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

Mississippi State (4-4) goes back on the road this weekend as the Bulldogs travel to Arkansas (2-6) for a 3:15 p.m. kickoff. On Monday, head coach Jeff Lebby held his weekly press conference to discuss the Razorbacks among other topics:

Q: When Blake Shapen got booed on Saturday, how do you coach him to handle those things?
Lebby: For me, I talk about this all the time. Leadership is lonely. It’s part of this profession. It’s part of playing that position inside this conference. There’s a responsibility for each and every one of us to make sure we do a great job just focusing on our job and making sure we play with great emotion and great energy. At the same time, handling that emotion and that energy at the right time.

You step inside that arena, you’re going to get criticized. That’s part of this game. That is what every one of us signed up for. There’s so much good that comes with it. I don’t want him to feel any type of way about that part of it. It’s about going and playing to the best of our ability, me coaching at the best of my ability to give our guys a chance to go win.

Q: After you and your staff watched the film, was there anything that stood out to you about the way the game ended?
Lebby: Talked to the team a ton this morning. Sunday is a huge reflection day for me, obviously, in a lot of different areas whether it’s game planning, calling the game, situational football. The thing that I don’t like is not taking a timeout after second down at two minutes at the end of the game. Just incredibly conservative, not wanting to give the football back to them. It’s not who I am. That is the one I am going to hang on to and learn from more than anything.

Had the ability and probably should have taken the timeout, bring them over and talk to them. I loved our third-down call. You go back and watch the tape and it’s frustrating. Blake’s going to throw the checkdown in the flat to Von (Davon Booth). The tip of the ball hits his thigh pad and the ball goes out. He’s going to complete a ball from me to you, we’re going to gain 20-25 yards, call timeout and go kick a field goal. That’s this game. Those moments are crushing but I want that one back in a big way.

That one for me, really frustrating. Just the fact we do what we do inside the first three quarters and then we’re up 17 to start the fourth. They make a huge chunk play on third down where we got a chance to get off the field. They go score and we go answer with the three-play touchdown. Von makes a great play and Blake makes a really good play. We go back up 17 and then we never got the ball back up 17. Defensively, we had this great drive this next drive for the first four plays. We get off the field, going to be 1st and 10 at the plus 34 up 17 points with just under 10 minutes left. We extend the drive because of a personal foul and they go the length of the field and score and now we’re up 10.

There’s so many moments in the entire football game to give us a chance to have a different outcome. Those that I am pointing to right now are the ones that weight heavily on you because they were chances to win the game and leave no doubt. That is something we are going to continue to talk about, leaving no doubt and find ways to continue to strain and fight like hell to be plus 1 at the end of the day.

Q: How do you feel like you’ve handled the transition of being a play caller for awhile to being a head coach?
Lebby: I think where people see things a little differently, guys that have been coordinators and calling plays, you’ve always had to deal with the situations because you have the ball and you are in control. Whether you’re calling a timeout, whether you’re trying to gain six to eight yards from a field-position standpoint going back to two weeks ago, whatever it is, you’ve been in control of the football. You’ve had to deal with the situation. From a situational standpoint, I think we’ve been really clean. I hate that I didn’t take a timeout after second down, because it’s just way too conservative and being worried about them getting the football back because they had all the momentum.

Us having the ability to call timeout, go talk to our guys. If we end up not converting on third down, they’re going to call timeout immediately. We’re going to have to punt the ball away. There will be about 25 seconds left and I should trust us to be able to go get a stop and not let them get into field goal range. Situationally, I feel like we’ve been in a good place. I think we’ve done a good job handling the two minute warning on both sides of halves, not putting our defense in a bad spot at the end of halves. For me, always taking from it, always being critical of myself, as I’m in control of the game. Things will continue to come up that we can always find ways to maybe make it better and give us a better chance.

Q: You said Saturday about finding out what kind of foundation this program has. How have you been able to do that since?
Lebby: Guys inside the building yesterday, which I expected, disappointment, frustration, shocked that this really happened and it did. Our guys this morning through leadership council meetings, our team meeting, position meetings, unit meetings, kids are resilient man. They’ll fit off the leader and fit off the people coaching them every single day. I think we’ve have a pissed off football team. A team that isn’t hanging their head, is not feeling sorry for themselves. A football that that is ready to go prove we’re a good football team. That’s my charge.

We have a good football team. We got a tough football team. I hate the fact we’re not having the ability to feel that and the success. I hate our fan base doesn’t have the ability to feel that. The way they showed up at Davis Wade, our student section, the energy and passion, as good a gameday experience as you can have. I hate that our fan base, our people that are so invested, don’t get to feel good about winning a big game. It’s everybody involved, but our guys are going to be ready to play on Saturday. There’s not going to be any feeling sorry for ourselves. We fully understand what is ahead of us. I think that’s what’s most important.

Q: On paper, Arkansas may be this team’s best chance to win an SEC game. Is that how you are viewing it?
Lebby: Not in the least bit. We played a football team a couple of weeks ago that was the best 2-4 team in the country. We’re playing the best 2-6 football team in the country this week. They got a quarterback that is elite at everything that he does. They have played really well offensively. Auburn did a really good job defensively the other day, created some turnovers. Arkansas struggled in the red zone a little bit, but their ability to score and play great offensively is very well documented. Then defensively, they have played better. They haven’t been great against the run but they were better this past week. Auburn did a great job of committing to the run game and finding some ways to play 11 on 11, which gave them a chance to go win the game.

Q: With Ayden Williams emerging as the third receiver, how much pressure does that take off of Brenen Thompson and Anthony Evans?
Lebby: That’s huge. Ayden has just gotten better and better. When he gets opportunities, he’s gonna take advantage of them. He did that Saturday. I have great trust in that guy to make plays. The blind eye, the normal eye never sees it, but there were a couple of opportunities inside that game where the ball gets up and down and if we’re just a little better in the RPO world up front, we got a chance for him to have a couple of chunks on some big drives. Proud of what he is doing and where he is at. Gotta continue to get better.

Q: We saw Fluff Bothwell warming up last Saturday but he did not play. What goes into that decision and how is he now?
Lebby: He wasn’t ready. I wish he was. For me, going through warm ups and him being out there doing everything, you could tell he felt good, not great. He was just not quite ready to be able to go do it. At the end of the day, if it’s an opponent where he maybe could get five or six carries and we feel safe about him playing. That’s not the case in this league. We’re hopeful but it’s going to be day to day.

Q: What have you noticed from Brenen Thompson being a leader on and off the field?
Lebby: The guy does everything right. He throws his body around as a blocker better than anybody in that entire room. It’s not even close and it’s because he chooses to. He doesn’t win all the time when he’s asked to be blocking on the perimeter, or asked to block a safety. But he does enough to give us a chance to get the ball where it needs to go situationally. The guy is all about the team. He’s what I love coaching. Great player who has really high care. He is all about the team.

Q: Last year’s Arkansas game was probably the worst matchup. What gives you confidence this year that this team matches up better?
Lebby: This team in comparison to last year’s team is, we’re talking about night and day. Coaching them, the people that are playing in between the white lines every single day. We don’t talk about last year. But one thing I mentioned last year was ‘hey, let’s play as hard as we possibly can. Let’s do everything we can this week to go play as hard as we can and maybe the ball will bounce the right way and somehow we’ll be able to go win a football game. That was the reality of it. I didn’t talk like that during the season and I never will. This is a completely different situation. We got a good football team.

We did not a year ago. We have a good enough team to win. For us, continue to go make the adjustments and attack victory, and when you have opportunities inside the conference to go win a game, we got to go win the game. We got to get the guy on the ground and not let them have an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown. Make them earn the fact of going and tying the game in regulation. The examples are all over the place of finishing the game. Every bit of it is going to fall back on me. That’s the reality, that is stepping in the arena. Everybody is going to be criticized on the outcome of the game and the result. That’s part of it. Last year’s team and this year’s team is the furthest thing from being similar.

Q: Have you noticed any differences in Arkansas since Bobby Petrino took over?
Lebby: Offensively, no. Defensively, they’re completely different. He made a change at defensive coordinator, made a change at linebacker, made a change at defensive line. We have three games that we’ve watched that can kind give you the information of what we’re going to get this weekend. Very limited tape but feel like we have a good grasp of what it’s gonna look like, what it’s going to look like.

Q: You talk about trying to figure out what it takes to finish games. Is there one constant thing that is happening to allow that?
Lebby: It’s truly each position and that’s what we talked about in the team meeting. It’s not one guy, one situation, one thing happening that’s keeping us from knocking the door down and getting the victory. It’s every position on the field. It’s giving these guys something a little better to go execute. It’s the ability to not go three and out on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter so that you can win the game. There’s all kinds of things on the tape that give us the ability to be plus one this past Saturday.

So everyone having incredible accountability and ownership, and fixing these things to be able to go be plus one. In the moment, not letting the pressure of the moment trap you from playing free and fast, and trusting yourself to go make the play that you made in the second quarter. That’s the thing we talked about today. Exact same play, exact same call, second quarter executed perfectly, we’re off the field. Exact same play, same call, fourth quarter, plus 22. Our alignment by two guys, defensively, creates the chunk play. Do exactly what you’ve done, trust yourself, and go make it. Don’t make it more than what it is.

Q: What’s the message to the fanbase here?
Lebby: One, thank you for the support, the atmosphere, the energy. Saturday was as good as it gets. There is all this disappointment, being pissed off, frustrated that they’re not getting to enjoy it just like the people inside these walls aren’t getting to enjoy it. That’s a real thing. You’ve heard me say how much I appreciate our community and our connection and the passion and love the people have for Mississippi State.

I love that. That’s one of the greatest things about our university and I hate that they are not getting to enjoy it. My hope is that we have the ability to go take care of business and get a tough hard win on the road on Saturday and then come back home to another great crowd. We got a good football team. We got a tough football team. Our guys are fighting their butt off every day to get the outcome we want. We have to find a way to get it done.

Q: What do you attribute to giving up so many points in the fourth quarter?
Lebby: We’ve talked a ton about sustaining. Some of the things I’ve talked about earlier. If it’s the exact same call against the exact same play, being able to execute the same exact way. We get five three and outs, a turnover, give up two explosive plays. I think we’re off the field in six or seven of 10 drives in the first three quarters and give up 14 points. In the fourth quarter, we give up 17 points. We give up three explosives. We’re two for seven on third and fourth down. It’s like two completely different teams.

Being able to sustain in those moments, very similar to the Tennessee game, and get off the field gives us the ability to go win the game. I take great responsibility on offense, too. We have the ball two times and had the ability to go ice the game. Instead of just getting a couple of first downs, we go three and out in back to back drives. Some really discouraging moments inside those two drives. It’s a very team thing. It’s playing complementary football inside the fourth quarter. Our guys’ focus is small in going and taking victory and having the ability to trust yourself and go make the play.

Q: Your thoughts on the play of Derion Gullette lately?
Lebby: He’s doing some great things. I think a guy that has a big-time ceiling. He’s gotten better and better. His role has gotten more involved, and I look for him to continue to make these huge strides and play the way we need him to play as we go down the last stretch.