Bulldogs Hold First Football Practice of 2020 Season

by Josh Lively, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – The Bulldogs returned to the gridiron on Tuesday night, as Mississippi State held its first practice of the fall at the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex.

State practiced in helmets and will work its way up to pads later in the week, as the Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. All practices and scrimmages during preseason camp are closed to the public.

Following Tuesday's practice, first-year head coach Mike Leach met with the media.

"I think they were excited to be out there and just had a sigh of relief," said Leach about what he saw from the team. "Everybody is grateful and relieved that we are able to practice. The energy was really good. For a period of time, [the players] lost something that was very meaningful to them that they had worked their whole lives for, and they were afraid it may not come back this season."

On Monday night, the Southeastern Conference unveiled its revised 2020 10-game, conference-only football schedule. Mississippi State will open the campaign with a road game at LSU on Sept. 26. Fans can refer to the MSU schedule release for more details about State's opponents.

Mike Leach Media Session Quotables – Aug. 18, 2020

Q: Where does the quarterback battle stand going into the fall after not having spring practice and have you named a starter?

ML: "No we haven't. I doubt we will until maybe as late as the week before – game week. I hope it doesn't extend that far, but it certainly could. We're trying to roll them through as we can in these practices, get the best look that we can. It'll be more of a sudden decision than I'd like because you'd like to see more body of work out of all of them. Today, we repped K.J. [Costello], [Garrett] Shrader and Will Rogers."

Q: When you think about where you are Day 1 here compared to Day 1 at Texas Tech or Washington State, how much further are you behind in what you wanted to have done at this point?

ML: "I think we're a little further along athletically. Yeah, we're a little further behind in practices and work. I think that we had good effort. I thought we bounced around. Based on where we left off, I would categorize this work as better than average. But obviously, we have a lot of work to do. I thought we were aggressive and explosive, but we waste too many steps. We're not as precise as I would like it to be in technique. We've just got to keep working at it."

Q: Did it get the competitive juices flowing to see that you're getting LSU in Week 1?

ML: "Yeah, I mean okay so it's LSU. Okay, so what if it was Georgia? What if it was Alabama? What if it was Auburn? The list goes on. I mean I knew it was going to be somebody. I will say this. I think this is going to be exciting for college football. I think you guys would all agree with me on this, this is probably the most competitive and demanding schedule in the history of college football. Not just for us, but for our whole conference. If there's ever been an era, a day, a time where there's been a more competitive schedule, a more demanding schedule, than what we have this season in the SEC for all the teams involved, I'd be curious what that is."

Q: What have you seen in terms of improvement that needs to be made or have these guys picked up where they left off from those virtual meetings?

ML: "I thought that they picked up a lot from the virtual meetings, more than I thought they would. It's a challenge. As you and I sit here, we find this challenging – at least I do – because the human interaction part is, I think, a big deal. As far as out there on the field, it's almost like they feel kind of unleashed in many cases. They're just excited to be out there. It's a sigh of relief, knock on wood, let's keep rolling and hopefully we can stay out here. I would categorize it as grateful and relieved that we're out here and able to practice. I think the energy has been really good and a portion of that has to do with the fact that there was a period of time where they lost something that was very meaningful to them, that they worked their whole lives for. They were afraid that it may not come back this season. I think one day in, so far so good. We're hoping it sustains. They are thrilled to be out there, and I think they would all agree with me on that. That's really been the reaction of nearly everybody. We all found other things to do, some of us not as well as others. Even if it was quite fulfilling in the short run, I think everybody is glad to have some semblance of being back to doing what we've trained and prepared to do."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Bulldogs Hold First Football Practice of 2020 Season

Players Mentioned

Will Rogers

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