Everything head coach Jeff Lebby said after Saturday's 41-34 overtime loss to Tennessee

Mississippi State was on the cusp of knocking off another Top 15 team on Saturday inside an electric Davis Wade Stadium. But costly mistakes down the stretch allowed No. 15 Tennessee to escape with a 41-34 overtime victory in State’s SEC opener.

Afterwards, a disappointed Jeff Lebby met with the media to discuss the setback:

Q: Your offensive line allowed five sacks. Your thoughts on the pass protection tonight?
Lebby: There were sacks and then there were other times where there was just pressure. It affected Blake (Shapen). They did a really good job. We got to play better, got to play smarter. Obviously, we lost Albert (Reese), and that was a killer. But that’s going to be a huge piece in this thing moving forward. We got guys that are good enough to go do it. We’ve got to be able to go do it. We have to protect against D lines that were about to face.

Q: Any updates on the guys who had to leave the game for injuries?
Lebby: I don’t know. I know not having those guys is obviously a huge deal for us. We’ll be able to get them checked out through this evening and tomorrow and see where we are at.

Q: How much of an impact do you think turnovers played?
Lebby: We gave them 14 points. So the game is completely different. We’re first and 10 right at midfield after the fake punt, probably 13 and a half minutes left, and have an issue up front. We’re going to have first and 10 at the plus 38 yard line and we’re up 24-20, and it’s 27-24. It’s the difference in the ballgame.

Q: What did you see in overtime when it was first and goal at the five?
Lebby: I wanted to find ways to be able to go run the football on first and second down with a couple of different things we liked inside the plan. Didn’t get enough and ended up third and 3 right there. Blake tries to go ahead and run it and go in with his feet and he ends up slipping. Then we ended up with fourth and four right there on the right hash, and not able to go make the play.

Q: You ran the ball well most of the game until late. Was it something Tennessee was doing to take that away?
Lebby: No, we were big-little than I wanted to be in the run game. When it was good, it was really good. And then when it wasn’t, we had a lot of zero and negative runs, which has really not been us. That was the issue with the run game. The run game was really great 90 percent of the time. But when it wasn’t good, it was bad.

Q: How would you describe the locker room after the loss?
Lebby: Crushed, disappointed. Everybody inside our walls the entire week, we knew we were going to have the opportunity to go win this game. We weren’t able to make the plays, they did make the plays to win it. That is this league and I think our guys understand that. The message is hold onto the hurt and understand these moments is what we’re fighting to stay away from. Every single day, every single week, having the opportunity to just get a little bit better so that next Saturday when we go on the road at Kyle Field, it’s the best we’ve been all year long.

Q: A big emphasis for Seydou Traore was being more physical blocking this year. What have you see in that area the past two games?
Lebby: (Traore) has strained and played hard. That’s something he’s worked at a ton and he has. He has done a really good job for us and we’re going to need him to continue to play well as we move forward.

Q: How do you feel your defense held up tonight?
Lebby: I thought we had some incredible moments. he most frustrating drive was obviously when we had the two penalties, the late hit and the roughing on the QB. They end up scoring a touchdown on the drive. We were in good situations but that was 30 yards. Outside of that drive and the first play of overtime, defensively, I thought we played really well. We had great energy and made a ton of plays, had the turnovers. Just frustrating that we spot these guys 14 points. It can’t happen against really good football teams.

Q: When you were running well in second quarter, did you consider wanting to keep running it there?
Lebby: We were four-down zone all the way. So having the ability to take a shot, and be able to throw it down the field. We were in seven man protection on first and 10. We were in four downs zone. That’s the best time to have the ability to go be the aggressor. Unfortunately, we had an issue at tackle and give up a huge sack, put us in a really bad situation.

Q: Your overall thoughts on how Shapen played tonight?
Lebby: I thought he played really tough. The interception was very unfortunate. It’s me, but had an issue with a bust on that third down and he’s really doing exactly what he’s been coached to do on the fumble, scoop, score right there at the beginning of the fourth quarter. I thought he played incredibly tough. We weren’t able to get behind these guys because of structurally what they were doing. We had a couple of opportunities for huge chunks and didn’t make those plays. That’s part of this game, too.