Ahead of the 122nd edition of the Battle for the Golden Egg, No. 6 Ole Miss and Mississippi State’s head coaches will stand behind a podium and answer questions from reporters.
For one coach, it’ll be about as eventful as watching water boil without the excitement of the water spilling out of the pot.
The other coach will feel like he’s standing in a hail storm without a helmet or protection.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s game week press conference on Monday will be watched by more people than any midday, sitcom rerun. Will it live up to the hype? Probably not, but it will be interesting to hear what Kiffin has to say after an eventful week.
On Sunday, Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby held his game week press conference and it was a whole lot less exciting than what we’re anticipating Monday.
You can read the full transcript here, but here’s what Lebby said about Ole Miss. And, no, Kiffin’s name never came up.
On Ole Miss’s defense…
“They have definitely gotten better as the year has gone on. It’s a group that, again, has been really good situationally. They’ve been great on third downs and getting off the field. Us finding ways to run the football enough and be effective in the run game to give us some good situations I think will be key. Us taking great care of the football will be key. But I would think as they sit there, man, they’re probably going to try like heck to limit the explosives in the throw game and the run game.”
On Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss…
“The guy just makes a ton of timely plays. And he can extend, he can create, he does things in the run game that really make it hard for you. And then the way he’s been able to throw the football around and make the plays when he’s needed to, is impressive. For a guy that got there so late, has never played inside this league, he belongs, he’s been a big time player, and has given them the ability to have the season that they’re having.”
On Ole Miss RB Kewan Lacy and Rebels’ run game…
“They’ve played with really good balance. Their run game right now is as good as it’s been all year long. The back is a guy that can create a ton of explosives, great top end speed. And then the QB being involved in the run game, it does, it makes it tougher. So, for us, I talked about this a little bit last week. We got to tackle really well. When we get into one on one situations, we’ve got to find ways to get guys on the ground. We got to get 11 hats to the football. And that for us is going to be where it starts from a tackling standpoint. It’s going to be a huge piece of it Friday morning.”
