Mississippi
What Jeff Lebby said about first Mississippi State football practice and wants Bulldogs to do more
Watch as Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby speaks after preseason practice
Watch a part of what Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby discussed after his first preseason practice in Starkville.
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football opened preseason practice Thursday, which new coach Jeff Lebby said marked an exciting day for him.
He said every first practice translates to the start of a lengthy journey – especially while being at the helm of the MSU football program.
“There was great excitement around being able to finally get started and get going and get back on the grass, without a doubt,” Lebby said. “I think for me, day one is always been very similar from an excitement standpoint.
“We’re starting this journey together. We’re going to chase it together. Now I’ve got the opportunity to lead the entire program, which, you know, I love and I’m thankful for.”
Lebby is in a similar situation with many transfers and incoming freshmen. It’s also his first preseason practice in Starkville since being hired in November, and he said the energy from the start of the 9 a.m. practice was present from the outset.
“Our guys had great energy,” he said. “Just being intentional and worked their butt off this summer to get us to this point.”
What Jeff Lebby wants to see after first Mississippi State football preseason practice
While Lebby is approaching his first SEC season as coach, he said there’s much more his team still needs work on before the Bulldogs kick off their season against Eastern Kentucky on Aug. 31.
Lebby emphasized that he wants to keep instilling the willingness to be coached, toughness and security of the football.
MSU FOOTBALL: What Jeff Lebby said of Mississippi State football transfers Blake Shapen, Kevin Coleman
“I mean, we got so much work to do, so much to clean up, but again, our guy’s energy or effort or focus and our want to get better is what it’s all about Day 1, and we’ve got that,” Lebby said.
Lebby said that his work entails fitting in the new faces to the program, finalizing roster positions and mentally preparing his players for the season.
“We got guys that understand how to run and then we’ve got guys that are learning how to walk and that’s really what it is,” he said. “So again, trying to get those guys up to speed. The guys that came in in June. I mean they had really good summers but at the same time this was Day 1 for them practicing with us.
“So they’ve gotta get up to speed. They’re finishing up finals right now. So there’s some give and take with that too academically but the guys are trying to do what we’re asking them to do.”
Jeff Lebby’s take on his new defensive coaches
When reporters asked Lebby where he participated in practice, he said he was with the offense and quarterbacks most of the time.
That left the defense group in the hands of defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler and co-defensive coordinator Matt Barnes.
MSU TICKETS: How to buy Mississippi State football tickets? See prices for games on 2024 schedule
Hutzler was on Nick Saban’s staff for the past two seasons as Alabama’s outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. The Crimson Tide ranked sixth nationally in yards per punt (46.7) and 15th in field goal percentage with 87% last season.
“Coleman’s a guy that’s got great presence got great leadership ability,” Lebby said. “He’s a guy that’s got an unbelievable amount of experience. So that’s really natural for him.”
Barnes joined Lebby’s staff in December after spending the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Memphis. In 2023, Memphis held opponents to a 31% conversion rate, ranked 17th best in the FBS.
“Matt’s a guy that again, got great energy,” Lebby said. “He’s got incredible experience calling defense. So being able to have that balance of him supplementing and supporting Coleman with their great relationship has been fun to see.”
Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
Mississippi
What channel is Mississippi State football vs Missouri on today? Time, TV schedule to watch Week 13 game
Mississippi State football comes off a bye week with a chance to earn a win over nationally-ranked Missouri on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (2-8, 0-6) last played on Nov. 9 in a loss at Tennessee and have two more games against SEC opponents this year.
The Tigers (7-3, 3-3) lost a back-and-forth game at South Carolina last weekend.
Here’s how to watch the Mississippi State football vs. Missouri game today, including time, TV schedule and streaming information:
Mississippi State vs. Missouri will broadcast nationally on SEC Network in Week 13 of the 2024 college football season. Taylor Zarzour and Matt Stinchcomb will call the game from the booth at Davis Wade Stadium, with Alyssa Lang reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 23
- Start time: 3:15 p.m. CT
The Mississippi State football vs. Missouri game starts at 3:15 p.m. CT Saturday from Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville.
Clarion Ledger reporter Sam Sklar’s prediction: Missouri 37, Mississippi State 20
The Bulldogs are allowing 41 points per game in SEC play, and it’s difficult to see Missouri not having the same level of success. Expect big days from Burden and/or Wease, plus running back Nate Noel as MSU loses another game by double digits.
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Friday, Nov. 22
- Odds: Missouri -7.5
- O/U: 61.5 points
- Money line: Missouri -300, Mississippi State +240
- Aug. 31: EKU, W 56-7
- Sept. 7: at Arizona State, L 30-23
- Sept. 14: Toledo, L 41-17
- Sept. 21: Florida, L 45-28
- Sept. 28: at Texas, L 35-13
- Oct. 5: OPEN DATE
- Oct. 12: at Georgia, L 41-31
- Oct. 19: Texas A&M, L 34-24
- Oct. 26: Arkansas, L 58-25
- Nov. 2: UMass, W 45-20
- Nov. 9: at Tennessee, L 33-14
- Nov. 16: OPEN DATE
- Nov. 23: Missouri, 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network
- Nov. 29: at Ole Miss, 2:30 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+
Record: 2-8 (0-6 SEC)
- Aug. 29: Murray State, W 51-0
- Sept. 7: Buffalo, W 38-0
- Sept. 14: Boston College, W 27-21
- Sept. 21: Vanderbilt, W 30-27 2OT
- Sept. 28: OPEN DATE
- Oct. 5: at Texas A&M, L 41-10
- Oct. 12: at UMass, W 45-3
- Oct. 19: Auburn, W 21-17
- Oct. 26: at Alabama, L 34-0
- Nov. 2: OPEN DATE
- Nov. 9: Oklahoma, W 30-23
- Nov. 16: at South Carolina, L 34-30
- Nov. 23: at Mississippi State, 4:15 p.m. on SEC Network
- Nov. 30: Arkansas, TBD
Record: 7-3, 3-3 SEC
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Mississippi
SMU drops nonconference game at home as Mississippi State finds bench-led boost
Reserve KeShawn Murphy scored 16 points and led a quartet of Mississippi State bench players in double-digit scoring and the Bulldogs beat SMU 84-79 on Friday night.
Reserves RJ Melendez scored 15 points, Riley Kugel 13 and Claudell Harris Jr. 10. Josh Hubbard was the lone Mississippi State (5-0) starter in double figures with 14 points on just 4-for-18 shooting. The Bulldogs’ starters went 10 for 33 from the floor compared to the 18-for-35 effort from the bench.
Cameron Matthews made a layup with 5:13 remaining to break a tie at 66. Murphy made a 3-pointer and Kanye Clary made 1 of 2 free throws and Mississippi State led for the remainder.
Reserve Kario Oquendo scored 13 points for the Mustangs (4-2), Matt Cross, Boopie Miller and Samet Yigitoglu all had 12 points and B.J. Edwards scored 10.
Mississippi State will get almost a full week off before returning to action on Thanksgiving night at the Arizona Tipoff in Tempe. The Bulldogs play their first game of the event against UNLV.
The Mustangs will head to Palm Springs, California, for the Acrisure Holiday Invitational, where they face Cal Baptist on Tuesday.
Find more SMU coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Mississippi
Attorneys want the US Supreme Court to say Mississippi’s felony voting ban is cruel and unusual
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era practice of removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes such as forgery and timber theft, attorneys say in new court papers.
Most of the people affected are disenfranchised for life because the state provides few options for restoring ballot access.
“Mississippi’s harsh and unforgiving felony disenfranchisement scheme is a national outlier,” attorneys representing some who lost voting rights said in an appeal filed Wednesday. They wrote that states “have consistently moved away from lifetime felony disenfranchisement over the past few decades.”
This case is the second in recent years — and the third since the late 19th century — that asks the Supreme Court to overturn Mississippi’s disenfranchisement for some felonies. The cases use different legal arguments, and the court rejected the most recent attempt in 2023.
The new appeal asks justices to reverse a July ruling from the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Mississippi legislators, not the courts, must decide whether to change the laws.
Stripping away voting rights for some crimes is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual punishment, the appeal argues. A majority of justices rejected arguments over cruel and unusual punishment in June when they cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places.
Attorneys who sued Mississippi over voting rights say the authors of the state’s 1890 constitution based disenfranchisement on a list of crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit. A majority of the appeals judges wrote that the Supreme Court in 1974 reaffirmed constitutional law allowing states to disenfranchise felons.
About 38% of Mississippi residents are Black. Nearly 50,000 people were disenfranchised under the state’s felony voting ban between 1994 and 2017. More than 29,000 of them have completed their sentences, and about 58% of that group are Black, according to an expert who analyzed data for plaintiffs challenging the voting ban.
To regain voting rights in Mississippi, a person convicted of a disenfranchising crime must receive a governor’s pardon or win permission from two-thirds of the state House and Senate. In recent years, legislators have restored voting rights for only a few people.
The other recent case that went to the Supreme Court argued that authors of Mississippi’s constitution showed racist intent when they chose which felonies would cause people to lose the right to vote.
In that ruling, justices declined to reconsider a 2022 appeals court decision that said Mississippi remedied the discriminatory intent of the original provisions in the state constitution by later altering the list of disenfranchising crimes.
In 1950, Mississippi dropped burglary from the list. Murder and rape were added in 1968. The Mississippi attorney general issued an opinion in 2009 that expanded the list to 22 crimes, including timber larceny, carjacking, felony-level shoplifting and felony-level writing bad checks.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 2023 dissent that Mississippi’s list of disenfranchising crimes was “adopted for an illicit discriminatory purpose.”
Originally Published:
-
Business1 week ago
Column: OpenAI just scored a huge victory in a copyright case … or did it?
-
Health1 week ago
Bird flu leaves teen in critical condition after country's first reported case
-
Business6 days ago
Column: Molly White's message for journalists going freelance — be ready for the pitfalls
-
Science4 days ago
Trump nominates Dr. Oz to head Medicare and Medicaid and help take on 'illness industrial complex'
-
Politics5 days ago
Trump taps FCC member Brendan Carr to lead agency: 'Warrior for Free Speech'
-
Technology5 days ago
Inside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI
-
Lifestyle6 days ago
Some in the U.S. farm industry are alarmed by Trump's embrace of RFK Jr. and tariffs
-
World5 days ago
Protesters in Slovakia rally against Robert Fico’s populist government