WATCH: Head coach Jeff Lebby recaps State's 56-7 win over Eastern Kentucky

It was a successful debut for Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby and his squad received scoring in all three phases of the game. All in all, the Bulldogs rolled to a season-opening 56-7 romp over FCS foe Eastern Kentucky at Davis Wade Stadium on a rainy Saturday evening.

Afterwards, Lebby met with the media to recap his first win as the Mississippi State mentor:

Q: Overall, it seems like you have a lot of teachable moments off the win tonight. How would you access that?
Lebby: I think there was a whole lot of good. Proud of our guys for their energy and competitive spirit and the toughness they played with. But there’s so many things to clean up. I think that’s the biggest takeaway. You get the chance to go win the way we won but we’re going to need to play better, play cleaner. That’s what we’re going to look forward to as we get back into it.

Q: Your thoughts on how your guys handled the first game after dealing with so much the past few years?
Lebby: I think our guys understand that and we do. We want to have fun every single day and have fun every single Saturday. You get so few opportunities at this thing. To have the ability to come out and open the season at home, our energy should have been through the roof and we should play as if we were having fun. That was the expectation and again, I love where our guys are mentally and how much we’ve come together in a very short amount of time. We’re going to need that as we get going later on in the season.

Q: Your thoughts on Isaac Smith tonight and the way he was flying around on defense?
Lebby: I saw a guy playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played. A guy that is violent when he gets to the football. He was playing incredibly hard. Got plenty of things to clean up but that part of it, man, it’s evident. If we can get 11 guys every single snap playing that way, I think we got a chance to do what we’re trying to get done.

Q: What did you see tonight that you liked and what you didn’t like?
Lebby: There’s plenty of things that we have to clean up. Offensively, you look at it, whether it’s the fourth-down non-conversion and the detail we played with there. Whether it was some of the penalties where we had opportunities for chunk plays that made the drives harder. The fact that we get down there in the second half, we don’t end up scoring a touchdown and then we end up botching the field goal. Those are things to me that are incredible teaching moments for us to understand we got to play better, play cleaner.

The expectation is when we get down there, we score touchdowns. So why didn’t we do that? We got to be able to go execute and then go kick a field goal. I think defensively as you look at it, we did some great things. At times they had drives going and we found ways to get off the field. The only drive that we want back, obviously, is the one right before the half. They were able to go down and finish that drive and go punch one in. Again, so much good and so much to clean up. That was the message in the locker room. We know the expectation is going to continue. We got to play better, play cleaner. Our guys want that, they understand that and I think that’s the best part about it.

Q: A lot of guys talked well about receiver Jordan Mosley during training camp. What did you see from him tonight?
Lebby: I saw exactly what I thought I would see. I really did. I’ve got incredible confidence in that guy. To me, he’s a guy that has a chance to have a really good year. He is a pro every single day the way he goes about his business. It’s going to give him a chance to be a really good player. It’s a guy that’s got ability, too. So excited for him to be able to go get some production and as we build this, man, we’re going to need five, six, seven guys to have great production in that room for us to be able to go do what we want to do.

Q: When things are going so well offensively, how do you know what needs cleaning up?
Lebby: There were still some things in the first half that were incredibly muddy. We could have played a lot cleaner. We had the two penalties that were back-to-back that should never happen. The ball was on the ground too many times. So for us, we got to take that and understand it is a very thin line of being on the right side or the wrong side. Again, Blake (Shapen) knows that. I think our entire unit, our football team knows that. That is what’s going to be the attention for us all week.

Q: Kevin Coleman also provided a spark on special teams. What stood out to you about him in his first game here? Also, why did you change your hat color at halftime?
Lebby: Kevin is a guy that we knew had really good return ability and that was a huge thing for us. As we were in the portal in December, we knew we had to go get a very electric slot. Love Creed (Whittemore) and that gives us the ability to have Kevin and Creed playing in the slot, both guys being return guys. So we’ve got two guys there that have a chance to be really good players for us.

I thought Kevin would have the ability to make some plays on special teams and on offense. Tonight he did that so proud of him. I changed hats because the white one was soaking wet.

Q: Elijah Cannon had the pick six late in the game. How would you evaluate the secondary’s performance overall?
Lebby: I thought there was a lot of good. Again, when you look at it, you want the drive back that was right before the end of the half where they go down. They made some plays, convert on some third downs. They throw and catch in some pretty tight windows. We got to do a better job challenging at times. But again, I saw guys playing the way we want them to play. Flying around, hats to the ball, trying to get contact to the ball non-stop. So proud of the way our defense finished.

The way they finished in the second half and being able to get off the field. Having the pick six and then punting the football out of their own end zone and being able to block it and scoop and score is a credit to our defense finishing the way we needed to finish, which was really good to see.

Q: Any update on Kalvin Dinkins?
Lebby: No. We will probably know more tonight and obviously tomorrow.

Q: How was it to see the lead expand off of a pick six and special teams score?
Lebby: It’s fun to see those guys go out there and make plays. It’s a player’s game. Players got to make the plays. For those guys to have the ability to finish the game that way, a guy like J.P. (Purvis), who I can not brag on enough. A guy who has been through a ton since he’s been here and is the ultimate teammate. So for him to go make the block and (Craver) get the scoop and score, that was a lot of fun to see. Then Elijah (Cannon) makes a play on the ball and is able to go house one. Fun for our sidelines, fun for our guys to be able to see them make plays late in the game.

Q: What does it mean to you to start your career off with a win?
Lebby: It means a ton. I think one of the coolest things for me, for us and for my family, when we get off the bus and to the Dawg Walk, here we are for Week 1 and our fans showed up and showed out. It was incredible. The atmosphere, the energy, over 10,000 students show up tonight and hang with us through the rain in a true downpour at times. They did an unbelievable job of creating energy. So our home-field advantage, we don’t take that for granted. It is not taken lightly. So thank you to our fans, our student body for showing up and being loud and bringing great energy.

Q: You talk about your offense and Showtime. Where does this game, offensively, rank on that scale of what you want to do?
Lebby: Not good enough. At the end of the day, our guys did a bunch of good. I’ve said that many times. We got to play better. We got to play cleaner. The expectation is to not kick field goals when we are down there. When we have to, we have to go bang them through. Then the next piece of it, we didn’t play a lot of plays offensively tonight because of some things that happened there late in the game, which is a great thing. But I do love the fact of how we started. But we’re going to have to continue to play clean. Again, for Blake, really good start for our entire unit and our team. But the expectation is to continue to get a lot better.

Q: To start the second half the defense got two stops on fourth down. Was that emphasized at halftime?
Lebby: No, it was just our guys doing a really good job of coming out and playing hot in the second half. That was the message at halftime, respecting the game. We’re not gonna just walk out there and it’s gonna happen. You got to go play with great intent. Our guys did that. Our guys did that, defensively, all the way through the second half. That’s probably what I’m most proud of, what we did on that side of the ball to close the game out. That was fun to watch.

Q: Just talk about the journey you’ve been on since you first got here to today’s first win.
Lebby: The journey has been great. I’ve said this a thousand times. The people in our community and in Starkville have been incredible. It’s truly been humbling. Our fanbase has been awesome and the people inside our community and the support has been awesome. It’s been incredible for me and my family. Being able to get out there tonight and lead our guys down that ramp and through the Dawg Walk and have the ability to go get our first win together, again, don’t take it for granted. I am a heck of a lot more excited about where we’re going.