Five things we learned about Mississippi State's bowl game and coaching changes

Bulldogs' coach Jeff Lebby held a press conference Wednesday to talk about the team's upcoming bowl game as well as coaching changes.

Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby looks on before the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Some very tragic news was announced Wednesday.

Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby isn’t a fan of mayonnaise, which makes for an awkward moment considering his team is playing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

“I do not,” Lebby said at Wednesday’s press conference. “But I've never been more excited about the opportunity to get a tub of it dumped on me. But, no, I do not (like mayonnaise) even a little bit.”

The fine folks at Duke’s Mayo will be glad to help Lebby learn to like mayo if the Bulldogs beat Wake Forest. The winning coach gets a big water cooler full of mayo dumped on them.

Jokes and thoughts about what condiments Lebby likes on his sandwiches aside, we did learn some important things when Lebby spoke Wednesday.

Blake Shapen no longer with the team

Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen (2) warms up against the Missouri Tigers prior to a game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

You got to feel a little bit bad for Shapen. He suffered through the 2024 season with an injury and started all but one game this season.

He’s put the time and work in to help make Mississippi State successful. For four weeks, everything was going great for Shapen. But the fanbase quickly soured on Shapen and fell in love with Kamario Taylor.

Now, Taylor is the starter for the Bulldogs’ bowl game and Shapen is at home in Louisiana getting ready for post-season workouts and the NFL Draft.

In a perfect world, Shapen would get one more chance to end his collegiate career on a high note.

Unfortunately, we live in the real world and this is the best decision for all parties concerned.

Kamario Taylor’s health status

Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Kamario Taylor (1) runs against Mississippi Rebels linebacker TJ Dottery (6) in the second half at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The last we saw of Taylor was him limping off the field at the end of the Egg Bowl almost three weeks ago. Lebby said Taylor wasn’t back to 100 percent, but he’s close.

“Kamario is doing good he's done a good job taking care of himself he's not back to 100 percent but he will be shortly and he feels good,” he said.

New DC Zach Arnett’s role in bowl game prep

Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Zach Arnett looks on during the first quarter of the game against the Western Michigan Broncos at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Matt Bush-Imagn Images

This wouldn’t be an issue if the Bulldogs weren’t going to a bowl game. Arnett would simply start working on like any defensive coordinator would.

Then the Bulldogs got a bowl invitation and now the normal startup work for a new coach has to be at least partially on hold.

Lebby explained what Arnett’s role will be as the team prepares for its bowl game.

“For Zach he’s able to go out and watch these guys practice every day,” Lebby said. “Like the evaluation of our current roster I think is a huge advantage for us. Him having the ability to be in the building and know exactly what’s going on and having to watch the game tape and Zach gets to be on the grass with us today. He's out there right in the middle of the scout team and being able to get those guys ready to roll.”

Lebby added Arnett wouldn’t be involved in game planning or game day play-calling (Matt Barnes will handle that responsibility).

“I didn't feel like that was fair to the kids to be able to throw all those changes on them but for him and just being able to evaluate our roster right now and create relationships,” Lebby said.

Lebby didn’t know about bowl game possibility until Sunday morning

Like most of us, Lebby did not wake up Sunday morning thinking his team would be getting a bowl invitation. That changed about mid-morning.

“We definitely didn't think we would be playing in a bowl game on Sunday morning,” Lebby said. “Then get a phone call mid-morning talking about the possibility of it and making sure we were in great alignment on what we wanted to be able to go do.”

Lebby also said it was an easy decision to accept the bowl invitation and his first thought was where all of the players were.

I like to imagine Brenen Thompson out on his boat with a friend or teammate, get a call or text saying they got invited to a bowl game and hurriedly either swim ashore or run ontop of the water like Dash in The Incredibles.

Team’s schedule for the month

Lebby didn’t list a day-by-day schedule, but did say it would be mostly practice one day, off the next until December 23 when players will get three days off for Christmas. Then the Bulldogs will have a normal game week.