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

This Saturday Mississippi State steps outside of SEC action for the final time of the year and the Bulldogs host Massachusetts at Davis Wade Stadium for a 3:15 p.m. kickoff. On Monday, head coach Jeff Lebby held his weekly press conference to discuss that matchup among other topics:

Q: After watching the Arkansas game film, what did you take away from that?
Lebby: I felt it in the moment and felt it after the game if you look at both sides of the football. The first five drives on both sides are incredibly telling. The game gets away from us. We weren’t able to create any momentum and it’s both sides of the ball not finding a way to get momentum created and then keeping it. As a group and as a team, looking at those five drives and seeing how we can change the game at that point is something we’ve done a ton of and we got to learn from it.

Q: Looking at the defense, are the struggles more of a personnel thing?
Lebby: I think it’s a group thing. At no point and time will it ever be one person. Collectively, individually, I’ve talked about that a ton. Individually, being the best we can possibly be so that collectively, we have the opportunity to go play the way we need to play. We had shown great improvements the three weeks before Saturday. Saturday we did not play the way we needed to play on the defensive side of the ball. Getting back to playing with really clean eyes and having incredible communication will get us back to the way we played three weeks prior and that is something we have to do.

Q: What differences has Davon Booth made from the start of the season to now?
Lebby: He’s just continued to get more comfortable inside the scheme. I think that’s what you see more and more that it’s a guy with the reps and with the play count and opportunity, he’s just continued to get better and better. It’s a guy that didn’t get here until June and he’s made the most of his opportunities.

Q: In the last game did you see a lack of effort or different from other games?
Lebby: The effort piece of it was not. I think even late in the game when the game had been decided, we had guys running to the football. We had guys trying to play hard. We did not play detail. We did not play with clean eyes. We did not communicate in a great way and we created a lot of layups for the other side of the ball. I’m talking both sides of the ball. The fact we walked into halftime with 10 points is, to me, changes the game because of not finding ways to capitalize on opportunities. You move the ball, you don’t punt, you turn it over, you miss a field goal, you kick a field goal and you don’t get it on two 4th downs. We had the chance to create momentum for the other side of the ball and we have to be able to do that.

Q: Michael Van Buren had some freshman moments against Arkansas. How do you handle that dialogue with him?
Lebby: He’s handled it in a good way. I think people outside the building have been very quick to talk about how incredible he is while he’s gotten challenged inside the building every single day. That will continue to happen. I’m coaching that position every single day and we have to make sure we take out the plays that are really bad and create productive plays when a picture isn’t perfect.

I thought he played incredibly tough. I thought he fought his butt off. He made some unbelievable plays but then the bad plays are ones we have to take out of our game. It’s been week to week challenging him to be better every single snap. The fact that he is 19 and a true freshman, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I got to get him ready to go play to win.

Q: Is there a chance Kalvin Dinkins returns this week?
Lebby: We won’t have Dink back.

Q: You mentioned lack of communication on defense. Is that more of a pre-snap thing or in between drives?
Lebby: It’s pre-snap. When we are making an adjustment on the sideline when somebody has done something that we haven’t seen on tape, we get over and we coach it and we correct it. In the moment, we have to take that meeting, which is literally a meeting in between drives, and then be able to go apply it. We have to be able to do that, from the sideline to the field, even though you’re not getting another rep of it like you would in practice. So we’ve got to make improvement there. Okay, we’re getting coached in a different way because we’re getting something a little different. Being able to take it and the application has got to continue to get a lot better.

Q: Being down so many defensive linemen, has there been talk of changing the scheme?
Lebby: We’re trying to make sure we’re staying tight from a gameplan standpoint, trying to give our guys the ability to go play free and to go play fast and have clean eyes. We’re going to continue to do that and try to continue to pair down to limit some of the mistakes.

Q: Is there any changing of the message to try to take a step forward again?
Lebby: It all starts with us individually, starting with me and the 10 guys that sit around that table every single day and it bleeds into the locker room. So having great accountability in how we do what we do. What was the process to get us ready to play? It did not get us ready to play. So individually and collectively, how do we fix that? We had the best Monday we’ve had all year long. Finding a way to strain that way and narrow the focus, quiet the noise and do our job every single snap and be one of the 11 that gives us the chance to execute and have a positive play. Then do the exact same thing the next snap.

Q: What stands out to you with UMass?
Lebby: These guys have played in some close ball games. They’re a group when you look at them when they’ve played good opponents, they’ve played better. They’ve been a group that is getting coached by a guy that’s had a ton of success as a coordinator and a guy that has coached and seen a lot of football. I would expect them to be at their very best on Saturday when they come down here and we’re gonna need to be at ours. For us, it will continue to be about us, how we go about our business day to day, week to week, and getting better.

Q: What challenges does a mobile UMass quarterback present?
Lebby: We have to get this guy on the ground when we have opportunities. It is about us making sure when we get ourself aligned, knowing who’s got the quarterback, who’s got the back in all of the quarterback run game. Then from a scramble standpoint, if I am a contained rusher, keep contained. The ball can not get outside. Understanding those things when you’re playing qb run guys and playing guys that have the ability to go extend in the pocket. Contained rushers contain, chase players chase, quarterback players play the quarterback and do those things at a high level.

Q: Are you eager to get out of SEC games this week and get some confidence this week?
Lebby: I haven’t looked at it that way at all. I’ve looked at it like we’ve got to make sure we’re doing everything we can to be better than we were this past Saturday and go out and give ourselves a chance to go win a football game, regardless of who it is we are playing.

Q: Luke Work has started the last couple of weeks. How valuable are those reps for him?
Lebby: They’re huge and we will continue to talk about that. We looked up at one point and there’s five true freshmen on the field, offensively, in a game against a really good opponent where you have the ability to create a ton of experience and a ton of growth because guys are living it and they’re playing it. That for us will continue to be big. That will be big this weekend as some young guys have the opportunity to go play and we need them to play really well.