Everything head coach Jeff Lebby said after Saturday's 38-10 win over Northern Illinois

Mississippi State didn’t have its ‘A’ game on Saturday but the Bulldogs managed to right the ship in the second half and coast past Northern Illinois, 38-10. The win moved the Bulldogs to 4-0 for the first time since 2014 and for just the eighth time in school history.

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

Q: What defensive adjustments did the defense make after that slow start?
Lebby: I thought our guys did a great job adjusting, got a couple of new things on both sides of the ball. We were able to get adjusted, talked through. But you have to give to the guys to get it to the guys to be able to go execute and our guys did execute. We bent at times but we found ways to bow our necks. Isaac (Smith) makes a great pick and we played lights out on that side of the ball to keeping them out of the end zone there. Proud of that group.

Q: What were the keys on getting fourth-down stops and keys to the second half?
Lebby: Just finding a way to get off the field situation. I thought fourth down in this game was one of the big turning factors. For us, I think we were four for four on fourth down and us being able to get off the field, defensively, on fourth down was huge. That played a huge part in how that game ended up.

Q: What was it today that started to dictate how the team played?
Lebby: We have to stay out of three and outs, offensively. The three and out world, that’s got to get taken out of our game. If that doesn’t get taken out of the game, we don’t have the ability to dictate how we want the game to be played. They did exactly what they wanted to do. Offensively, that first drive, they ate up five and a half minutes. Proud of the defense to hold them to a field goal. I thought that was a huge moment. The penalties and the three and outs, offensively, are the things we got to completely take out of our game.

Q: Your thoughts on Blake Shapen today?
Lebby: I thought Blake played really tough. I thought he took great care of the football. I think the obvious thing is you want three of those balls that thrown aggressive down the field back. But then he makes the unbelievable throw there in the fourth quarter to go get away from the guys where they were in zero coverage. Then he goes and makes a really good play and that was a great ball. I loved the toughness that he played with. He’s got to continue to clean things up. We as a unit, offensively, the penalties are the big glaring issue we have going right now. That has to get cleaned up as we get ready for next week.

Q: We saw Xavier Gayten meaningful reps today. Your thoughts on his play of late?
Lebby: He’s going to continue to be in the fold. When you really look at it, Davon (Booth), Fluff (Bothwell) and Zay (Gayten) will be the three guys we are really going to lean on.

Q: What have you seen in the 4-0 start to give you confidence going into the SEC schedule?
Lebby: I think for us we’ve got a tough football team. We got a team that will respond the right way when things aren’t perfect. There’s been those moments in a lot of different ways whether it was Week 1, week 2, week 4, there’s been moments when things haven’t been perfect. Our guys responded in the right way. Good football teams do that. Tough football teams do that. We’re going to have to continue to trend that way to go get done what we want to get done.

Q: How do you feel that rushing attack has done as a whole?
Lebby: That was a huge point of emphasis for us today. We had to be able to run the football the way we wanted to, get that part of our game going. It was great to be able to get into a little rhythm today running the football. We have to continue that and build upon that for next Saturday.

Q: Is that the type of balance you are seeking on offense?
Lebby: Again, the best units I’ve ever had have been units that have been incredible balanced. Units that have been able to take what the defense gives us, get the box right, and be able to go run the football and if it’s not, then we will be able to go pitch and catch. We have to have great balance to move forward.

Q: Do you plan to keep rotating offensive linemen in SEC play?
Lebby: I think we’ll probably roll three guys at guard and three guys at tackle. That’s where it’s at right now. I don’t want to have any of those guys have to go play 75 snaps a game at this point. We’re a lot better when we’re fresh. So we’re going to be able to need to rotate those guys going forward.

Q: Special teams were up and down today. How do you access their play?
Lebby: Yeah we had a block in the back, we had the shanked punt, we kicked the ball out of bounds and the penalties. I’ve been talking a lot about that, offensively. But those have to get taken out of our game. The block in the back should have never happened and we ended up on our own three yard line. We had a chance scrape paint and the ball is going to go vertical and we’re going to have what we want. Then we kick the ball out of bounds. Those are things that are us all the way and we need to continue to work on and clean up. The blocked punt was a huge momentum play for us. We’re going to need that to continue.

Q: What does it mean for this program to go 4-0 in the non-conference?
Lebby: It means a lot. For us being Year 2, all that has gone on for us to be at this point right now and be able to go accomplish our second goal is a big deal. That is exactly what I got through telling the football team. Today was about going 1-0 and having the ability be undefeated in non-conference. It was our second goal from a team-goal standpoint. Now we’re gonna settle back in and get ready for next Saturday.

Q: You rotated punters early today before Ethan Pulliam got the last couple of punts. Will there continue to be a rotation there?
Lebby: We’ll look at that this week. Loved what Ethan did when he was in the game and those two punts he hit were huge for us, flipping the field. I thought that was critical after we stalled out right there at the end of the second quarter. He’s able to go hit that punt that he hit and takes all the momentum from them and being able to go get any kind of points. So proud of him being able to get that done.