Game week arrives for Mississippi State with trio of notable players missing for Saturday

Game week has arrived for Jeff Lebby and Mississippi State as the Bulldogs are preparing for Eastern Kentucky this week.

The coach has hardly been able to stop his own preparation for this game since he arrived off the plane at George M. Bryan Airport back in November, but all of that will pay off on Saturday evening. Monday brought the coach’s first game-week press conference as a head man and his biggest updates came in the form of three players that won’t be taking part in game one.

Noticeably missing on the depth chart were seniors wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi, safety Corey Ellington and running back Jeffery Pittman. Lebby announced that Akharaiyi and Ellington will be out for the game with injuries and Pittman was no longer on the team.

Sources have indicated that both Ellington and Akharaiyi have been absent from practice participation for the last several weeks but that Ellington’s injury is more serious than Akharaiyi’s.

“Both of those guys have been dinged up, fought some things through fall camp. So they won’t be available this week,” Lebby said. “We will continue to look at their situation as we get into the season, hopefully get those guys back sooner than later.”

The depth chart has two transfer receivers set to start for the Bulldogs on Saturday with Louisville’s Kevin Coleman at the Slot and New Mexico State’s Trent Hudson  on the outside with Jordan Mosley.

Ellington is one of two returning starters for State’s defense and the unit took a hit in depth with his injury. EMCC transfer and former Alabama safety Brylan Lanier will start at the Star position with sophomore Isaac Smith at free safety and junior Hunter Washington at the strong safety position.

As for running back, Pittman was projected to be the Bulldogs’ fourth string runner behind Keyvone Lee, Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels. Lebby didn’t specify Pittman’s reason for being absent from the team or if it was permanent, but he isn’t concerned about State’s depth.

Sliding in to take Pittman’s spot in the pecking order will be true freshman four-star Xavier Gayten of Brookhaven and Lebby mentioned his work in training camp. As for Lee’s position atop the depth chart, it was earned from spring to game one.

“He’s been a guy that’s had great consistency, he really has. He’s played with really good toughness. He’s an older guy and a guy that we are going to count on,” Lebby said. “Davon (Booth) is another guy listed as ‘or’ and he’s going to play a ton for us and our hope is he’s going to have a great season with Johnnie getting a lot of action, as well. Feel good about those three guys. I think we are much, much improved from the spring to now at that position, which is good.”

Helmet communication going to offensive, defensive leaders

Another note Lebby shared on Monday was that quarterback Blake Shapen and linebacker Stone Blanton will be wearing the communication in their helmets to call plays for the Bulldogs on each side of the ball.

College football is implementing those communication devices for the first time this season where coaches can directly communicate plays to the helmet. State has been getting acclimated to those since the spring.

Saturday is a good time for the Bulldogs to get kinks like the helmet communication out of the way as well as breaking in new faces, but it’s not a game that the coach takes lightly. It’s game one of Lebby’s career and he wants his team firing on all cylinders by 5 p.m. on Saturday night.  

“Our guys understand it’s the biggest game of the year because it’s the next game. How we’re going to prepare and how we’re going to operate never needs to change,” Lebby said. “When we talk about preparation and getting ready to play someone, that’s got to be advantage us. What we do Monday to Friday has to be advantage us with the time we spend in the building to how we practice.

“All those things that give us confidence are reps we get throughout the week. So I think straining that, stressing that is huge. Hopefully we go put it on tape and put it on TV Saturday night the way we all think we will.”