What Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said about No. 15 Tennessee on Monday

What Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said during his press conference on Monday about No. 15 Tennessee as the Bulldogs (4-0, 0-0 SEC) prepare to host the Vols (3-1, 0-1) on Saturday (4:15 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville:

What stands out about Tennessee’s defense 

“To me, the way they’re able to get after the quarterback. 15 sacks, there’s constant pressure on the quarterback. They’ve given some things up. We will see if some of those guys come back in the secondary but what sticks out is how they’re getting after the quarterback. We’ve got to keep Blake (Shapen) clean to go play the way we want to play.”

The goal for this Mississippi State team entering SEC play

“Just understand what’s in front of us that we have the ability to go accomplish. We got so much in front of us. Having the ability to have a conference opener at our place in front of an incredible crowd and great environment, that’s going to be huge for us on Saturday. That’s something that is really important to have, a sold-out crowd and have the energy that we need. We got to take this thing one game at a time. As we look at our goals ahead, there’s a lot out there to go accomplish. But there’s no way to do it if we don’t do it one game at a time.”

How he assesses the play of Mississippi State on both lines of scrimmage

“I think when you look at us in the defensive line, we’re playing a bunch of guys and we’re going to continue to need that. That piggybacks off what I was talking about earlier. We’re going to need a ton of depth in the interior, have the ability to go play a bunch of guys so we can play free and fast with physicality. We’re nowhere near where we want to be. We have made great improvement. But our guys understand the urgency and how we got to go operate and to be able to get better. Then on the offensive line, we’ve started four different units. I think we’re close to being able to settle in. Talked a little bit after the game, we have a three-man rotation at tackle, have a three-man rotation at guard. That will help us.”

What he does as a head coach that he learned from his time with Tennessee coach Josh Heupel
“His consistency in how he leads every single day. Having the ability to be able to work for him for those two years, it’s been a long-lasting relationship there. Able to see him in the moment, in the building every single day, as a leader and a first time head coach. When we went to Orlando (UCF) together, there’s a ton of things I learned in those moments. Incredibly appreciative of that time I got to spend with him.”

His thoughts on the SEC as a whole
“The league is pretty well-documented of what our league stands for, the success our conference has had. It is a one week, one game at a time. If you start to look at the big picture from an opponent standpoint then you’ll get lost in it. For us, it’s about having the best Monday we’ve ever had, the best Tuesday we’ve ever had, to give ourselves a chance to go 1-0 on Saturday. It’s that simple. That’s the process for us and that’s what it is going to be as we get into league play.”

What he saw on film that allowed Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen to take deep shots

“I love that Blake is as hard on himself as he is. Fundamentally, we weren’t great on Saturday. He’s been really clean from a body position standpoint, all the things we talk about fundamentally in the pocket. That was something that hasn’t shown up. I think there’s great awareness and urgency to get back to doing exactly what he was doing. We missed a couple of throws that had the chance to create chunks and create separation earlier. That’s the stress. We can’t waste a snap as we move forward.”

Feeding off the energy of a home crowd, if that’s a real thing

“It’s a very real thing. Home-field advantage is very real. With our opponent coming to town, there first true road game. They had a neutral site game to open the year but their first real road game. It needs to be an atmosphere and energy that is really hard for the opponent to come play in. That’s going to be a huge piece Saturday. Our people will have great energy. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Our guys will be excited to keep them involved in the game by how we play.”

If anything changes in preparation for SEC games

“There’s literally not one single thing. From the schedule standpoint, there is no change. How we do what we do the previous four weeks is going to be the exact same as we move forward and get ready for Saturday.”

How Tennessee has been able to protect Joey Aguilar well so far

“They are playing really well up front. That is one thing I did last night was watch their offense vs. Georgia and that’s what stuck out to me. The way they’re playing up front right now, having the ability of keeping the QB clean and the ability to push the ball down the field and make some competitive plays jumped off the tape. For us, it’s going to be about stopping run first. That will be a huge part of it. They want to get the run game going. That’s when they have their most success. So we have to find ways to limit that.”

What it will take to score on big plays against Tennessee

“We’re going to have to make competitive plays down the field. That’s a huge part of it. We’ll have to get the football in space and win one-on-ones. That’s how you create those chunks and having the ability to do exactly that. To me, it comes back to how we are protecting Blake. Keeping him clean is going to be a huge part of Saturday afternoon.”

What he has seen with all of Mississippi State’s penalties this season

“There are some things happening from a non-playing standpoint. We have the third-and-four where we have the procedure where we don’t enough on the line of scrimmage and that’s bad football. That’s attention to detail. We have three holds. One was here and there, but I thought the other two were no doubt, and we were in a good body position. We’ve got to let go and not hold.

“We had a huge run on one of those plays where it’s not just a 10-yard penalty. It’s understanding what it’s doing to us situationally and how it’s taking chunk runs off the board. The playing penalties we have to clean up from a fundamental standpoint, from a technique standpoint and the five penalties on special teams is the most we’ve had by far since we’ve been here. And that can’t be who we are. We have a goal on special teams every single week to have zero penalties and we have five. It’s not playing winning football. We were able to overcome. But we don’t want to have to overcome. Want to be able to go play clean.”