have the ability to do what we need to do in the run game.

Take you back to that goal line stand. I think it was third and goal. You put [Jamil Burroughs] in there and then he came up with a big play there. Just when you recruited him, obviously size catches your attention, but when you recruited him, is that the situations that that you envisioned for him?

Yeah. Knew that he was going to be able to create some value in situations like that, whether it's situationally and short yardage, open field, or having the ability to play inside that heavy package when people get down there and be inside the three yard line. So, proud of him, continuing to stay the course. Got a ton of work to do, but he's worked in a really good way to give himself a chance to have an impact. And awesome to see.

You're always talking about just the next game, you want to have your focus on where you are. Do you find as a coach, is it easier to get your team back in focus after a tough loss or after a crazy win like you just had?

I'd rather a crazy win. The challenge is the challenge every week. It just it doesn't stop. Monday is Monday and it really has no bearing on what just happened Saturday. I wouldn't like the crazy win on Saturday in a great way, but at the end of it, man, it is Monday's Monday, and we've got a routine and we've got to own that routine. We got to dominate the routine. We've got to be better this Monday than we were last Monday. And it it's that simple. It doesn't change. And as a staff, creating great urgency for our players every single day. It's not just another Monday. It's the biggest Monday we've ever had in our life and that that's the mindset and we got to get better. We got a ton of work to do. Our guys I think understand that but we're going to continue to create that urgency as a staff.

I know you're dealing with some injuries on the offensive line, but what did Jayvin (James) kind of show y'all or give you and coach [Phil] Loadholt confidence to give him to start at left tackle?

Him getting a start at left tackle in all reality was because of not having a lot of other guys to go start at left tackle. We had really, we did we had a really good week of work with him. He created a ton of confidence for myself for coach Loadholt and then he went out and played 65 snaps far from perfect but played really solid and we got to have that guy continue to come on. I'm proud of how he did what he did, how he played the way he played after not even being on the bus going to Hattiesburg. So, bounced back, had an incredible week, and we're going to need it from him every single week.

Coach, I know we talked about Arizona State a lot, but what are your first impressions of Alcorn State?

Yeah, a group that again has a ton of familiarity with our football team and a bunch of guys that are from this state. It's another instate game. They've got a couple of guys from our hometown from Starkville. And we do we've got to play with incredible energy. We've got to play incredibly hard. Effort, physicality, execution. Like Saturday at 5:00, those three things need to show up. And again, we're going to coach our guys in that mindset and be able to go through.

Last year throughout the struggles, you said you always wanted to be the same guy every day. A lot of guys on the team and staff said, even did the challenges, you were the same guy every day last year. Now that you're having some success, how is important to have laid that foundation that every week is got its own set of challenges and we're going to be the same and not have to go pull guys out of clouds?

I think it's going to pay off. I really do and I think our guys understand that understand exactly how I'm going to operate and how we're going to operate when I walk into that team meeting on Monday morning. The messaging and what we're trying to do to get the things fixed that we have to get fixed to just give us a chance on Saturday to go one and up and end up being three and up. That is that's it. And that's the mindset doing it together, having fun doing it. But understanding we got a ton of work to do.

Coach, is there an opportunity for Will (Whitson) to get another season?

We sure hope so. We're in the middle of that right now. So, we sure hope so.

You set out in the offseason to increase your depth for situations like this possibly. So, you're not put in a bind. How do you feel about that position after what you've seen the first two weeks?

Yeah, Will was playing like at a really, really high level. He was making plays. The guy was not staying blocked. So, he was doing some things that were really close to being elite and special. The positive for us if there is one is that we've got guys at that position that are capable very capable whether it's Ted, Bam Bam, Red, Joe Head, like we have guys at that position that again can go play winning football with us and there's no doubt about that.

The whole Starkville versus everybody thing. I know you talked about this morning and Saturday too, but why do you think that's just becoming kind of a rallying cry maybe for this team?

I think it's because we for whatever reason there's this rap that we get that's not true. And so, we talk to our guys non-stop about no comparison. We don't compare ourselves to anybody. We're not looking at any other programs. I don't wonder what other programs doing to help me make a decision on what's best for our program. And to me, that's what it's all about. We're going to do exactly what we need to do for Mississippi State, our program, our university, our community, and to make sure that we're putting our best foot forward and to be exactly who we are. When we go to college, even close out.

Coach, looking at the offensive side, Anthony Evans had a big game. Um, I know he had a couple drops in the first week. What did you see from him in the week leading up to this game to give him that or make him that much of a part of your game plan?

Yeah, he's going to be a huge part of it every week. And he again, some great things. The strain and stress for Ann is to continue to play better and play cleaner. Had the really good punt return, but he had a chance to make a couple other big plays. He had the false start. So, constantly trying to create urgency with him and to go strain and play better. This guy's got a chance to be a great player for us. Felt really good about it when we got him. He's gotten better and better. He's more comfortable inside the scheme and got to continue to get better. He had a chance to have a good year.

your creative team is doing a tremendous job. They caught a scene of you kind of stressing as the kneel down takes place. And I know as a coach it's never over till it's over. When you come in here, you're always kind of coach, but if you could be Jeff here for a second after that kneel down, you had a big smile on your face. What did What did that mean for you personally to kind of see your vision kind of come to fruition?

Yeah, just it was for everybody. The smile was for man the fans getting to feel good, our community getting to feel good, our players getting to feel good, and had that sense of accomplishment just in that moment. It was it was a huge step for us as a program for things not to go our way in the second half to bow our neck and have a goal line stand to have no timeouts and go foul plays and score a touchdown to win the game. Get a pick with Hunt to ice it and then go get in victory. And there's a lot of things that got us to that point, but us finding a way to win the game. Uh that's what that smile was all about.

Coach, you uh you had one of the biggest recruiting groups here this past weekend. Just I know it's kind of hard to obviously you can't predict what's going to happen with the with the game, but to win that type of game in front of that many recruits. How much does that go as far as giving you a shot in the arm to kind of change the narrative?

People want to win. Recruits want to win. You want to sign great players, you got to find ways to win. The hope part of it, man, only lasts so long. And so having the ability to find a way to win against a top 10 team with all those guys there in the environment is a huge deal for us. I do I think we're in it with some incredible players. You know, we got to go find a way to keep stacking days and go three and 0 this Saturday.