Jeff Lebby: Bye week rejuvenates, refreshes State ahead of another major challenge
Missisisppi State is refreshed and refocused after a bye week but the road doesn’t get any easier as play resumes.
The Bulldogs are in the middle of a four-game losing streak, but things improved two weeks ago when State lost 35-13 to No. 1 Texas. This week it’s No. 5 Georgia on the docket as the Bulldogs and Bulldogs battle in Athens at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday afternoon on SEC Network.
One of the main benefits of State’s bye week was likely MSU players getting healthier. 11 players were reported out for the matchup against Texas with injuries to key offensive players QB Blake Shapen and RB Keyvone Lee and defensive players Isaac Smith, Kalvin Dinkins, Tyler Woodard, DeAgo Brumfield and Kedrick Bingley-Jones.
Shapen is out for the season with a shoulder injury and wide outs Creed Whittemore and Trent Hudson have decided to sit the rest of the season and take a redshirt. The rest of the team is seemingly preparing for the road ahead and the bye week helped in that regard.
“We got very specific of somethings we had to clean up and I thought it was important for our guys to get away, refocus, regroup and get ready for the back half of our season,” coach Jeff Lebby said. “They’ve had great energy; there’s really good intent and we need to continue to have great energy to go play the way we want to play.”
No. 5 Georgia continues challenging road for State
As for the opponent, State has its hands full again with UGA on the way. The other Bulldogs are coming off of a win at home against Auburn and it got a little of the sour taste out of the team’s mouths after dropping a classic game against Alabama a week prior.
Not much has changed for UGA this year. A team that has become a regular in the playoff and has won multiple national championships, Kirby Smart’s team is once again built to compete for it all.
One of the things that will be key for State’s chances in a game like this on the road is freshman QB Michael Van Buren. In his first start at Texas, Van Buren flashed with 12-of-23 passes completed, 144 yards and a rushing touchdown.
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Lebby saw a lot from his first-year QB. Despite being thrust into action inside a tough environment, he delivered poise that kept State in the ball game.
“It’s a huge opportunity for him last week to have this great amount of growth getting his first start. The expectation for him was to go play clean, protect the football, be accurate and have great command,” Lebby said of Van Buren. “There’s so many things to be able to build on, but proud of who he was in the moment. It’s another setting this Saturday that’s going to be a great challenge for him to go play the way we need him to play to give us a chance to win the game, but he’s a young man focused on doing just that.”
Saturday’s game has State as 34-point underdogs, but the college football landscape has shown the propensity that outcomes can be unpredictable.
Just last Saturday, Vanderbilt delivered one of the upsets of the century when the Commodores knocked off No. 1 Alabama and delivered the first win of a top ranked team in school history. Unranked Arkansas followed suit with a massive upset of its own against the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers.
Those games give a hopeful State team even more hope heading to Samford Stadium.
“It’s still about what we do with our time, how we practice, how we meet, how we walk through. That is what it’s all about and will give us a chance to play the best ball we’ve played is focusing on us and making sure we’re doing everything we can to be the best we can,” Lebby said. “That is, without a doubt, the goal.”
