Jeff Lebby's 'Showtime' offense gets off to good start
From the beginning of his tenure, Jeff Lebby has preached that a show was coming to Starkville and Mississippi State football.
The Bulldogs struggled through one of the poorest offensive seasons of football in 20 years a season ago when Zach Arnett and offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay struggled to score points in a 5-7 season. Lebby brought his high-powering offense to State this year to help change that, and the team took a major step in game one.
It’s notable that MSU was playing FCS foe Eastern Kentucky, but new quarterback Blake Shapen navigated his first game well. As dominant as the 56-7 win was, Lebby wanted more, and that’s a good sign.
“Not good enough. At the end of the day, our guys did a bunch of good. We’ve got to play better, we’ve got to play cleaner,” Lebby said. “I did love the fact of how we started, but we’re going to have to continue to play cleaner. The expectations continue getting a lot better.”
Shapen, State receivers bring out big plays in win
The first two possessions of the game couldn’t have gone better for Shapen and the Bulldogs. The Baylor transfer found Jordan Mosley for a wide-open 65-yard touchdown on the third play of the game. On the second possession, he drove State inside the 5 and scored on a 3rd down with a 4-yard run.
There were gaps in production from there as the rain came down, but business picked up with a Creed Whittemore end around for 41 yards and touchdown passes to Kevin Coleman Jr. and Mario Craver for 23 and 54 yards respectively.
35 points in the first half was a good start.
“It felt good, obviously. It was the first time for all of us, but it was fun just getting in a rhythm with those guys,” Shapen said. “Watching them play, you can tell we’ve got some playmakers and watching them play with the ball in their hands was special.”
State’s depth and balance was key in game one. The Bulldogs had 247 yards passing and 203 rushing. Shapen finished 15-of-20 for all 247 of those yards and threw three touchdowns with zero interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with seven carries, 44 yards and one score.
Shapen’s receivers showed out in game one led by Jordan Mosley’s five catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Prior to Saturday, Mosley had five catches for 88 yards his two seasons.
“It was kind of surreal and a blessing to be in this position. I give all the glory to God for putting me here every single week. I thank my teammates for trusting me to go out there and make plays,” Mosley said. “The football part is easy. The preparation is the hardest part.”
Mosley wasn’t the only standout. True freshman Mario Craver hauled in that long pass play from Shapen for a score, but he also got in on the special teams game with a blocked punt from JP Purvis leading to a touchdown.
Kevin Coleman shows special ability in win
Speaking of special teams, Coleman put on his own show with 117 yards on five punt returns. Coleman also had five catches for 88 yards and a score as he put in 205 yards of offense in his debut.
“We knew that we were getting a guy that had really good return ability. That was a huge thing for us as we were in the portal in December,” Lebby said. Of Coleman. “We knew that we had to go get an electric slot. I thought Kev would have the ability to make some plays and he did that.”
It might not be exactly where Lebby wants it, but the Bulldogs are ahead of schedule with their showtime moniker.
After a season of despair on the offensive side of the ball, Lebby has brought excitement to Starkville again. It was hard not to notice the excitement that the players had as well. Hopefully for Lebby and his squad, it’s just the beginning of something special.
“I think our guys understand that we want to have fun doing it every single day,” Lebby said. “You get so few opportunities in this thing and to have the ability to come out and open the season at home, our energy should have been through the roof. I love where our guys are mentally and how much we’ve come together in a short amount of time. We’re going to need that as we get going later on in the season.”
