Lebby, Bulldogs excited to return home after tough road trips

A lot has changed for Mississippi State since the last time the Bulldogs played at Davis Wade Stadium.

Among the changes isn’t the win column as State followed up three-straight losses to Arizona State, Toledo and Florida with road defeats to No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Georgia. The way that those latter two games were played is what has more fans buzzing about the Bulldogs than a few weeks ago.

State comes back home this weekend for another tough matchup as the Bulldogs welcome in No. 14 Texas A&M. There’s been a little more pep in the step of the players this week after the effort given on the road each of the last couple of games.

“For us, incredibly excited to be back home and be here at Davis Wade,” head coach Jeff Lebby said at his Monday press conference. “I think, as everybody as seen, we’ve gone on the road the last two weeks and played in incredible environments.”

Bulldogs improving after rough start to season

One of the reasons for Lebby’s excitement this week is the opportunity to welcome back the 2014 Bulldog football team for a celebration of 10 years since State’s run to No. 1 in the country. Dan Mullen is expected to be in attendance in Starkville on Saturday along with several of the other stars of that team and that should include QB Dak Prescott who is on a bye with his Dallas Cowboys this week.

Beyond the reunion of that special team, there’s some optimism growing with the current edition of State football. MSU (1-5, 0-3 SEC) enters the matchup with A&M having lost five-straight games. The chances of making a bowl game have dwindled immensely and State is now building for the future.

The coach has been proud of how his team has responded to adversity and being led by a true freshman QB in Michael Van Buren. It’s a group that has seemingly got a new shot at life after a disappointing first four games.

“I think it’s our guys sticking true to the process, concerning ourselves with us every day. Finding a way to be better today, finding a way to be better tomorrow than we were today or yesterday,” Lebby said. “As simple as that sounds, that’s the only stress that we have and finding a way on Saturday to be the best we’ve been all year long. That is the constant message and being who we are supposed to be. Not trying to be anybody else, not comparing ourselves to anybody else but truly having the best Monday we can possibly have. Then do the same thing tomorrow and with that, that is how you try to flip it and control what you can control to have a different outcome.”

With back-to-back games against top 5 teams on the road, the Bulldogs were massive underdogs. Both Texas and UGA were favored to take State by more than 34 points but the Bulldogs covered both games and had one of the most productive offensive performances at Sanford Stadium of any team in the last five years.

Just playing better than expected isn’t Lebby’s goal, however. The coach still wants to win games and that is the next box to check. Doing it against A&M will be another great task on Saturday.

“They’re a football team that’s playing really, really good. They’re playing complimentary football, they’re playing good in all three phases. You look at the defensively, statistically as good as we’ve played all year from a point total that they’re giving up. How they’re playing inside the core, specifically at the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of the ball is as good as anybody we’ve played without a doubt,” Lebby said of the Aggies. “Offensively, the quarterback comes back last week and plays the best game he’s played all year long before they went into the bye week. They’ve done a really good job distributing the ball and is really accurate. They’ve got a good run game to go with it. So we’ve got a Top 15 team coming to town and another great challenge and great opponent.”

Game time on Saturday is set for 3:15 with a broadcast on SEC Network.