Mississippi

What Jeff Lebby said changed about Mississippi State football since 2-10 season

Published

4 months ago

July 16, 2025

What Jeff Lebby said changed about Mississippi State football since 2-10 season

ATLANTA — Jeff Lebby, one year later, said he was not expecting the season Mississippi State football endured in 2024.

There were optimistic expectations for Lebby as the first-year MSU coach. Instead, the Bulldogs were blown out at home by Toledo in Week 3, then quarterback Blake Shapen suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4 before the season derailed. They finished 2-10 with no wins in the SEC.

Mississippi State added over 50 new players since then, while keeping the coaching staff mostly intact. The obvious goal is to improve the talent. Accounts from Lebby and Mississippi State players though at SEC media days on July 16 said that an improved locker room environment has been noticeable.

“We’re not trying to create a new culture; we’re going to be exactly true to who we are supposed to be and what we’re creating,” Lebby said. “I think the difference in the team today compared to a year ago today, besides the physical parts of it, is we are closer as a football program and as a football team. The only way you do that is you spend time and you have to take the right people.

“I’ve continued to talk about that. Protect the locker room … by taking the right people. That’s what it’s all about.”

Where Mississippi State football changed for 2025 season

Mississippi State added at least one transfer at every single position except kicker and punter. There were focuses on some positions of need, like defensive line where MSU fielded the worst scoring defense in the SEC.

MSU also flipped its wide receiver room, which lost four of its top five players from last season. Ten of the new players are wide receivers, six via the transfer portal.

“Whether it’s transfers or high school players, at the end of the day, they’ve got to be good enough, but then you want to take the right people,” Lebby said. “People matter. And so for us, changing the entire receiver room, that has helped us tremendously, and it’s helped the locker room. I think we are in a much better place as a team today than we were a year ago, which is going to be something that’s important for us.”

Shapen, one of the three Mississippi State players at SEC media days, said he’s noticed a difference behind the scenes.

“I would say for us, coming into the building, you can tell the energy level is way higher,” he said. “Even from just going in the lunch room to dinner, whatever it may be. Everybody’s energetic. It’s little things. The locker room is energetic.

“I feel like last year, at times, it was a little bit dead in some areas. I feel like you can just tell a different level of energy.”

Mississippi State picked to finish last in SEC preseason poll

Outside expectations remain low for the Bulldogs though. They played four opponents last season that made the 12-team College Football Playoff and will play those four teams again in 2025. That doesn’t include five other SEC opponents who won at least seven games each in 2024 that MSU plays again.

The USA TODAY SEC preseason poll picked Mississippi State to finish last in the conference for a second straight season.

“We don’t really look at that stuff too much,” safety Isaac Smith said. “We were 2-10 last year, so I would expect that, especially with the way we played last year. We don’t really worry about that right now.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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Mississippi

Inaugural Michelin Guide American South honors 10 MS restaurants. See which made the list

Published

7 hours ago

November 4, 2025

Press Room

Inaugural Michelin Guide American South honors 10 MS restaurants. See which made the list

In the inaugural Michelin Guide American South, Mississippi restaurants from the northern corners to the coast were recognized, with two winning the prestigious Bib Gourmand distinction and another eight making Michelin’s “recommended restaurants” list.

Michelin Guide announced the 2025 American South selections during a ceremony in Greenville, South Carolina, Monday night, Nov. 3.

In total, the Michelin Guide honored 228 restaurants representing 44 different types of cuisine and seven Southern states, including Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The guide awarded 10 restaurants Michelin Stars, one of the most coveted distinctions in the dining world.

While Mississippi did not collect any Michelin Stars, the state was still heavily represented.

Bib Gourmand distinction

The Bib Gourmand distinction recognizes eateries for great food at a great value, according to Michelin Guide.

The 2025 American South selections had a total of 50 restaurants, including two Mississippi eateries: Elvie’s of Jackson and Sacred Ground Barbecue of Pocahontas.

Both restaurants are fairly new to the Mississippi dining scene.

Elvie’s

In 2020, award-winning Jackson chef Hunter Evans opened Elvie’s as a homage to his grandmother, May Eliveretta Good, who provided the chef’s first memories of the complex nature of food. Evans grew up visiting his grandmother in New Orleans and fondly remembers eating her classic Southern cooking, which inspires Elvie’s menu today.

In 2020, weeks after Elvie’s had opened, the restaurant fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic and, like so many other restaurants around the world, shut its doors. The closure was temporary, however, and Evans and his crew managed to grow the restaurant through pop-ups and takeout meals.

Five years later, Elvie’s is still going strong. Earlier this year, the restaurant was named a James Beard Awards Semifinalist.

The menu, split between day and night, includes classic Southern breakfast dishes such as home fries and cheese grits, as well as some more upscale dishes, including oysters and caviar service. The menu includes a wide range of wines and specialty cocktails.

Sacred Ground Barbecue

Sacred Ground Barbecue, tucked away in Pocahontas, opened in 2024 and has quickly become a local favorite.

The newcomer to the Mississippi barbecue scene won the first-ever Clarion Ledger Jackson Metro BBQ Battle in August.

After five weeks and five rounds of bracket-style voting, starting with 32 competitors, Sacred Ground emerged victorious. The menu’s non-traditional dishes managed to beat out established local favorites week after week.

Award-winning local chef Derek Emerson opened the restaurant in late 2024. Emerson, originally from California, started his culinary journey working at the Subway on East Northside Drive in 1989.

When the old Tivoli’s Crawfish building next to the former Big D’s Barbecue went up for sale, Emerson and his wife knew it was perfect for a barbecue joint. The location is far enough away from the busy city, but close enough to make the drive worthwhile.

The name “Sacred Ground” is an homage to the sacred Native American mounds across the street. According to Emerson, the mounds were not burial mounds, but rather served as a central meeting place and ceremonial site.

Sacred Ground’s menu includes some twists on BBQ classics like Kung Pao Pork Belly and BBQ baked potatoes. You can also get plates of brisket, turkey, tri tip, pulled pork, pork ribs and even lamb.

Other menu items include Frito pie, nachos, house-made sausage, brisket melts, smash burgers and smoked pork butts.

American South’s 2025 Recommended Restaurants

In addition to the two Bib Gourmand descriptions, Mississippi garnered eight spots on the American South’s 2025 Recommended Restaurants list:

Ajax Diner, Oxford
City Grocery, Oxford
Snackbar, Oxford
Taylor Grocery, Taylor
Pulito Osteria, Jackson
Siren Social Club, Gulfport
Vestige, Ocean Springs
White Pillars, Biloxi

Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com

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Mississippi

Mississippi woman fatally shoots monkey escaped from overturned truck

Published

2 days ago

November 2, 2025

Press Room

Mississippi woman fatally shoots monkey escaped from overturned truck

One of the monkeys that escaped after a truck overturned on a Mississippi roadway on 28 October was shot and killed early Sunday by a homeowner who said she feared for the safety of her children.

Jessica Bond Ferguson said she was alerted early Sunday by her 16-year-old son who said he thought he had seen a monkey running in the yard outside their home near Heidelberg, Mississippi. She got out of bed, grabbed her firearm and her cellphone, and stepped outside where she saw the monkey about 60 ft (18 meters) away.

Bond said she and other residents had been warned that the escaped monkeys were potentially diseased, so she fired her gun.

“I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” Bond, who has five children ranging in age from four to 16, told the Associated Press. “I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up and that’s when he fell.”

The Jasper county sheriff’s office confirmed in a social media post that a homeowner had found one of the monkeys on their property Sunday morning but said the office didn’t have any details. The Mississippi department of wildlife, Fisheries, and parks took possession of the monkey, the sheriff’s office said.

The Rhesus monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, which routinely provides primates to scientific research organizations, according to the school. In a statement, Tulane University said the monkeys do not belong to the university, and they were not being transported by the university.

The Jasper sheriff’s office initially said the monkeys were carrying diseases including herpes, but Tulane said in a statement that the monkeys “have not been exposed to any infectious agent”.

After also initially reporting that all but one monkey had been killed, the sheriff’s office said that three monkeys remained at large and were being searched for.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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How Mississippi State football finally ended 16-game, two-year SEC losing streak

Published

3 days ago

November 2, 2025

Press Room

How Mississippi State football finally ended 16-game, two-year SEC losing streak

FAYETTEVILLE, AR — Mississippi State football found itself in a familiar position.

The Bulldogs were in another tight game in the fourth quarter, like three of their previous four SEC games. All of those ended in losses, with MSU seemingly finding different ways to lose each time.

But this time, Mississippi State came out on top. The Bulldogs overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Arkansas 38-35 on Nov. 1 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The MSU (5-4, 1-4 SEC) win was thrilling, with quarterback Blake Shapen throwing the game-winning touchdown to Anthony Evans III with 48 seconds remaining on a fourth down. Players were yelling and screaming in celebration as they entered the locker room afterward.

The win was more than an achievement on its own. It also snapped Mississippi State’s 16-game SEC losing streak that dated back to 2023 and was approaching the program record of 19. It was also second-year coach Jeff Lebby’s first SEC win.

The Bulldogs are one win away from their first bowl game since 2022 and can clinch it with one win in the next three games starting with No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1) at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 8 (11 a.m., ESPN).

“It feels good to get a win,” Lebby said. “It absolutely does. I’ve continued to focus on this football team, this season and who we are in the moment. Not comparing ourselves to any teams in the past. Who are we today and what gives us the best opportunity to win every single Saturday. That’s been our focus. I guess the streak will not be talked about anymore, which I do love because we have a happy locker room and the guys played their butt off to go win.”

Kamario Taylor gets an assist after Blake Shapen injury

The Mississippi State offense struggled in the first half and the Bulldogs trailed 13-7 at halftime. Then on the first play of the second half, Shapen was removed from the game after taking a hard hit that drew a roughing the passer penalty. He was evaluated for a concussion.

In came freshman Kamario Taylor, who made numerous big plays that lit a spark for MSU. Four plays after Shapen’s injury, Taylor threw a 45-yard touchdown to Evans for a 14-13 lead. Taylor also scored a 20-yard rushing touchdown that cut Arkansas’ lead to 28-21 with 4:49 remaining in the third quarter.

Despite Taylor scoring touchdowns on two of his three drives, Lebby put Shapen back in the game once he was cleared in the third quarter.

“I just wanted to know what was going on with Blake and making sure he was OK,” Lebby said. “In that situation, I wanted to have the opportunity to have Blake, who’s done it and lived it and been around. I thought that was very important.

“What Kamario did was huge. It was big for us. We needed it in a big way, but I wanted to get back to Blake and it was able to work out.”

Shapen’s first play when he returned was an interception that deflected off the hands of his receiver. Arkansas (2-7, 0-5) turned that possession into a touchdown for a 35-21 lead with 13:43 remaining. However, the Razorbacks committed 15 penalties for 158 yards in the second half and that kept Mississippi State in the game.

Mississippi State scored 17 points on its next three drives led by Shapen — a Davon Booth rushing touchdown, a Kyle Ferrie field goal and Evans’ game-winner — to complete the comeback. Shapen also threw a 32-yard pass to a sliding Brennen Thompson on fourth down during the game-winning drive.

“It means everything because of the way the guy plays the game …” Lebby said of Shapen. “He puts it on the line every time he steps in between the white lines. That’s what leaders are made of. I just talked about it, tough people win. Blake’s a winner. He’s going to win in life because he has great toughness. He puts it on the line.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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