Everything Jeff Lebby said after 'frustrating' loss to Georgia

Mississippi State had a lot of things going right for them this weekend as Starkville hosted a giant party from Friday through Saturday evening.

Opportunities were ahead for State to make it even special with No. 5 Georgia in town, but the team couldn’t find a way. Thanks to over 300 rushing yards and a dominant defensive effort for most of the game, Georgia was able to build a huge lead and cruise in a 41-21 win over State.

After the game, head coach Jeff Lebby spoke on the issues that plagued State in its fifth SEC loss and what has to be done to fix it.

Question: Do you have an update on Blake Shapen?

JL: “Blake wanted to get back in the game and after the exam he was hurting and wasn’t able to get back in the game. We obviously went with (Kamario Taylor). Blake felt like if he got back in there he was going to be limited. Appreciate his toughness for wanting to get back in, but it was the right thing to do to play 1.”

Q: You start the game with a great offensive possession and then the offense went scoreless for several possessions. What happened with your offense after that start?

JL: “Really frustrating. We had some negative plays. We took a huge sack in a seven-man pro situation where we’ve got to find a way to get the ball out of our hand so the drive isn’t killed. We end up 2^nd and 19. We can’t take a sack in that situation and that killed that drive in a huge way. For us, we have the two false starts where we end up in situations where we’re 4^th and 4 and 4^th and 5. Those are drive killers. We’re not good enough to overcome those things in those moments.

“Very frustrating. We had the ability to get some run game going, but we were never able to sustain and that was the most frustrating part. Did not have many explosives. They had five 30+ plays and we had one so we got dominated in the explosive game world which has not been us. Just frustrating.”

Q: The defense has struggled over the last few quarters. Are you seeing something there?

JL: “Today we did not play our best and that was all the way around, not just the defense. I think the way the end of the half happened and then the way they started the second half, that’s when the game gets completely away from us. Really frustrating because we had the ability to get off the field and we have the offsides and the targeting as they go down and score the touchdown with 11 seconds left. We’re not good enough to do those things and then go be able to overcome that.

“That’s the lesson and teaching point and our guys understand that. I thought we had a good week of practice and for us to play the way we played today, frustrating.”

Q: What was your approach with Kamario when he had to come into the ball game?

JL: “Just play the next play. Create predictable outcomes, take care of the football and do exactly what you’ve been coached to do. The game got away from us in the middle eight. That’s exactly what happened. SO frustrating for some of those moments where they make great plays and we don’t make plays and then we have penalties to keep them on the field. Those are things that cannot show up for us to have the ability to go win.”

Q: What went into the decision to go for it on 4^th down in the first half and how did you feel like things fell apart after that?

JL: “I’d like for us to catch the ball and have the ability to go make the play. We were going to be aggressive in plus territory and talked about it all week long. We were seven or less going to go for it in that situation and it was 4^th and 5. I absolutely loved what we had up. For us, we’ve got to make those plays in that moment. They made the incredible plays. Their tight ends made a couple of incredible plays for chunks.”

Q: How did you think Kamario Taylor performed?

JL: “Proud of him for the toughness and the way he was trying to respond in the moment. So many things to be able to go clean up. Putting him in during the second quarter and we had those back-to-back plays. That’s the false start and we make the call and don’t get the play off because we jumped at left guard. Kamario has continued to get better and I trust him to be able to go take care of the ball. He made plays with his feet when things weren’t perfect and had the ability to do a couple of other things to make some layups. We’ve got to be able to make the layups at that position. We’ll continue to coach him in that way and he’ll continue to get better and better.”

Q: Can you speak on the buzz around town the last couple of days?

JL: “I’m pissed off and disappointed because our people showed up. I cannot be more appreciative for what our stadium looked like today and what the town and community did to create this buzz for us. That’s one of the more frustrating pieces of it for me. For us to go play the way that we did today, we picked a bad time to not go play at our best against a really good football team. Incredibly frustrating because I’m dang sure appreciative of our energy and our support that showed up today.”

Q: Are you noticing patterns in how teams are attacking your defense?

JL: “We do have to be better setting edges, there’s no question about that. The edge of our defense has been an issue. We talked about it in the middle of the game today, but for whatever reason, just getting glued and not having the ability to get off and go effect the run game the way we needed to at the line of scrimmage was a huge part of it. We’ve got to strike and shed blocks to give ourselves a chance against great backs, two great tight ends and that o-line.”

Q: Do you have an update on Isaac Smith and Jahron Manning’s injuries?

JL: “I do not. Both of those guys will get checked out (Sunday). They’ve had a ton of production and this huge impact from a leadership standpoint. Those guys being vocal, having energy and playing with great toughness; you lose those guys when we lost them and that does not benefit us. I think that’s obvious. Guys have got to find ways to be able to step up, go play ball and make plays when we have opportunities to go make them.”  

Q: What made it tough to stop the run game?

JL: “The backs for them did a really good job and our edges weren’t what we needed them to be. We didn’t tackle the way we needed to tackle. The two tight ends that they play non-stop with those five o-linemen and the backs played better than we did. That’s the reality.