Everything Jeff Lebby said at Monday's weekly press conference

Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby held his weekly Monday morning press conference less than 48 hours after getting his first SEC win as a head coach.

Here's everything he said at the press conference:

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On team's culture...

I think it is, it's just the consistency and how we go about doing what we do every single day. Again, not letting a result dictate how we interact, how we coach, what the expectation is. Understanding that we have the ability to control how we prepare and how we play. And so, for us, the consistency inside our walls, I stress and strain that with our entire staff, everybody that's inside this building every day. Young people need to know what they're getting before they walk in the double doors, I think that's one of the most important things about leadership. We're fighting like heck to do that every day as we got ready for another great Monday for us, after finding a way to go win.

On importance of home field advantage this week...

Man, we need it in a huge way. I mean, we need 60,000 shaking cowbells and having as rowdy of an atmosphere as there is in the country. Ironically enough, I'm headed to the house late last night, make a quick phone call and realize we do. We've got more tickets out than maybe we would all like. So we're doing something, I went ahead and got 500 tickets. We've got a couple of players on this football team that are doing the exact same thing for youth organizations that are inside our community to be able to get the youth groups out. And for us, it is us making sure we're protecting Davis Wade. We're trying to fill it with maroon and white. And man, we need it. We need 60,000 strong. We got a top five football team coming into our place. It needs to be as electric an atmosphere as there is in college football. We have the ability to do that. We know that, but we need that.

On benefitting of finally winning a close game...

It was huge. I think just us having the ability to point to how we played in the fourth quarter defensively, getting two, three and outs, having the fourth down stop. Offensively, being able to finish drives. We had the one field goal that was very frustrating in the moment because we're down there, we're first and ten at the 20 yard line after a big play. And then have the negative play, we end up in a really bad situation, which again was really frustrating in the moment. But our guys seeing how it looks when we go close it out and leave no doubt. There's so many other situations inside the game, the plays inside the game, to where maybe you're not in that situation at the end of the game. And that's something we're constantly stressing as well. But to be able to point to the tape and say, man, these plays are what gives us the ability to have a happy locker room, it's huge.

On Fluff Bothwell...

Fluff did some good things, really frustrated in how we ran the football against a defense that, again, had given up a lot in the run game. That was, without a doubt to me, the most disappointing thing coming out of the game. Again, just great frustration in that. The negative runs, the zero to negative runs for us were, man, it was troubling. We made some huge plays. We had a ton of explosive plays. I think we ended up with 22, maybe 10 plus plays, which is a huge deal. But we're so big, little, it just creates great inconsistency. And Georgia's been really good against the run. We've got to run the football so that we can have balance and take some pressure off of the QB and receivers.

On the offensive line...

Shumpert has really done a good job and done some really good things with Big Matt. He's playing center, playing guard on the scout team, developing nicely. He got here so late, obviously, as he got here so late in the summer. Love kind of where he's at and where he's going. And then with Saquon, he is. He's a really talented guy that we're expecting big things from. Those guys needed the year to develop in the weight room and having the ability to get inside the scheme and the system to give themselves a chance, Shumpert practices with us every day at tackle, playing a little bit of guard, got a great future with him.

On being one win away from bowl eligibility...

I think for us, we've talked about it a ton, being postseason eligible as soon as possible. And so now it takes one more. And our guys understand that, it's right out there in front of us on Saturday. Again, have the ability to have an incredible day, an incredible atmosphere. Man, a great matchup with a great football team and a program that has done nothing but win. And for our guys, it is, it's gonna be an incredible opportunity to, man, to find a way to go get our sixth win, get past the ball eligibility piece of it, and continue to take the next step as our program as we're in year two.

On meaning to program to be bowl eligible...

It's huge, for a lot of different reasons. I think, again, as we stand here today, and I don't talk about it with our football team, but thinking about where we were a year ago today and what the product looked like in comparison to what the product looks like today is, to me, opposite ends of the spectrum. We haven't got the results that we've wanted nonstop, but our football team and the belief in the way we're playing the game is a Mississippi State football team. And I'm proud of that, we got a lot left out in front of us. Our guys can see that and feel that, and we got to go find a way to be plus one Saturday.

On Kamario Taylor being named co-SEC Freshman of the Week...

Who was the other freshman? (Kentucky QB Cutter Boley). Gotcha, yeah, that makes sense. I hadn't seen it yet, but no, I'm incredibly proud of what Kamario got in and went and did. He plays three drives, two of them ending in a touchdown. We end up not converting on a fourth down, there's so many plays inside that series where we've got a chance to continue to get first downs inside that drive. We don't, but love the way he played. If he doesn't play the way he plays, then it's gonna be really hard to find a way to be plus one at the end of the day. So, so much for him to clean up, that's what I love about him. How hard he is on himself as he watches the tape and knows that, man, he made some incredible plays, but there was a lot left out there in just the three series that he played. And that's what you love about him, but so happy for him, happy for Blake. Both those guys, their relationship, their trust in each other, their support for each other, man. To me, that's what team's all about, but dang proud of one and what he did.

On Anthony Evans...

He's played really tough when he's had the ball in his hands and proud of him for that. He had a couple opportunities in some other situations to make some huge plays that he hates that he left out there. But Ant's just gotten better and better. He's more and more comfortable inside the scheme. And when he's had the ball in his hands, man, good things have happened. And so, I'm proud of how he's continued to develop. And man, taking advantage of making plays. So love the way he finished on, obviously, on that fourth down to go get us in the end zone and score now. We talk about that nonstop, not having to snap the ball again. And his mentality as he got the ball in his hands was just that, which was great.

On being able to repeat last year's (limited) success against Georgia...

It's going to be about having balance. And these guys have been great against the run. To me, we cannot be one dimensional or it's going to be really, really hard for us up front. And so run the football and finding ways to create some balance is going to be critical for us. I think we have shown that when we have the ability to man to sit in there and throw and catch, we've done a decent job of it. So again, for us, it is. It's going to be finding a way to run the football to create some balance. That way we can get the matchups that we want.

On comfort level in close games...

Well, I do know that we're going to respond. And I know that we're going to fight. And I know that we're going to play incredibly hard. It was great to have the ability to feel good and go make the plays at the end of the game to win the game. When you think about what George has done over a long history of time since he's been there, they don't blink because it's programmed. That's what it is. That's what the program is. And he's had incredible sustained success. And there's just great belief inside those walls that regardless of what's gone on, they're going to find a way. And that's built over time. And to me, you see that on tape. He talks about not flinching and being uncomfortable in those situations. I'll continue to say this, I like playing from ahead. And then that's the reality of it. And I want our guys to be able to go play fast, go attack, make the plays in the first quarter, just like making the plays in the fourth quarter. And that to me is going to be important.

On taking advantage of all the coaching changes...

I think again, there's so much uncertainty at a lot of other places right now, and there hasn't been stability here, as we've talked about a lot in the first year and a half. And with the ability to have stability, you see us taking the right steps. We got to continue to find ways to win, that's the most important thing. But there's going to be a lot of high school kids that are committed to other places, that there's great uncertainty if they end up staying committed to where they're going. Because of the way signing day hits, how the end of the season hits, and the way the cycle is going to work with championship games and playoffs. So we got to take great advantage of that, we got to upgrade the roster. We've got to be incredibly aggressive to go get the guys that we need. I think it's a great opportunity for us to go get some big time marquee players. I think we all understand what that takes and what that means. But we've got to strike while we can.

On QBs Blake Shapen and Kamario Taylor...

I have and again, just unbelievably proud of the group, both those guys and the entire group. I said it after the game, but with Blake, and talked about it in the locker room, the toughness that this guy plays with, he will die for the people inside these walls. I'm not sure I've ever seen a guy play as tough as he plays. And the way he's gotten hit this year to continue to get up and just battle and fight, and then put us in position to go win games is, man, it is. It's special, love coaching him. I think it's great for the room. I think it's great for number one. I think it's great for our football team. I said it to the entire team, toughness wins, and that's in life. And so we can all learn something from that. But I'm proud of who that guy's continued to be.

On what Anthony Evans III and Brenen Thompson...

They're both fast, and they can run, and I like guys that are fast. And that will be a trend for us for a long, long time here. We've got to have great foot speed. It makes it really, really hard on the other side of the ball. You can't live with a ton of little guys, but if you got little guys that are electric and got incredible top end and play tough, you're going to be just fine. So both those guys can really run. They're about the right things. They play tough when they have the football, and I think you win with that.

On the importance of "play the next play"...

I've always talked about you don't necessarily have 75 plays inside a game or 70 plays inside a game. You've got one play 70 times. And if you can truly focus on that and play each play independent of itself, then you have the ability just to control exactly what you can control. The most important play is the next play. It's the only one you've got. And you got to be able to reset regardless of what's happened. Good, bad, indifferent. You've got to be able to reset and go play. Really good football players do that. Great teams do that and we've got to build on that in a great way. These games are incredibly close as you get into the fourth quarter and into situational football. So that's going to be a huge piece of it.

On buying 500 tickets...

I wanna make sure that our fan base and our people understand how committed everybody in this building is. And it is for military appreciation being able to get the tickets in the hands of people that maybe weren't able to go to the game otherwise. And again, making sure that we got maroon and white in there. We need 60,000 strong Saturday morning at 11 AM. Our football team needs it. Our fan base, again, I think will show up in an incredible way, but we need to.

On injuries to Jahron Manning and Albert Reese IV...

Those guys today, again, didn't do much today, but we will. We'll let the Wednesday report speak to it.