Everything head coach Jeff Lebby said during Monday's press conference

Following a third straight SEC loss, Mississippi State will try to regroup this week when the Bulldogs host No. 22 Texas. On Monday, head coach Jeff Lebby met with the media for his weekly press conference and discussed the Longhorns among other topics:
Q: With the recent close losses, what will it take for this team to get over the hump?
Lebby: There’s so many plays inside the game that create a different outcome. I talked about it a little bit in the postgame. One of the biggest frustrations that I had after the game was we didn’t take control of the game in the first three drives. The zero to negative plays when we had the opportunities to score. On 1st and 10 in plus territory we hand the ball off and gain two yards when it’s blocked to score a touchdown.
Then it ends up 3rd and 8 and we punt. That’s the second drive of the game. The third drive of the game we had the ability to go pick up two first downs. We’re 1st and 10 at the plus 39-yard line and we had some real issues we’ve got to take out of our game. We end up not converting on fourth down and we should’ve had a first down on first down. Dang sure had a first down on second down and again, we don’t execute.
That’s the first three drives of the game. On the third drive 1st and 10 at the 18-yard yard line in worst-case scenario. You have to be able to take advantage of those moments to take control of the football game. On the fourth drive we end up going three and out with a really good situation. Positive plays first and second down and go three and out. The fourth drive, we get a turnover, go right down the field and it is 2nd and 6 and we fumble the football. The next drive we go right down the field, 1st and 10 at the 17 and we end up 3rd and 16, and we miss a 41-yard field goal.
That’s just the first half. All these opportunities to take control of the first half of the game because of how we played, defensively. The way the game ended was frustrating, to say the least. But there’s so many moments you take control and you never put yourself in that situation.
Q: Blake Shapen made some plays in the second half until the final one. How would you evaluate the performance?
Lebby: Man, he’s frustrated. He’s down because the outcome wasn’t what we wanted. There’s a bunch of plays inside the game. He understands if we go do exactly what we need to go do, we take full control of the game. The ending of it has all of the intention because of the outcome of the game. He understands that. That is part of playing the position. That is part of being the head coach and that comes with it. There’s great frustration. We’re trying to build on the positives and how tough these guys are playing and how we were able to create explosives, pitch and catch, playing in rhythm. But we got to finish drives. We got to finish now and I talked about that a ton.
I talked to the defense about making the offense snap it again. We’ve got to score when we got the ability so we don’t have to snap it again. That’s huge for us moving forward.
Q: Some coaches have said after a team struggles, they have to learn how to win first. How much do you buy into that?
Lebby: There’s without a doubt something to that. I know for me and for us in this building. there’s been zero talk of last year. That’s not this year’s football team. You think about the improvement and how much better we’re playing the game right now. It’s not even in the same spectrum. That’s the stress for our guys. There’s a lot of noise. From what I’ve been told through text messages that I receive, they are incredibly supportive. I mean, I’m like we’re 4-3 and two plays away from being 6-1. We’re not.
We lost those games and been on the wrong side of it. I’m focused on this team. What’s happened has happened. But these guys sitting in this meeting room every day, it’s night and day. There’s been unbelievable improvement and now we need to go find a way to go win the game. That’s a very real thing. Finding ways to get better every week, that’s what good football teams do. I do think we’ve gotten better from Week 1 to right now. We’ve got a great football team coming in here Saturday and all is going to get right in the world if we will find a way to be +1.
Q: We saw KaMario Taylor play more against Florida but only ran it. How much of the playbook do you trust him with and trust him passing?
Lebby: I do trust him. I wanted him a couple of times to do that in that situation on Saturday. I think for him, because of being so young and he knows what he can do with his legs, he wants to go make plays with his feet right now. My effort right now is you had the ability to have the right picture on the perimeter so trust yourself right now. That’s going to help him and help us. He knows that. He wants a couple of those back in that series. That’s the series I’m talking about where it is 1st and 10 at the plus 39 and we go four downs. It should’ve never happened when you sit down and watch the tape but it did. So there’s great learning moments in that for us. That’s the third drive of the game and gives us the ability to have real control.
Q: What makes Texas so aggressive on special teams?
Lebby: They’re really aggressive. They’ve got great personnel and when you have great personnel you got a real chance to be great on (special) teams. They recruited in an incredible way and they’ve got great depth on their roster. They pose some problems that way. Right now, they’re a team that has played to their identity. They’ve played great defense and I think they are Top 3 in scoring defense, Top 5 in total defense. They’ve been great situationally. They’ve created turnovers. But they’ve been really good on special teams.
We’ve played winning football on special teams. The two penalties from Saturday, you take that out and we’re plus 55 in yardage. But again the penalties happened. Duke (Tanner Johnson) is not on the line of scrimmage, which was a strange call that didn’t get a warning but that’s part of it, too. We pin those guys inside the 10 yard line and instead have to punt it again. We do a great job and we go down and they end up getting it at the 28 yard line and we lose 20 yards of hidden yardage.
I love how our guys are playing on special teams. I think our guys are doing a great job. Frustrated with the first kickoff of the game and the field goal, obviously. But outside of those two things we played really well. So it will be a good matchup from that standpoint.
Q: What have you seen from Texas quarterback Arch Manning?
Lebby: I think what they’re doing right now fits him and they’re playing to who they are. They’re trying to protect the ball, be incredibly high percentage. Very timely when they are pushing the ball down the field and giving him a ton of freedom to go run the offense. I think Sark understands exactly who they are, defensively, and they’ve been really good. For them, I think it’s about running the football at a really high level, being able to have some play pass in it and then taking great care of the ball.
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Q: Did you get any more explanation for the field goal Kyle Ferrie missed?
Lebby: I’ve been told it’s not (reviewable). What I was told was it went right over the upright. As I’ve watched the tape, it’s pretty fair. They said not reviewable. As it goes right over the top of the upright, what I got told was no good.
Q: Did that factor into trying to get more yards on that last play for a shorter field goal attempt?
Lebby: Obviously, want to put Kyle in the best situation as possible. I got a lot of faith in Kyle, lot of confidence. We miss a 41-yarder going in the same direction on the exact same hash. So I want to try to create a really good opportunity for him to go try to win the game. We have a little bit of time to go do it but we don’t have a timeout. So all of those things factor in.
Q: Do you have any updates on Fluff Bothwell?
Lebby: Fluff is going to be day-to-day. I am really thankful he’s had a great week. He had a great week last week just from a rehab standpoint. I think it’s a real stretch that he’s ready (for Saturday) and we will let Wednesday’s report speak to that as we move forward.
Q: What have you seen from Jahron Manning lately?
Lebby: Man, he’s active. He’s got great instincts. He can diagnose plays fast. Guy loves to play the game and proud of Jahron. He’s been a great addition to our defense and he will continue to play that way.
Q: How much does it help the defense this year being able to trust the secondary?
Lebby: I think it’s huge. The way we’re defending the throw game right now is really good. We’ve gotten our hands on the ball, made plays, created turnovers. That’s a huge thing and the stress for us is to find ways to tackle better, play clearer and more detail in the core to not bleed as much as we bled in the run game. But we are playing good red-zone defense. We’re creating turnovers. We’re really good against the throw and have so much to build on. But I am proud of how we are playing on that end.
Q: Your thoughts on the remaining schedule and those opportunities?
Lebby: They’re out there in front of us. Our guys understand that. As we got back into the building this morning and watched the tape, not to short anybody, we got all kinds of opportunities to come out on the right side. Again, we don’t. It’s time to take that step for us. But this team has got nothing to do with the years in the past. Nothing like that. So it’s about finding a way to go 1-0 Saturday to get to 5-3. We’re going to be good enough to go do it but we got to go play with them. We’ve got a great opponent coming in here with a great staff. There’s been great stability there on both sides of the ball and special teams for a long time. Since Sark has been there he’s got the same guys. Credit to him because of how he’s built it. But we’re ready to go win the football game and our guys are working towards it.
Q: With KaMario Taylor, is there a way as the coach to help him versus being the play caller?
Lebby: I think for us, being able to give him the pictures during the week and then cut it loose and go play. If I’m giving you the ability to go throw the ball around when we’ve got some of the run stuff called and there’s some answers in the throw game that we have the ability, trust yourself and go do it. But that’s a young guy having to go play and live it, go learn. I want to constantly put him in great position so he can create confidence in himself and our football team. Then everything goes from there. It’s constant because he hasn’t played a ton of ball. But obviously, excited about his growth and where he’s headed.
Q: How do you play things with Zakari Tillman having to miss the first half against Texas?
Lebby: I think the only thing that is fortunate for us there is we’ve had two other guys play a ton of football with Tyler (Lockhart) and DG (Derion Gullette). So having those two guys, we’re in a great spot at that position and there’s depth. We have athletic, talented players at that spot. So those two guys have to have a great week as we get ready to get Zakari back in the second half.
Q: Saw you having a conversation with Zakari on the sideline after he got ejected. What was that conversation like?
Lebby: Just frustration in that moment because we’re off the field and they never kick a field goal. It’s critical. It brings me back to there’s a huge drive against Tennessee where we give them 30 yards in penalties and give them points, and it comes down to the last possession of the game. We’re playing good enough. We got to get out of our own way in those moments. I think we are fully aware those three points mattered. That affects the game in a great way. So a great learning lesson. The hope was that we saw that 2-3 weeks ago and we learned from that. It’s learning from it and taking it completely out of our game and understanding how it truly impacts being on the right side or wrong side of it.