Justin Ball and Mississippi State offense seeking more consistency in trip to No. 5 Georgia
After last week’s open date, Mississippi State (1-4, 0-2) jumps right back into the SEC fire on Saturday. The Bulldogs will travel to No. 5 Georgia for a 3:15 p.m. (SEC Network) kickoff and will look to snap a four-game losing slide.
Following Tuesday’s practice session, Mississippi State senior tight end Justin Ball met with the media to discuss the team’s mindset coming off the bye week along with other topics:
Q: With the open date, how did the team look getting back on the practice fields this week?
Ball: We definitely took advantage of the bye week, getting our bodies healthy and mentally refreshed. Some people went home and got to see family, and it was great for us. We’ve been focused the whole time. All weekend we’ve been communicating with each other and letting each other know this weekend is a big, important weekend for us. So we’ve stayed locked in and focused with that.
Q: What changes when you have a less-experienced quarterback in there?
Ball: That’s when leaders step up. That’s when the older guys step up and put their arms around him and guide him through it. Mike (Van Buren) and Chris (Parson) both showed great opportunities last week at Texas and showed that they can step in and handle the job. We will continue to grow from that. Leb (Jeff Lebby) is handling all of the play calling and all that. It’s been smooth so far.
Q: How much pride do the tight ends take in getting the running game going the last couple of weeks?
Ball: We focalized that at the beginning of the season. The tight end group is proud of catching the ball, blocking. Whatever we got to do, we are going to do. We do it all for this team. It’s great to be able to get the running game going. It was slow the first couple of weeks so it’s been great to get those numbers going. Now we just want everything to click and put some points on the board and it get it going.
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Q: How tough was it to have to slow down the tempo some against Texas?
Ball: Tempo is unique. Not every team can do tempo so we pride ourself on being able to do tempo. But at the same time we know we have to be a well-oiled offense. So being able to slow it down sometimes, we own it. We were able to do it at Texas pretty successfully. I feel like we were moving the ball down the field. We just have to make sure we finish in the red zone and put points on the board.
Q: Penalties have put the offense behind the sticks often this year. How big of an emphasis was that during the bye week?
Ball: It’s been harped on. It’s been harped on since training camp, honestly. One of our goals every week is to make sure we reduce penalties. We don’t need penalties. A lot of the penalties have been silly so we own it. We watch it on film and learn from it. Just focus on the next play and play as fast as we can.
Q: Do you think slowing the tempo this weekend will be a good way to handle a Top 5 team again?
Ball: We have a little bit mix of both. But it’s just about executing what the play call is. Sometimes we speed it up, sometimes we slow it down. Whatever is needed in that moment. But whatever the play call is, we’re going to go out there and do our job.
Q: How is the pace of the tempo dictated to the players?
Ball: On the sidelines Leb is always talking to us between drives when the defense is out there. He says what he wants the next drive and says what he is looking at before the game and at halftime. But honestly, we know our signals, we know our play calls, we know when we can feel it start to pick up and get going. So once we get in that mindset and communicating with each other, hey, let’s go and pick it up and play fast and get out in front of them.
