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

Mississippi State returns to SEC action on Saturday as the Bulldogs travel to No. 7 Tennessee. On Monday, Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby held his weekly press conference and previewed the matchup with the Volunteers:

Q: How’s your relationship with Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel and your thoughts on him as a coach?
Lebby: A guy that I have more respect for than maybe anybody in the profession. A great friend and somebody that has been a great mentor to me. I had the opportunity to work for him and it was an incredible experience. A guy that’s incredibly consistent and you look at what he’s done, the amount of success he’s had, the culture he’s created at an incredible place. A ton of respect for who he is as a person, as a father, as a husband and then obviously, as a football coach, as well.

Q: Josh Heupel wondered in the wilderness for a bit before getting Tennessee on a high level. How much can you take from what he did there and try to install in your program?
Lebby: Seeing a great deal of consistency and him being exactly who he is supposed to be as a leader. Those players inside the building and his staff, they know what to expect every single day. Results won’t dictate who he is as a person and how he interacts. There’s a lot of that, that you hear me talking about non-stop every single day as we’re fighting to build this.

Q: How many more opportunities do you see Xavier Gayten getting moving forward at running back?
Lebby: A guy that has been really, really good for us on (special) teams and when he’s had opportunity, he’s played really well. He’s created trust through the week through his preparation, his process, that’s created opportunity for him on the offensive side of the ball. I see that continuing. A guy that has a ton of ability and he is incredibly young. But he’s made great strides playing the position. A kid you can coach the heck out of every single day and I’m excited about where he’s going.

Q: After watching film of the UMass game, what did you see causing the pass protection issues?
Lebby: After going back and watching it, it was pretty close to what we talked about postgame on Saturday. At times, we’ve got to have the ability to firm up on the edge at tackle and there’s times where we’re creating pressure at the quarterback position where we’ve got to make sure we’re not moving until we have to. Finding the soft spots, manipulating the pocket the way we need to, to be able to help ourselves up front.

Q: Going to Tennessee, how did the previous road experiences prepare this team to be more battle-tested?
Lebby: The challenge this Saturday is a challenge of its own. I do think living some of the experiences we’ve lived throughout the season helps us understand what it’s going to be like. Again for us, so many young guys playing, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But our guys understanding the crowd noise and the environment, that part of it and creating strain and stress, we’ve done a better job. I thought we did better at Georgia than we did the week before at Austin (Texas).

We need to be able to carry that growth over because again, the setting, the environment, night game, it will be an electric atmosphere. We’ve got to do a great job of communicating and finding ways to take that out of the game.

Q: What did you see in Dillon Gabriel as a freshman quarterback compared to what you see now with Michael Van Buren?
Lebby: Accuracy, anticipation and toughness. To me that’s some of the greatest things Dillon brought to the table with those things and Mike, where he’s got to continue to play better, better and better. He was challenged again today as he walked into the building. I’m proud of the way the dude has played.

His toughness, his leadership, his ability to go put it on the line. But he is getting challenged right now in the moment to go play better. He’s taking it and he’s running with it. From the standpoint of being accurate, having really good anticipation and playing with great toughness, those are things (Gabriel) is still doing that he was doing when he was 18 years old. When you have that you have a chance to build around it.

Q: What stands out to you about Tennessee’s defense?
Lebby: A dominant defensive line. They’re able to roll seven or eight guys and there’s not a drop-off. To me that is what sticks out in a big way and they’ve owned the line of scrimmage in every single game they’ve played. They play incredible run defense. It’s a group that’s really deep and also really old. There’s juniors and seniors in their front and they play really well.

Q: How was it to see Jordan Mosley have a big game last Saturday?
Lebby: It was great to see JMo have the opportunity to go make some plays. The week before the ball did not find him but the way he played was pretty special and nobody will ever talk about that. But the way he was able to win the 1 on 1s the week before and the ball doesn’t find him in that game, and then for him to capitalize on some plays this past weekend was really good. Being true to the process and fighting his butt off to be better every single day and to create some consistency.

Q: Seydou Traore had that tough game against Arkansas and then had the touchdown catch last week. How did you see him respond last week?
Lebby: We talked about it in that team meeting last Monday and made sure everyone understood it’s not going to be who we are or no part of our program is going to represent themselves or ourselves that way. He understood it and took it, and also understands we are not going to dwell on it. Seydou has been a guy who has played better and better. When he’s had some opportunities he’s made some plays. He was frustrated, doesn’t make the play there in the end zone and had the ability to have two touchdowns. But he is a guy that’s going to continue to be a big part of it.

Q: You mentioned Josh Heupel, how was that experience when y’all were graduate assistants together?
Lebby: That’s where it all started. Obviously, I was a student assistant and Heupel was a graduate assistant. We were grunting it up in a tiny little office, spending a lot of hours together breaking down opponents and finding ways to create shortcuts for the staff and the players. For me at a really young age and after Heupel had had such an unbelievable career playing there, for me there was great growth inside. Being 19 and 20 years old and go at it every single day with him was great. That was the start of it and obviously, coached against each other for a long time with both of us being in the Big 12. Great familiarity and he’s done an unbelievable job.

Q: Your thoughts on the new SEC rule of faking injuries?
Lebby: Of course, I’m all in favor. Even this year, it’s come up a ton as we’ve been in the middle of some games. I love that is where it’s going.

Q: Dylan Sampson has found the end zone a lot for Tennessee this year. What have you seen from him?
Lebby: This guy has been incredible running through trash, winning 1 on 1s. Arm tackles don’t tackle him and that is what stands out on tape. You have to get multiple people to the football. You got to get multiple people to get him on the ground. That will be a huge part of it come Saturday night.