Everything Jeff Lebby Said About Freshman QB Michael Van Buren

Mississippi State's coach had praise for Van Buren, but also talked about need for improvement

Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby celebrates with quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. (0) after a touchdown against the Georgia Bulldogs in the second quarter at Sanford Stadium. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Mississippi State football may not have much to celebrate, but the play of its true freshman quarterback has been worthy of celebration.

Michael Van Buren was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for his 3-touchdown, 300-yard passing day against No. 5 Georgia.

On Monday, coach Jeff Lebby talked about Van Buren at his weekly press conference. Here’s what he had to say:

On Michael Van Buren being named SEC Freshman of the Week…

I think I talked a little bit postgame I was proud of how he answered uh the bell and answered the challenges that happened inside the game. I think if you talk to Mike today he's going to be incredibly aware of how much better we need to play at the quarterback position and he did some great things. He played with toughness, he found ways to get himself out of some bad positions after having a really really bad start and to then put together some drives to give us a chance to get back in the game. So, proud of how resilient he was but again, the message is we have to play better, we've got to play cleaner, we've got to start faster to give ourselves a chance. Nobody understands that right now more than Mike does.

On Michael Van Buren and other freshman turning into big contributors…

Their daily process. Their every everyday commitment to trying to get better and then when they have the ability to make the play, making the play. I think those are the things that you see out of these guys, non-stop finding ways to just get better.

On what sparked Van Buren’s improved second half performance against Georgia…

On that fifth series he’s able to connect on the big play with [Mario Craver] and then he makes a good play to Kelly for the touchdown right there to make it 13-10. You know that big completion was one that kind of got him going and gave him some confidence.

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