Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach spoke on Monday about the challenge his team faces up at Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. Both teams have upset wins under their belts and it will be another major SEC clash for the Bulldogs.

What were your impressions of the Kentucky game after watching the film?

I don't know, physically, that we were always consistent, but I think mentally and emotionally we were always pretty consistent, which kept us focused throughout the game and allowed us to play at a pretty high level.

You posted one of your highest rushing totals of your time here so far, is that the result of trusting your offensive line and running backs more to give him more touches?

[Jo'quavious Marks] has always got a lot of touches. He's one of the leaders in the conference in touches and all-purpose yards. I guess you could look it up. It's quite impressive when you consider that he doesn't return kicks. That's the easiest way to get all-purpose yards the fastest is kickoff return. Our running back position, when you add on the ground and in the air is pretty high, and I think it will remain that way. The better you are at your O-line, the better your running backs are then the better your quarterback is at transitioning between things out of different sets, I think the stronger it's going to be. But the idea is not just, “Oh, we get to run. We're going to run it all the time.” There's a point where you're going to have to make choices of what you're going to do and how you are going to move the football … They either want you to throw it more or run it more. I've actually thought about running it virtually 100 percent of the time one game, throwing it 100 percent the next game. With my luck some punter will drop the damn ball and it will count as a rush. Then we'll brag about how balanced we are. We're going to tell everybody, “We're balanced.” There's nothing balanced about that. Balance has to do with production by position.

Will [Rogers] said on the final drive you told him you weren't going to just run it every play. How much has it helped you in your time as a coach to be aggressive late when the time calls for it?

Well we wanted to keep the ball. We had it for eight minutes, but you're not going to have the ball and you may not even get a first down if you're not willing to attack what the defense is giving you. I don't think you can be afraid to throw it in those situations.

Is there anything you can take from how Arkansas defended you last year? Is there any carry over?

I think they'll do some similar things. I think they'll mix it up a little more. I don't think they'll be 100 percent comfortable bringing three every time. They'll probably be a little bit more aggressive. They don't really like to blitz, though.

After seeing the film, how would you grade how Will Rogers has developed in this system?

He has done a good job. He has continued one step at a time and steadily improved. But along with that, it's hard to gauge sometimes because of the receivers. The improvement of the receivers, the offensive line and the running backs contribute to Will's improvement.

What did you think of Decamerion Richardson filling in for Martin Emerson following his targeting call?

He played good. Some of those depth and new faces we had in the secondary were pleasant surprises.

How much has improving on third down this year helped you and what do you attribute that to?

It has definitely been beneficial. I didn't realize that it was that [significant] because I guess I didn't feel like we started the season particularly good on third downs. That's one of the key things. If you keep moving the sticks then you get the ball. It's a little like lottery tickets. The more plays you have with the ball, the more chances you have to score. We try to do that.

When your defense plays as well as it has the last few weeks, how much easier does that make your job on offense?

I thought it was huge with the turnovers. I thought the turnovers were huge. I think the one that Young caught was good. Every play in the game is important, but I did think that was kind of… everyone looks for the turning point. That's the thing about turning points - you never know what the turning point is until the thing's over. I really think that interception was kind of the turning point. The one we tipped and then caught. I was hoping he scored. He tried to. I think it's critical. I think we were able to eliminate some of their possessions and generally stopped them. We held a good team, if you don't count the punt return, to 10 points. But the thing is defensively they're just like offensively. They're sitting there on film seeing all kinds of ways they can improve, and we've got to do that this week. We've got to focus on improvement this week.

Why do you think your team was able to take that step towards mental consistency this last week?

I just think it's a growth process. You do it again and again, over and over. You just get better at it. One thing we've done a good job this year is get older. We woke up every day, went out there and practiced, and looky here, we are a day older. That was helpful in the case of our team.

You've talked about building confidence, but how do you guard against overconfidence once guys start having success?

Try and just keep them focused on their job, the technique. We try to lock in the technique and detail. Think about yourself rather than think about your opponent because really yourself is always the opponent. How you do your job, that's the opponent.

You've had some pre-snap penalties put you behind the chains, but that was cleaned up on Saturday. Has that been a point of emphasis and how have you seen growth there?

I thought we got behind them a little less. We definitely got behind him a couple of times the other night. Just battled away and tried to stay the same person for each guy. Do your job. Fortunately, we were able to dig our way out of some of them, so that was pretty good.

You're one of the top interception teams on defense. Is that luck, skill on defense or an emphasis on picks?

I think, and we try to get better at it, when our defensive line affects the quarterback that helps generate that.

A few years ago an Arkansas fan started a petition to hire you as a head coach. In your experience does a petition like that ever really have any effect?

I don't know. Athletic departments can be quite political and you know schools in general. I don't know. You'd have to really ask any of them.

What stands out on film that went wrong in last year's game against Arkansas?

We never got in a rhythm at all. Their three [defensive linemen] could whip our five [offensive linemen]. We sometimes had stuff underneath. Our eyes just weren't in the right place. We didn't put the ball with what they gave us. We got frustrated and it became a series of overcorrections.

What stands out the most on offense for Arkansas?

They are one of the oldest. Back-to-back we have two of the oldest teams. Plus, they have an off week, again. I'm sure they will be prepared. They have gotten incrementally better too.

Do you have any Sunday traditions? What does a Sunday look like after a game for Mike Leach?

Exhausted, sleep. I really don't eat very much. Get to the office. We meet and we evaluate the previous film as coaches. We get a sense of our corrections. We have a team meeting where we talk about the corrections and moving forward. Then we split up and have position and special teams meetings. Then, we have a practice that evening. After the practice, I'm watching film until, on an early night, 1 a.m. A late night would be 3 a.m., because you have to get through all that film. You gotta get through the opponent's film as fast as you can. You won't finish, but the further you get the better off you will be. Sunday and Monday are the hardest.

Last year Arkansas beat you up front with three down linemen. That hasn't been the case this year. What's been the difference on the offensive line this year?

We've gotten a little better at our technique. They've played together longer. Will [Rogers] gets rid of it quicker. The receivers oftentimes get open quicker. In other words, we are more efficient. You or somebody asked about Will. The same thing with the O-line, if everybody else gets better it makes their job easier. They are contributing to that. They played pretty tough the other day and did a good job of overcoming adversity.

Can you take us through Thursday Night Football with the freshmen and what you do with them and why you do what you do?

It gets all those young guys in and gets them a lot of reps. It helps to start teaching the package. During the week a lot of the times they are on scout team running the other team's offense. We will watch the film with them and go out there to run plays to see where we're at. You always wish you had more time to coach them than we do. You are kind of focused on the guys winning the game. It is a nice little training session and a good time to go out there and work the young guys.

What do you think of your younger quarterbacks in Daniel Greek and Sawyer Robertson? What kind of hand have you been dealt there?

Pretty good I think. It has to be automatic to them. It is one thing to draw it on the board. It's another thing to become familiar with your personnel and just trigger it. They are all getting better at that. Both of them have really good arms. Sawyer has pretty good feet in the pocket. He's kind of a quick guy. I would say quick more than fast. He can move around a little bit too. They both have strong arms.

Can you talk about the job the backs and receivers do blocking?

That is kind of an undersung skill. We do make our backs block more than nearly everybody else does. The other teams will have that big H-back looking tight end guy that has blocker written all over him. Those ball-carrier flashy guys have to block for us. They do of course on Sunday as well, generally speaking. I think it lends itself to that. They do block well. They have to pass protect. They do have to occasionally run block for each other. It is kind of the ultimate warrior position. You have to rush the ball, you have to catch, you have to run block and have to pass protect, which is different. You may be on special teams too. It's quite an accomplishment to be one of those guys.

It looks like you've made the switch from Starbucks to StrangeBrew coffee. What went into that decision and did you know you're 2-0 since the switch?

Really? The biggest thing was Brandon [Langlois] is one of the greatest purveyors of coffee in the history of the world. So I leave these decisions to him. The fact they write “Hail State” on the cups is a nice touch. We left it to him. Sometimes good karma and the right people find themselves so that is what Brandon does.