AUSTIN, Texas —Jeff Lebby has drawn up scouting reports for Texas and Georgia, made halftime adjustments and reviewed the game film.
Needless to say, the first-year Mississippi State head football coach has a pretty good read on what’s going to matter most when No. 5-ranked Georgia plays at No. 1-ranked Texas at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“I think both of those teams are incredibly well-rounded,” Lebby said. “That’s going to be one where taking care of the football and the explosive plays will be a huge determining factor.”
Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian and Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart have said as much, both offering up pregame praise of the success and challenges of the other program.
Lebby’s Mississippi State team lost both games, of course, falling at Texas 35-13 and losing to Georgia 41-31 last Saturday.
But the Maroon Bulldogs enjoyed enough success against the Longhorns and the Bulldogs to provide insight and possible answers for both Sarkisian and Smart.
If Mississippi State can stay within 14-6 at Texas until the final play of the third quarter, and possess the ball for 34 minutes, 57 seconds to Texas’ 25:03, why couldn’t Georgia?
And, if Lebby’s MSU team could strike for explosive plays of 72, 42 and 35 yards through the air and have a freshman quarterback pass for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns on UGA, why shouldn’t veteran Quinn Ewers have the same or more success?
Lebby, previously the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, indicated it will be quite a chess match.
“From our standpoint offensively, they’re two completely different structures,” Lebby said, asked about attacking Texas and Georgia.
“Both have really, really good personnel, but completely different when you’re talking about philosophy and schemes.”
Indeed, while Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski might not yet be a household name, but he has the Longhorns ranked No. 1 in total defense and scoring defense halfway through the regular season.
Georgia, meanwhile, has enjoyed success in Smart’s defensive models regardless of coordinator, most recently benefitting from the likes of Glenn Schumann, Will Muschamp and Travaris Robinson.
It’s probably fair to assume both Texas and Georgia invested more time into their film study and scouting reports for this Saturday night showdown than their home matchups with out-manned Mississippi State.
Lebby, to his credit, was a good enough coach to exploit that.
And now Lebby, like most everyone else in the college football world, is ready to see how it all plays out.
“It will be interesting,” Lebby said, “to see how each side of the ball goes and attacks in that game.”