WATCH: MSU OC Kevin Barbay media session - Auburn week

Mississippi State Bulldogs offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay met with the media on Monday night to discuss the team’s win this past weekend and the week ahead in preparation for Saturday’s game with the Auburn Tigers.

Q: What can you take away from the game this weekend?

Barbay: Well, we go back and review all the good, all the bad. The number one thing is that we won. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of improvement that’s got to be made, and especially in critical situations where we got backed up. We had a bunch of penalties, and we had some penalties in fourth downs where we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be more disciplined and detailed in those situations, but I thought the type of game it had to be was unselfish football on a lot of our players’ behalf, and we’re proud of the win knowing that we’ve got a lot to improve.

Q: What was your reaction to seeing the play where Tulu and Antonio (Harmon) blocked the defender out of the end zone?

Barbay: Yeah, that was incredible effort. Those guys took the kid and ran him into the sideline and up against the bleachers. My first reaction was ‘Oh, gosh. We better pull off of that sooner so we don’t get a penalty,’ but that’s what I was talking about, too. Just unselfish blocking downfield by Tulu and Harmon. We throw a little quick screen to Zavion and those guys just take him and run him out of bounds, so I was really proud of their effort, especially on that play.

Q: What did you see on the 4th down play that was called back due to Zavion’s penalty that kind of saved the game?

Barbay: I think the most teachable moment, when it gets loud and it gets intense right there when we get in the huddle and we break out of that huddle, we’ve got to have some composure and some calmness. We get up there quick to the huddle and Mike is up there looking out for Zavion to get set, and all of a sudden we snap it, and we had some noise issues. You know, those are all things that I’ve got to control, and I’ve got to be able to clean up here throughout the week.

Q: How did you evaluate Mike’s play in his first start here?

Barbay: I think Mike played well. Obviously, there were a couple of throws that he would like to have back, but getting in the flow of the game and letting it come to him. I thought he made some tremendous runs, and in the run game obviously we utilize him a little bit differently than what we do (with) Will. He’s got a lot more reads with the defensive linemen up front and stuff, but I thought he handled it well, but we’ve got to continue getting ourselves better and pushing the ball down the field some.

Q: How do you manage sign stealing throughout the year?

Barbay: I don’t have any thoughts or concerns on sign stealing. I mean, we prep that so much, and it goes from ‘this person is live’ to ‘this person is live’ to ‘this person is live,’ so if they can figure out who is actually signaling, then they’re doing a pretty good job, because each series it’s different.

Q: Would you like the college game to move towards a headset in the helment model like the NFL?

Barbay: Yeah, I would. I think that would be cool. I think that’d be really good, and you’d be able to kind of talk to your quarterback and give him those last minute reminders. I know in the NFL they kind of start a play call off and the quarterback just finishes it. You give him like ‘hey man, if it’s cover 2 your eyes go here,’ and then it shuts off on you. I think that would be cool, but I’m not worried about sign stealing, I’m worried about our guys getting the signals.

Q: What did you notice about your team’s composure when they were back in their own end zone after those penalties?

Barbay: What a phenomenal play by Justin Robinson going up and getting that ball. That safety was over the top and in position, and it’s more of Justin Robinson just wanting that ball more than that corner or the safety. A phenomenal play, a huge play in the game, because your percentages of going 99 (yards) are pretty low, but the key to coming out is that we have to get the first first down, right? And J-Rob’s catch there ultimately allowed us to flip the field, and obviously our defense played great, and those guys did a phenomenal job, but that’s part of playing the game is field position, and understanding that that big catch right there really affected the game by just pushing them and not allowing them to have a short field right there in a critical moment of the game.

Q: What are your early thoughts on Auburn?

Barbay: I think they’re really, really fast. Really good up front. The Marcus Harris guy is a really good player. The Eugene Asante linebacker, if you turn his film on, this guy is all over the place. He runs really well. He’s a violent linebacker that plays it exactly how you want him to. (I’m) really, really impressed with him. A lot of transfers all over the field, the Jaylin Simpson, the safety, he’s got a bunch of picks. I think he’s got great ball skills, and they’re a well coached defense. Ron Robertson does a great job, and they really do, but my first impression is that they run really well to the football.