Everything head coach Jeff Lebby said after State's 24-20 win over No. 10 Arizona State

Mississippi State knocked off No. 10 Arizona State in dramatic fashion Saturday evening at Davis Wade Stadium with a 24-20 victory. Afterwards, head coach Jeff Lebby met with the media to discuss the major victory and shared his thoughts:

Opening comment
Lebby: Just to get it started, what an atmosphere, what an evening. That is Davis Wade at its finest. I think the funnest thing for our guys, everything we’ve been through as we’re in Year 2 in a program, to see our university show up the way we showed up tonight for a top 10 team coming in here is special. That is what I told the guys. So much to be thankful for and we’re just getting started.

Q: What kind of message does this send about your team?
Lebby: I think for me, the message it sends is we’re trending the right way. We have a ton of work to do, but to find a way to win after all the things that happened inside the game. The way we started and the things that happened in the second half. And then get the ball back with no timeouts, down a field goal and go right down the field and score. There’s belief inside our walls. Our guys know what we’re capable of. We have continue to play a lot better to get where we want to do. But what an incredible night for our program.

Q: Down the stretch when Arizona State had first and goal late, did you personally believe this team still had a chance?
Lebby: I knew if we got the football back that we’d have a chance to go score. The thought right there was to make sure we used all our timeouts and find a way to fight like heck to hold them to a field goal. Man, you taalk about proud moments as a football coach inside that game. There’s none prouder than finding a way to hold them to a field goal at the two yard line after what had happened on that drive. For us to bow our neck, get the ball back. We had plenty of time to go play because how we do play. There was a lot of belief there, especially after we got the second down stop. I felt like we had a real chance to hold these guys to a field goal.

Q: A lot of games for State have played out differently than it did tonight. What’s that say about your team?
Lebby: I think our guys were calm and confident. We felt really good down three points and having the opportunity to go win the game. I can promise you this, kicking a field goal was not being talked about as we took the field. It was go win the game and go win the game right now. That was the attitude, that was the mindset. There was great confidence in calling this from the entire unit and we found a way to get it done.

Q: Were you surprised with the coverage on Brenen Thompson on that touchdown catch?
Lebby: They were trying to show something and then I think the disguise ended up costing them. Brenen made a great decision and when I saw what was unfolding on the snap, I felt like it had a chance for a chunk. Brenen did a great job of getting the ball in his hands, beating the guy in front of him and finding a way to win the game.

Q: As a play caller, was there a moment when you saw that play and thought it could be a homerun play?
Lebby: I thought it was going to be a big, big play. I loved the call as soon as I saw the structure of the defense. But you still have to pitch and catch. You still have to protect, there’s a lot that goes on. You could tell that in earlier parts of the game where we had some miscues. But I did. As we were snapping the ball, I felt like it had a chance to be a good one and it was.

Q: What did it mean for you to see Blake Shapen have that moment?
Lebby: The dude is such a competitor. He’s got such great belief in himself and his teammates. You see him put it on the line every time he steps on the field. He plays with great edge, great toughness. He has moments inside the game that he will want back, like we all did, and then he finds a way to go do what he does on the last drive, and is incredibly clean and really executes at a high level and gives us an opportunity to go win the game. I’m proud of everybody, but incredibly proud of Blake for staying the course, doing his job at a high level and go win.

Q: What does this win mean for this program and the fans?
Lebby: I think it means, again, that we’re trending in the right direction. Today it was about being 2-0, finding a way to go 1-0 today and being 2-0. We have this incredible home stretch we’re looking at that we can take advantage of our situation, being able to here in Davis Wade in the early month, and incredibly excited. That was the message to the guys. Incredible win. It was a fun night. There is so much to learn from but we’re 2-0 and just getting started.

Q: Your thoughts on left tackle Jayvin James?
Lebby: He played tough. Proud of Jayvin. Jayvin didn’t travel to Southern Miss. He starts tonight and plays every snap at left tackle. He strained, played incredibly hard. We will have to watch the tape and I’m sure there will be plenty to clean up. But proud of his mindset, his toughness, his attitude. He had great energy on the sideline the entire night when things weren’t perfect. Excited for him.

Q: Take us through that sequence on the goal line where Arizona State was held to a field goal.
Lebby: We talk about this non-stop inside the program. Defensively, find a way to get the guy on the ground and make the offense snap the ball again. There’s no better tale that just what happened. We’re able to line up and had incredible physicality for next three plays to keep them out of the end zone and give us an opportunity to go win the game. I told the team, I’m proud of the team for a lot of things. The goal line stand, unquestionably, being able to go do that in that situation after all that happened in the second half was special.

Q: Any update on Will Whitson?
Lebby: We don’t. He was playing really, really well. We will have to see where that lands.

Q: Nic Mitchell has stuck around for five years now. How was it seeing him make those plays on the goal line?
Lebby: Consistency, just an incredible teammate. He is all about the team every day all day, and he has just continued to get better and better. After the year he went through last year, to put himself in a position to start for us and be such a huge part of our defense. That’s a credit to him and who he is as a person. Proud of that dude.

Q: What is the challenge now after getting that first big win?
Lebby: We’re going to see a lot of things on the tape that weren’t very good. We’ll be able to coach really hard on Monday as soon as the guys get in. To me, all the talk going up to the kickoff, it was going 1-0 tonight. The blackout, the energy in the stadium, all the noise that was happening outside, just control what we can control. Go 1-0 so that we have the ability to be 2-0. And then we’re at home again next Saturday then just truly take it one step at a time. I think if we do that, we have to show great maturity in being able to handle this victory. That’s my job.

Q: What was it like to see the crowd stick around unlike last year?
Lebby: It was special and for us, it says we’re trending the right way. I’ve continued to say it. We have incredible belief within the building. We have the right people inside the building. We’ve got to continue to coach well and hard, and get these guys to respond the right way. I think everybody inside the stadium felt like we had the opportunity to beat a top 10 or 11 team. That was a real thing.

Q: What does it say about your summer conditioning for the defense to have enough juice left to get the stop?
Lebby: I think it shows great toughness. It shows great edge. I continue to say it but it shows belief and finding a way to hold them to a field goal. That was my message to them. We got three time outs left, hold them to a field goal and we will find a way to go score and win the game. That was the message. It was incredibly consistent. The guys felt that, understood that and that is believing in one another. That is exactly how it ended up.

Q: What did that win mean to you?
Lebby: I’ve talked about our community and how much connection there is here, the passion and support there’s been for Mississippi State and it was on full display tonight. Being Bulldogs, it’s about us. It’s not about anybody else. Let’s do exactly what we need to do to continue to move our program forward. Find a way next Saturday to go 3-0.

Q: Your thoughts on going for it on 4th and 6 in the fourth quarter?
Lebby: There was a third and 1 and we had a false start. We threw in breaking routes on third and six, which was very questionable. On fourth down, we hard count, they jump, and they didn’t call the offside. So we’ll have to go back and look at that, but that’s exactly those three plays.

Q: What does it mean to you to see Shapen and Thompson, who chose to spend their last season with you, to share that moment?
Lebby: Pretty special. Those two guys have been so consistent. They’re the same people every single day, and they’re really good football players. For them to have that opportunity in that moment tonight, I could not feel any better for those two guys to be the guys to go win it.

Q: How did you feel Kelley Jones handled the challenge of facing Jordyn Tyson tonight?
Lebby: I thought Kelley played really well. We will go back and watch it and plenty to clean up. But he challenged him in a great way and challenged him non-stop. That was good to see and we needed it.