Everything head coach Jeff Lebby said after Saturday's 63-0 win over Alcorn State

Mississippi State had an easy go of it on Saturday night, as expected, and dominated Alcorn State, 63-0. It was the program’s first shutout since 2017 and the first 3-0 start for the Bulldogs since 2018.

Following the game, head coach Jeff Lebby met with the media to discuss the win:

Q: How do you feel like the team performed with the simple goals you had for today?
Lebby: I think we are healthy. So that’s obviously most important after being able to go win. They’ll be a ton of stuff to clean up, but I loved our energy. I thought that part of it was probably the best. We didn’t execute well at times, offensively. I thought we put the defense back out there at times when we didn’t need to. But defensively, able to create turnovers and then take advantage of it to be away to get away from them.

Q: Where did the ‘score from far’ phrase come from and how is that going so far?
Lebby: It’s kind of been a part of offenses I’ve been able to go call and run and manage. It’s been something I’ve always thought and it is, without a doubt, a huge determining factor in football games. Explosive plays matter in a huge way. Explosive plays create create touchdown opportunities. That will be a big part of us. I think I talked about on Monday, the score from far is all well and good. We are going to have to sustain. We have to get in situations where in short yardage and goal line situations, and be able to get done what we need to get done. I think that’s a huge part of who we are and what we do. But we’re also going to have to find ways where we sustain and run the football in those situations.

Q: The defense buckled down after the first quarter. What did you see there?
Lebby: Really, the start of the second quarter is really when I saw our guys turn it on and start playing really fast. We gave up some things defensively, but then when we settled in, we kept them out of the end zone, created turnovers or whatever it was. We did not start exactly how we wanted to start. The second series and the third series where we gave up first downs, but we were able to find ways to get off the field and get the ball back to us to be able to get away from them.

Q: What did it mean to you to see Seth Davis score that late touchdown?
Lebby: Coolest part of the night and it’s not even remotely close. What that kid’s been through just on this football team and I think our guys understand it. I’ve never been around a young man that was a better teammate than Seth Davis. It’s exactly what the game of football is all about. It’s why it’s the greatest team sport in the world and it’s because of guys like Seth. Having the opportunity to reward him and get him on a couple of carries late as he is still working back to get healthy, man, is special. But all you have to do is just look at our sideline. He got an opportunity and how they responded. That’s what that dude means to us.

Q: What did it mean for your team to score quick and how they handled the week after such a big win last week?
Lebby: Again, it was good, but there was still a lot of frustration for me in those first four drives. Like getting hit on the first play of the game, Blake (Shapen) shouldn’t get touched. On the fourth drive he gets hit, and it should never happen. Those are things that really we got to clean up. You can’t take unnecessary shots. So those were a couple of the frustration moments. I did love our guys energy and I thought our guys were focused on doing their job and taking advantage of the moment.

Q: What did it mean to the defense to get that shutout?
Lebby: I talked about that in the locker room and it was ur first shutout since 2017. For our guys, the message was and I talked about it at halftime, regardless of who is in the game, the expectations are for guys to go execute at a really high level. There were fourth string guys in there, guys that are 100 percent redshirting, some played the last 15 plays of the game, defensively. Our guys played fast, they played with an edge, they had fun playing and I love having the ability to reward those guys as we are in the middle of it right now.

Q: What does Anthony Evans mean to you with his receiving and punt returns?
Lebby: That’s really what his role was where he came from. Played offensively, but didn’t get many touches. So we knew he had the ability to come in and be explosive for us from that standpoint. We’re going to continue to want more, need more from him. He’s got to be special for us in the return game for us to go do what we want to do.

Q: How important was it to get a lot of reps for younger guys tonight?
Lebby: The development piece is huge. I think the camaraderie piece of it is huge. Just letting guys go play and have fun playing the game when all they do work every single day. We talk about it, everybody has their role, being able to own their role. Some of those guys being able to go play tonight. A guy like Sam Paxton running down on kickoffs and a bunch of others was special for our entire locker room. But proud of our guys.

Q: Your thoughts on getting a lot of guys involved on offense tonight?
Lebby: We wanted to do that. We wanted to spread the carries. We wanted for guys to touch the football on the perimeter. That was a good thing. We’re going to need great depth. I think we understand what’s coming down the pipe here. With Northern Illinois coming in next week and starting conference play. So we have a huge stretch ahead of us. Next Saturday will be a very physical game, which we’re going to need everyone.

Q: How important was it to get real reps for all of the quarterbacks tonight?
Lebby: They gotta go play. That was the whole goal, letting those guys play and me being able to call the game for those guys to play, and not just hand the ball off. Kamario (Taylor) made an unbelievable play on third down when we cut the guy free on the edge and he makes him miss. He gets the ball to Bull (Mitchell), but we have two guys cover each other up and we end up having to go punt the ball away. But him being able to go make plays on third down, we need that. Luke (Kromenhoek) having the ability to put a real drive together was huge and then have the ability to go get in the end zone himself and score was also good. Plenty of good things. The tape won’t be near as good as it maybe feels, but we’ll have to coach these guys real hard this week.

Q: What stood out today that can help you in conference play?
Lebby: I love the guy’s energy right now. I think we’ve got incredible energy and I think we’re playing hard. We’re not playing perfect, but we have a team right now. Guys that love playing for each other and root for each other. That will carry us a long way.

Q: How did it feel to already surpass last year’s win total and build more momentum?
Lebby: We needed that. I think everybody was aware of that. It’s given us the opportunity to build on something. Now it’s given us the opportunity to have another one in Davis Wade next Saturday at 3 p.m. against a good football team. That’s the biggest game of the year for us because it’s the next game of the year. That game Saturday afternoon is one I think our guys will be excited to go play.

Q: Do you have any updates on Albert Reese or Stonka Burnside?
Lebby: No. Really hope to have both these guys back. Obviously, this next week we’ll know more, hopefully Monday at the presser. But feel good about having those guys back.