Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby confident his team will respond after rough stretch

Tough times have fallen upon Mississippi State football. On Saturday, the Bulldogs lost 45-28 to a previously hapless Florida Gators squad to fall to 1-3 in Jeff Lebby's first season as head coach. It was State's third-straight loss, and it comes after an embarrassing 41-17 defeat at home to Toledo.

With games against #1 Texas and #2 Georgia looming, it seems more likely than not that a bad season is about to get worse for MSU. But Jeff Lebby is confident his program isn't about to give up on the season.

When asked what the message is to his team to make sure this season doesn't spiral out of control, Lebby said he told his team they have a choice to make.

"The choice is up to each and every one of us. When we wake up tomorrow morning, the sun's gonna come up, we're gonna have breath in our body, and we're gonna be thankful for the opportunity and understand that are we going to do everything we can to fix it."

- Miss State HC Jeff Lebby

Lebby knows that he and his coaching staff have to continue to push his team forward through this stretch, and he trusts that they will have State prepared to go each week.

"There will be great belief and great energy and great confidence in how the guys are getting coached every single day as we're four games into this thing, and that is a guarantee."

- Lebby

Regardless of how hard the players are being coached, however, that doesn't matter if the team isn't bought in. But Jeff Lebby isn't concerned about that. Based on how his team fought back from down 28-7 against the Gators and prepared throughout the week following the loss to Toledo, Lebby believes his team will continue to respond.

"You look at them this week, and the way they fought, the way we practiced, and some of the things that we did throughout the week was incredibly encouraging."

- Lebby

Lebby's message to continue fighting through this is the right one to give, and it's the correct mentality to take. But it doesn't change the situation the Bulldogs are in. They're off to a horrific start to the season, and with a brutal schedule remaining, it's not going to get any easier. We'll see what type of fight they show next week in Austin against the Longhorns.