STARKVILLE – Mississippi State football is 11 days away from kicking off the 2025 season at Southern Miss on Aug. 30.
The Bulldogs held their second scrimmage of fall camp, again behind closed doors, at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday. Head coach Jeff Lebby held a press conference afterward in which he again praised his defense, citing a level of energy and playmaking ability that he was looking for coming into camp.
Defensive playmaking
The Bulldog defense was able to create turnovers in last week’s scrimmage, and the playmaking display impressed the coaches again this week with some big stops on third down. MSU struggled mightily at getting off the field in 2024, and any improvement in the win column for 2025 starts with stops.
“Again, defensively, we had great energy,” Lebby said. “Made some huge plays in short yardage situations where we were able to get off the field defensively to end a couple of drives early in the scrimmage, and that created real momentum, which again, I thought was great to see.
The highlight of the first scrimmage was a Kelley Jones scoop and score, but the main difference, according to defensive leaders Issac Smith and Jalen Smith, was the high level of communication and understanding. Lebby saw more of that playmaking edge from the unit, and it’s what he wants to see at this stage of camp.
“I thought the energy, the toughness, the attitude, and the edge, man, we’re getting close to where we want to be from that standpoint,” he continued. “We’ve got to continue to play better and create depth, but the mentality and the edge right now, I’m proud of where our guys are defensively.”
Ramping up
The Bulldogs have one more week of camp before Week 1 of the season. The transition into game preparation began with scrimmage preparation, piecing together plays to work on with both sides of the ball. That process will continue this week as the team has a few more days to focus on itself, because, come Monday, Southern Miss becomes the singular focus.
“The installs have continued to build as we move through camp, so the callsheet today was different for both sides of the ball than it was last week,” Lebby said. “I think that’s natural. For our guys, we’re trying to create some stress for them, make it as hard as we can right now in the moment, so that when we get to game plan, they’re able to dial into that, and it streamlines that and makes it easier.”
The head coach was asked about the progression of the team over the past two weeks and noted the strain he’s put on his players in anticipation of the season ahead.
“You do (see it) with a bunch of the guys,” Lebby said. “Sitting in the chair I’m sitting in, you want more. You constantly want more. That’s never gonna change, and so the stress is, regardless of who’s out there, whether it’s the ones, twos and threes, whoever… the stress has been being able to execute. There’s been this great amount of growth for a bunch of guys, and there’s a bunch of guys that got to get a heck of a lot better. That’s where the strain is, that’s part of coaching and leading, and finding ways to get the most out of every single day and get these guys where they need to be.”
Clean football
The Bulldogs had several new arrivals from high school or the spring transfer portal up front who didn’t get the same spring reps as those already on the roster. The plan, especially in the trenches, is to have some of those guys contribute right away, and the clock is ticking on their acclimation process.
“It’s a race,” Lebby said. “Those guys that have now practiced with us 13 times, they’ve got to get every rep, they’ve got to get every walk. They’ve got to get every minute of every day to be ready to roll and play in the way we need to go play on Aug. 30. The process for those guys has been sped up, but again, we’ve got a bunch of new offensive linemen that we’ve got to come together as a unit there. I think physically we have the bodies, we’ve got to continue to come together inside that room to be able to play seven, eight guys and play winning football.”
The other part of playing clean football is taking care of the football.
Lebby noted that starting quarterback Blake Shapen was “solid” and took care of the football, something that wasn’t the case for the offense a week ago, and he praised both of the younger quarterbacks as well.
A major goal of the week was to cut down the turnovers and miscommunications that led to them. It’s not just about practicing game scenarios. The goal is to create a clean practice where everyone can get meaningful reps, and the Bulldogs need as much of that as they can get before heading to Hattiesburg in 11 days.
“It’s all about the ball and taking care of the rock, and those guys did that today,” Lebby said. “We had one fumble on an exchange that was an issue, and outside of that, we were much cleaner there, which we needed to be.”
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