ATLANTA — The theme for second-year Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby at SEC media days earlier this month: Changing the Outcome.
No kidding.
Lebby’s first edition of the Bulldogs went 0-8 in SEC play, outscored by an average of 17.8 points per conference game. None of the losses were by single digits.
While back-to-back 10-point losses against Georgia and Texas A&M in October served as hopeful harbingers, that relative momentum came crashing the following week with a 58-25 home loss to Arkansas.
The Bulldogs beat Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in Lebby’s debut and thumped UMass 45-20 on Nov.