WATCH: Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby previews Florida matchup

Mississippi State has struggled out of the gates this season with a 1-2 mark and now the Bulldogs begin SEC play on Saturday. Mississippi State will host Florida in an 11 a.m. kickoff on ESPN at Davis Wade Stadium.

On Monday morning, head coach Jeff Lebby held his weekly press conference and discussed the Gators among other topics:

Q: Going back and reviewing the Toledo tape, what stood out to you?
Lebby: Both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, the self-inflicted wounds and the facts of not being able to get out of our own way at times is probably the most disappointing thing. It really was. You look at us, offensively, the negative plays in the first three drives of the game to put us in such bad situations.

Defensively, you look at it, the first drive of the game we had them in some really bad situations. We have them in 1st and 19, we got them in 3rd and 12, got them at 3rd and 17 and we’re not able to take advantage of it. So the messaging to our guys, focusing incredibly small and everybody understanding we’ve got this job to do as us as coaches and players, and to just do our job and focus solely on that. It is a simple answer. For our guys it’s about them having great confidence and going and playing the next play because it’s the only play that matters. That’s what we took from the tape.

Q: When you became a head coach, what kind of defense did you want to run?
Lebby: We wanted to run an aggressive style of defense that was incredibly multiple. It was all about finding ways to get the ball back. That’s through turnovers and that’s through finding a way to get off the field on third downs and fourth downs. For us over the last two weeks, haven’t been able to get that done. Huge vocal point going into this weekend.

Q: What would you say to fans that have lost some faith in the program after Saturday?
Lebby: We’re going to continue to make sure that our building and the guys inside our room have great awareness of just doing our job. Controlling exactly what we control. There is great disappointment in how we played, in how I coached and how we did what we did on Saturday morning. For us and our brand, what we do on Saturdays affects our entire state and it affects our fanbase, our university, the energy that is pumped into our community.

We understand that, we do. We want to find a way to get back on track. We want to find a way to focus incredibly small and go put a really good product on the field.

Q: You said last week you liked the energy and buy-in with the program. Do you feel the same way today?
Lebby: I do. I think guys, again, as they’ve gotten into the building, there was a bunch around yesterday just having a meal and having medical check-in and just guys being inside the building. There was great disappointment and there’s no doubt about that. I do believe our guys have belief. They have excitement about what’s to come. They know there’s an incredible opportunity here at home on 11 a.m. against the University of Florida. That’s going to be a great challenge for us but there’s great excitement and anticipation to go play the way we need to go play.

Q: Against Toledo the tight ends were targeted nine times and had seven catches. Was that more of what the defense gave you or was that more of an offensive focus?
Lebby: It was a little bit of both. You look at it and Seydou (Traore) has had production Week 2 and Week 3. Justin (Ball) had an opportunity for a couple of those where he was targeted for us. Those guys are going to be incredibly involved in the throw game and will continue to be as we move forward.

Q: Do you have a certain number of plays you want to script in the early going of a game?
Lebby: Yeah, did not go well, obviously, last week. We run nine plays and had eight yards and we had horrible situational football with third downs and being in third and extra long. We’ve got to start better, start faster. We’ve got to take the negatives out and we got to take the penalties out. The penalties in the first couple of drives were absolute killers and created some really bad situations for us.

Q: Your thoughts on the buy-in from the players so far?
Lebby: I think we’ve got really good buy-in. We’ve got guys that care about each other inside the room. I think we’ve got guys that are in with both feet. There’s not any half-stepping going on. We’re going to continue to create a culture here of connection, of belief, of understanding that doing it for the guy next to you matters. Our guys, right now, are all in right now. We’ve got to continue to create that and go play better.

Q: What are your impressions of Florida?
Lebby: Really talented team on both sides of the ball. A group, defensively, that is incredibly big, long and can run. Then offensively, have some playmakers that can do some special things with it in their hands. They have struggled, we have, too. It’s a football team that has a bunch of ability. They’ve recruited incredibly well so it will be a great test for us Saturday morning.

Q: Any updates on the injuries?
Lebby: I don’t. Today there was nothing different with those guys. On Wednesday, I believe, it will go out and we will have a better idea of where they are at.

Q: There’s been a lot of talks about Billy Napier at Florida and their troubles. Any thoughts on facing a desperate team this weekend?
Lebby: Our focus is 100% on us and cleaning up the things we can clean up, controlling what we can control. Every single snap, our focus, our energy, our detail, understanding this game will punish you if you do not execute. We got to coach them better and put them in better situations and we’ve got to go out and execute. It is about Mississippi State more than ever.

Q: It is always difficult for a coach to dismiss a player. What is that process like?
Lebby: It’s hard and you don’t want that. You want guys to have every opportunity imaginable to be part of something that is so much bigger than ourself, bigger than myself, bigger than anybody that sits in this team room every single day. I think early on inside a program, people understanding that you’re not going to give on certain things is incredibly important. Our guys that love Mississippi State and want to play for each other and have great connection, want to be great teammates.

We’re going to find a way to reward those guys non-stop inside the program. We want guys that are in with both feet and are excited about playing and excited about opportunity and thankful and grateful for everything we get to go do every single day. That’s regardless of outcome. There’s incredible disappointment, real frustration. But we have guys in the room that are connected and willing to go work to get it fixed.

Q: Isaac Smith leads the nation in tackles right now. What have you seen from him?
Lebby: Toughness, physicality. A guy that leads with the way he plays, the way that he practices. His energy, his love for the game to play the game of football. It’s all over the tape. Proud of what that dude has done and what he continues to do.

Q: How do you get your guys to re-focus to start SEC play this weekend?
Lebby: I think our guys that sit inside this room and watch the tape, as they look at it they learn from it and that’s what we have to do. We’re not going to dwell on the past. We’re going to learn from it. Our guys understand we have good football players inside these walls. Having self-belief and having confidence when things are not going right is something that needs to start showing up. It’s not about talking about it. It’s about playing the next play and focusing incredibly small, doing our job and going and executing. Us putting them in good positions to go do those things. Our guys are going to be a confident, energetic group on Saturday morning. I believe that and through the week and preparation, that’s how we will get there.

Q: With the safeties having so many tackles so far, what can help to make sure the linebackers and defensive linemen are more involved?
Lebby: I think for those guys, from an alignment and assignment standpoint, we’re really, really clean. Us putting them in position every single snap. From a staffing standpoint, we will continue to fight to do that. When you turn the tape on, we have played incredibly hard but we have not played very clean. So again, we have to coach them better in these situations and our guys have got a great understanding of the urgency that we have to go execute with and how we have to go prepare this week. Those guys will be involved. We will continue to play multiple guys at the second level to make sure we don’t have guys playing too many snaps.

Q: How much more opportunity will Luke Work have on the offensive line?
Lebby: Luke will continue to push to play. I would expect him to play some this weekend at some point and time. He is a guy that has earned every bit of it the way he prepares, the way he practices. There’s plenty of freshman inside of it but there’s a whole lot of intent and toughness and effort and want to. Luke is not going to be a good player here but a great player because of his mentality and his toughness. His want to is special and he will play at some point and time Saturday morning.

Q: Is there a big challenge preparing for two Florida quarterbacks?
Lebby: You get caught up on ways to make sure you know both of them. So when you’re getting two different guys, you’re getting two different presentations. You’re getting two different guys that may have different strengths from the others. So having to prepare for both of them, there’s some challenge in that. We’ve got to do a great job making it really hard on them, not creating layups for them and us making the layups. That will be a huge part of it.