Freshman Michael Van Buren prepared for first start as Bulldog

Throughout Jeff Lebby’s career, a common theme has been present on the coach’s resume.

It wasn’t until 2018 that Lebby officially started working one-on-one with quarterbacks as Josh Heupel hired him as the QB coach for Central Florida, but he’s had a longstanding bond with the signal caller. It dates back to Lebby’s time as an offensive lineman that he was able to build a connection with the QB and he hasn’t missed on many evaluations throughout his time as a coach.

Lebby helped develop McKenzie Milton and he recruited and developed Dillon Gabriel with the Knights. At Ole Miss, Lebby and Lane Kiffin helped shape Matt Corrall into one of the best field generals in the country. He did the same when he was reunited with Gabriel as his QB for two years at Oklahoma.

Some of the same things that Lebby saw and coached in his time at UCF, Ole Miss and Oklahoma resonate with freshman QB Michael Van Buren. The coach looks beyond just the physical tools – he wants his QBs to be able to process. That’s what he’s looking for Saturday at Texas to give State success against No. 1 Texas.

“Predictability. Having some predictable outcomes. Knowing what’s going to happen with the ball, taking care of the ball,” Lebby said of Van Buren. “He’s got to do that for us on Saturday afternoon. That will be a huge part of us having a chance.”

From High School to the big SEC stage

Van Buren enters Saturday making the first start of his college career, and it’s quite the stage for a young player that is a year removed from playing high school football.

The Maryland native didn’t just play high school football like most of the country. At St Francis Academy, Van Buren played against some of the best teams in the country. Van Buren rose to prominence in the recruiting scene as he became a four-star prospect and ultimately committed to the University of Oregon.

Lebby was one of the coaches that first recruited Van Buren as the coach built a relationship with him when he was the OC at Oklahoma last year. Shortly after Lebby was announced as the new head coach at State, Van Buren was decommitted from Oregon and a Bulldog within just a few days.

The Under Armour All-American game MVP, Van Buren showed up to campus in the spring and began getting his reps. Over the course of the last few weeks, he emerged as State’s No. 2 QB.

Starter Blake Shapen went down with injury in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s loss against Florida and it was Van Buren’s time. The freshman came in and manufactured a touchdown drive while getting the Bulldogs inside the 5 before time ran out in the final drive of the game. He was 7-of-13 for 100 yards and even a couple of his incompletion showed the talent he possesses.

Having played with him for the last several months, receivers like Jordan Mosley are confident in his abilities to lead.

“I’ve got great confidence in Mike. Whoever is throwing the ball, I’ve got great confidence in every quarterback we’ve got,” Mosley said. “I think Mike did a really good job (vs. Florida). He came in there with poise in the pocket. Mike’s not scared of nothing. He’s played great high school ball coming from St. Francis so the moment, I don’t think it’s going to be too big for him.”

Almost one year to the day that Van Buren was playing at St. Thomas More in Connecticut, he’ll be in front of 100,000 screaming Longhorn fans at Darrel K. Royal Stadium in Austin, Texas (3:15 p.m. CT, SEC Network).

The odds are stacked heavily against Van Buren to have great success against Texas, but it’s a great opportunity to build for the future. His head coach just wants him to take it one play at a time.

“You get him to focus incredibly small. You find ways to put him in position to have success,” Lebby said of Van Buren. “We’ve got to find a way to build on the run game from last week to give him the opportunity to play inside some good situations. That will be the key for us.”