STARKVILLE — The frustration from Mississippi State’s 41-34 overtime loss to Tennessee was already being refined into fuel for the Bulldogs by Monday morning.
Quarterback Blake Shapen said after the game that everyone in the locker room knew it was a game that they shouldn’t have lost, and the belief that the team would win was evident in the disappointment after processing the film.
Head coach Jeff Lebby made it clear that despite hanging with the No. 15-ranked team in the AP Poll, he isn’t satisfied with the execution. When asked if he was able to take credit for what he did right, he gave a direct reply.
“No, I’m not able to give myself any credit,” Lebby said of his self-evaluation after the Tennessee game. “We got our ass beat, that’s very frustrating. I’ve got to do better, I’ve got to coach better. I’ve got to get done what we need to get done so that at the end of the game we’re plus one, and that’s the bottom line.”
Keep No. 2 upright
One of the biggest parts of the team’s self-evaluation was the pass protection.
Shapen was sacked five times, including a strip-sack that resulted in a touchdown for the Vols. Handing away points and failing to keep the quarterback upright is not a formula for success, and the task won’t get any easier this week as the Bulldogs face their first road test in the SEC against No. 6 Texas A&M.
The Aggies’ defense showed up big against Auburn, restricting Jackson Arnold and the passing game with five sacks. Arnold recorded 125 yards through the air on 18-33 passing, and the struggles allowed A&M’s defense to stack the box, holding the Tigers to 52 net yards on the ground.
Teams have been able to score on the Aggies, and the Bulldog offense can score from anywhere, but as Lebby said after the loss, they have to “Keep two (Shapen) upright.”
“They were dominant situationally and ultimately (that’s why) they won the football game without a doubt on third and fourth down, and applying pressure and being able to get to the QB,” Lebby said of the Aggies. “So, we’ve got to counteract that. We’ve got to make sure we’re doing a great job of getting the ball out of (Shapen’s) hands and then giving those big boys a little bit of help when they need it. Whatever that looks like, that looks like a lot of different things, but it is going to be a huge point of emphasis for us.”
While Lebby mentioned the Aggies defense as a challenge, A&M head coach Mike Elko returned the praise for the Bulldog offense.
“I think Jeff is a phenomenal offensive coach,” Elko said on Monday. “I think they do a really, really good job testing you, they’ll stretch you sideline to sideline, they stretch you horizontally, they stretch you vertically. They run a spread offense, but they’re really physical in how they run the football. I think that’s the thing that not a lot of people talk about with that offense, is how committed they are and how much they want to run the football well, and they do that really well.”
Elko also complimented the renewed belief that is evident in the Bulldogs after a 2-10 campaign a year ago, and that comes through in MSU’s energy.
“One of the things as a head coach that you watch is sideline energy, sideline engagement, sideline interaction on the film, and they’re an extremely energetic group,” he added. “Which means they’ve got a lot of confidence in the program and what they’re doing. I’m sure they’re going to come in here and play their absolute best football Saturday night.”
Road Warriors
The Bulldogs have played four straight home games, and though they opened the season with a win on the road, the challenge on Saturday will be much different to the Week 1 trip to Hattiesburg.
Texas A&M’s Kyle Field holds more than 100,000 fans and is widely recognized as one of the loudest venues in college football. The Saturday game against MSU is reported as a sellout.
“I think the coolest thing about going on the road in this conference is we got 74 guys getting on the plane to go play in front of over 100,000 people,” Lebby said. “It’s about us and having the right mindset and mentality to go play one play at a time, and give us the best chance to go win.”
The Aggies are off to an exciting 4-0 start and looking to continue building a playoff resume for their fans to cheer about. They had a bye week between a 16-10 win in their SEC opener last weekend against Auburn and their 41-40 road win over Notre Dame earlier in September.
Quarterback Marcel Reed has been hit-or-miss this season, literally. Against Notre Dame, he posted a remarkable 360 yards and two scores while hitting just 45% of his passes.
One reason why is the playmaking threat of leading receivers, KC Concepcion and a player MSU fans are familiar with in Mario Craver.
The former Bulldog speedster has 477 yards on 24 receptions and four touchdowns this season, and his downfield threat pairs well with a balanced rushing attack.
Running back Le’Veon Moss has 307 yards on the ground this season, with nearly half of that coming against the Tigers on Saturday. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry with 139 total yards and his team’s only touchdown of the day in a career-best performance.
Stopping the run was a weakness for the Bulldogs last year, but the front seven is looking much stronger after holding the Vols to 136 yards total on the ground.
“I feel like we did pretty good against the run,” defensive tackle Kedrick Bingley-Jones said. “They’re a heavy-run team and Coach Turner shared before the game, they were like 25-0 rushing over 200, and one of our main goals in our room is to stop the run. That’s our first goal. I feel like we did a pretty good job executing. Hated that in overtime we didn’t execute as well and they got the long run, but that was their only explosive run during the game.”
The defense is aware of the challenge the Aggies present, and while it won’t be as fast-paced as Tennessee, it will still be a slog to stop the run in a hostile environment with 100,000 fans rooting for the other team.
“I know the crowd is a big part of every game, but we’re just trying to focus on executing our job, being able to communicate well with each other,” Bingley-Jones added. “That’s the biggest thing.”
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