Jeff Lebby believes in Bulldogs with monster schedule on the way
A couple of days after a major setback for Mississippi State football, Jeff Lebby’s squad is trying to press forward.
The Bulldogs had a night to forget at Davis Wade Stadium as Toledo came to town and dominated State in a 41-17 ball game. It was a failure on both sides of the ball for Lebby’s team, but the coach thought it all began with the lack of production early in the game.
“Both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, the self-inflicted wounds and the fact of not being able to get out of our own way at times is probably the most disappointing thing. It really was,” Lebby said. 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 coached s and players, and to just do our job and focus solely on that. It is a simple answer.”
For the second-straight week, State fell into a major first half hole. The Bulldogs followed up a 27-3 first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils by falling behind 28-3 at the half against the Rockets. Whie the second half of both games was much more competitive, the Bulldogs didn’t give themselves much of a chance because of the bad start.
Florida is the next team up on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium (11 a.m., ESPN) and the Gators have their own issues. Head coach Billy Napier has a seat that is aflame after the third-year coach has gotten off to another bad start at 1-2 as well. Despite their issues, it’s a roster with a whole lot of talent and an exciting freshman QB in DJ Lagway champing at the bit to get in the game.
“Really talented team on both sides of the ball,” Lebby said of the Gators. “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.”
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The Bulldogs follow up Saturday with one of the most difficult schedules in the entire country. State plays No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Georgia in consecutive weeks on the road, hosts No. 25 Texas A&M and an improved Arkansas team and then close the season with No. 6 Tennessee and No. 5 Ole Miss on the road sandwiched around a matchup with No. 7 Missouri.
Saturday evening was tough for the Bulldogs, but the adversity the team is about to face only grows. It makes Lebby’s job of keeping the team fighting all the more important.
“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,” Lebby said.
“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.”
