... look like in that instance?

That's a good question because he was not great in that game obviously, turned the ball over three times.

But I would think Alabama's defense is better than LSU's right this second.

He did throw for, I think, 260, 270 yards and three touchdowns, uh, in that game.

Buddy, if I could get 270 and three touchdowns out of Kamario right now, and knowing that I don't make the injury situation any worse for him, I would say trot him out there because that would give you a great chance to, to win this football game.

Um, but the, the turnovers are the problem.

You, you look at the first interception that he throws.

So does Lebby open the playbook and it's just do you take Kamario out and put Puckett in, or do you slow the game down and run the ball a lot and just try to protect him in a, in a tough environment?

Yeah

... and not, not take that, that sack there.

You know, that, that's definitely a part of it, but also, you know, it's, a, a good chunk of it's on the offensive line.

State's offensive line last year was the worst in college football.

I, I won't hear any arguments otherwise.

They, they could not do any- anything offensively because they could not block.

This year they're much improved.

What is that gonna mean for Lebby, for the program, for the fans? Like, let your mind go there.

What have you heard about that continuing and maybe continuing to be more different for Mississippi State this season?

Lebby talked about that a couple weeks ago where, I think it was after the, the South Carolina game where it w- most of the touchdowns were coming off of big plays, and he said, "You know, we've got to be more than just big plays.

We've got to be a team that can, can, can sustain drives." And, you know, that's, you know, that's a, that's a big admission from Lebby, who is all about, you know, score from far is the mantra and, and they want to do that.

So, you know, you saw a little bit of that last week, I thought.

You know, Fluff Bothwell was State's MVP in that game against Missouri, really, you know, just, just moving the chains a little bit at a time, especially in that second ha- you know, that, that lull second, third quarter where State w- was struggling a little bit.

Fluff Bothwell was kind of carrying them.

Um, you know, one thing with Lebby is he doesn't rotate a lot of guys.

It was easy then

What have you heard about that continuing and maybe continuing to be more different for Mississippi State this season?

Lebby talked about that a couple weeks ago where, I think it was after the, the South Carolina game where it w- most of the touchdowns were coming off of big plays, and he said, "You know, we've got to be more than just big plays.

We've got to be a team that can, can, can sustain drives." And, you know, that's, you know, that's a, that's a big admission from Lebby, who is all about, you know, score from far is the mantra and, and they want to do that.

So, you know, you saw a little bit of that last week, I thought.

You know, Fluff Bothwell was State's MVP in that game against Missouri, really, you know, just, just moving the chains a little bit at a time, especially in that second ha- you know, that, that lull second, third quarter where State w- was struggling a little bit.

Fluff Bothwell was kind of carrying them.

Um, you know, one thing with Lebby is he doesn't rotate a lot of guys.

And easy to-

But when you add that

with, as I mentioned, the physical tools, the ability to throw the ball 65 plus yards, the four or five plus speed, the six, four to 40 frame.

I mean, you create a player is kind of the correct answer that this is what you would set up if you wanted to have a guy.

And in this offense, Jeff Levy's offense is called the wide choice that, you know, that he runs with Lane Kiffin and Art Briles and those guys.

it's just a perfect matchup player with system right now.

And, you know, he's got to keep replicating those performances for Mississippi state to be successful.

I think a lot of state success early in the season has been tied to him.

How do we feel about Mississippi state as a four and a half point favorite?

But where do you think right now have your concerns been elevated and or lowered based on what you had coming into the season?

They're about where I thought they would be.

I know they don't have the super high-end talent on the front seven.

They've got some good guys there for sure, but they don't have Jeff Simmons or Chris Jones or some of the defensive linemen that State's had over the past.

But they've got more depth this year than they've ever had before.

Their secondary is a real strength to me.

You know, Kelly Jones is going to be a first-rounder.

So what are those things for you?

But where do you think right now have your concerns been elevated and or lowered based on what you had coming into the season?

They're about where I thought they would be.

I know they don't have the super high-end talent on the front seven.

They've got some good guys there for sure.

But they don't have Jeff Simmons or Chris Jones or some of the defensive linemen that State's had over the past.

But they've got more depth this year than they've ever had before.

Their secondary is a real strength to me.

So what are those things for you?

If I'm talking to you about what they're gonna do about replacing, uh, key defensive players, I'm not supposed to say, "Or maybe they just bring them back out of nowhere in August." That's not really how that's supposed to work, and yet, um, Brian, here we are.

Yeah, that, that's the situation here in Starkville.

We had a chance to talk to, uh, Jeff Lebby yesterday, uh, after practice, and I also had the chance to talk to Mississippi State athletic director Zack Sillman.

And right now it's, it is very much a process.

They're waiting on some legalities.

Uh, I, I guess it's kind of, you know, uh, when we know, you'll know situation.

But Mississippi State is making the effort to bring back, uh, Jaron Manning, safety for the Bulldogs last year, and Malik So'a, defensive end and edge rusher last year.

Uh, just knowing what we know about what the expectations are for MSU and what you're hearing so far, anything in particular that's gotten your attention, good or bad?

Okay.

You know, the s- the, the wins and losses will determine the, the, the future.

I get that.

But does he feel good about where he's got Mississippi State as a program? Does he feel like this program from an NIL perspective, from a facilities perspective, from a, from a staffing perspective, is capable of competing in the SEC and competing for a college football playoff berth? Because in year one it wasn't.

It was not in any of those three phases, uh, uh, of, of, call them three phases of the game if you want.

Uh, it, the, the NIL situation he walked into was horrendous.

There's no question about that.

Matt Wells, add to another former head coach, yep.

... at Mississippi State.

That's an interesting, uh, player because, you know, State brought in a bunch of linemen who they don't-- they've got potential but not production.

Uh, some four-star kids from the, the previous signing class, two or three of them from the State of Mississippi.

Chester has some of that, of that production.

He's played SEC football, played out of position a little bit at LSU.

They tried him out at tackle.

He's an interior lineman all the way.

Give me a view up north and just, like, what the general pulse about Ole Miss is right now because what's going on at the rival always is supposed to make things tougher where you are.

No? I'm good with it.

All right.

Well, I appreciate it.

Um, you know, for State, this is a...

They're playing a Georgia team they've already lost to four times this year.

So they got swept by them in Starkville, lost to them over in Hoover in the SEC tournament, and yet there's a lot working in, in State's favor, mainly the return o- of their Friday night starter, Ryan McPherson, who was out for basically two months from the Vanderbilt series on, uh, is just now back to full strength through five innings on, uh, on Sunday in the, uh, regional clinching win.

State's playing good baseball right now, but Georgia is, you know, the highest remaining seed after UCLA and Georgia Tech went out, uh, in the regionals.

... of the quarterback?

Is there any reason to believe it does get fixed this year?

That's the question that everybody's asking.

Is this offensive line going to be up to SEC level? It was not a season ago.

45 sacks.

I mean, you can't beat anybody like that.

Now, having a more mobile quarterback will take away some of those problems this year, but you've still got to be able to block.

State needs to be able to run the football.

What in those kind of games we're talking about there, especially road games, where he hasn't done much of that at all, what's realistic to expect out of this kid?