Everything Jeff Lebby said after Mississippi State's loss to Georgia

Here's everything Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said after his team's 41-21 loss to No. 5 Georgia on Saturday.

ICYMI: Instant Reaction to No. 5 Georgia dominating Mississippi State

On Blake Shapen...

He wanted to get back in the game. He came back out and after exam, we got inside and things checked out and then he got on the field and, man, he was, he was hurting and wasn't able to get back in the game. So obviously went with one. Blake did. He felt like he could have got in there. He was going to be very, very limited. Appreciate his toughness for wanting to get back in. But it was the right thing to do to go play one.

On offensive struggles after opening drive...

Really frustrating because 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 to where that drive didn't kill. But we do. We end up, I think, second and 19, maybe even worse. Where we're taking a shot on first down, the ball's got to come out. We can't take a sack in that situation. That killed that drive, obviously, in a huge way. And for us, we have the two false starts where we end up in situations where we're fourth and four and fourth and five. And the false starts, like, that has not been us. It showed up last week and then have two of them in the first half this week. And those are drive killers for us. We're not good enough to overcome things like that in those moments. So very frustrating. And, again, had the ability to have some run game going, but we were never able to sustain. And that was the most frustrating part. Did not have explosives. I think they had five 30-plus plays. We had one, so we got dominated in the explosive game world, which has not been us, and that, again, frustrating.

On the defense against Georgia...

Today, we did not play our best, but that was all the way around, and not just the defense. I think the way the end of the half happened and then the way they started in the second half, to me, that's where the game gets completely away from us. Again, really frustrating because we have the ability to get off the field. We have the offsides. We have the targeting in their two-minute drive as they go down and then score a touchdown with 11 seconds left. Those are the things, again, we're not good enough to do those things and then be able to overcome that. And so that's the lesson. That's the teaching point. Our guys understand that. I did. I thought we had a good week of practice, and for us to play the way we played today, again, frustrating.

On conversations after Georgia scoring 21 in the middle eight minutes of the game...

Just play the next play. Create predictable outcomes. Take care of the football. Do exactly what you've been coached to do. But again, you just mentioned it, the 21 points. The game got away from us in the middle eight. That's exactly what happened. And again, so frustrating for some of those moments to where they make great plays, and we don't make the play, and then we have the penalties to keep them on the field. And again, things that cannot show up for us, for us to have the ability to go win.

On decision to not kick a field goal in the second quarter...

I'd like for us to catch the ball and have the ability to go make that play. We were going to be aggressive in plus territory. Talked about it all week long. We were seven or less was a go for us in that situation. We're fourth and five. Absolutely loved what we had up. And again, for us, we've got to make those plays. We had a false start on that drive to make us fourth and five. We got to make those plays in that moment. They made incredible plays. Their tight ends made a couple of incredible plays for some chunks. And that is, that's the message. The false start kills that drive to put us in a fourth and five. For us, we were going to be aggressive all week. Talked about it all week. And wanted to be able to go convert and go score a touchdown.

On Kamario Taylor's development...

Proud of him for the toughness and the way he was trying to respond in the moment. Just so many things to be able to go clean up. Putting him in the second quarter and having those back-to-back plays. We had the ability. Again, that was the false start. We're in a really good call. And again, don't get the play off because we jumped at left guard. That was, again, that's the fourth and five where we don't end up converting there right before the half. But Kamario's continued to get better. I trust him to be able to go take care of the ball. He made some really good plays with his feet when things weren't perfect. Had the ability to do a couple other things to make some layups. As we talk about, we've got to be able to make the layups at that position. And we'll continue to coach him in that way. And he'll continue to get better and better. I know it's frustrating the way it ended.

On the fan support this week...

I'm pissed off and disappointed because our people showed up. And cannot be more appreciative for what our stadium looked like today. What the town and the community have done to create this energy and this buzz for us. And that is one of the most frustrating pieces of it for me, for us to go play the way we played today. Man, we picked a bad time not to be at our best against a really, really good football team. And that, again, incredibly frustrating because dang sure thankful and appreciative of our energy and our support that showed up today.

On the rushing defense...

We do have to be better setting edges. There's no question about that. The edge of our defense at times has been an issue. We talked about it in the middle of the game today. For whatever reason, again, just getting glued and not having the ability to get off and go affect the run game the way we needed to at the line of scrimmage to me was a huge part of it. Man, we got to strike and shed blocks in a great way to give ourselves a chance against great backs and two great tight ends in that O line.

On Isaac Smith's health status...

I do not. So both those guys obviously get checked out tomorrow and then be able to go from there.

On impact of Smith's absence...

Yeah, again, (Smith and Jahron Manning) are two guys that have had a ton of production, have had this huge impact from a leadership standpoint, both those guys being vocal and having great energy and playing with great toughness. You lose those two guys, obviously, when we lost them. That does not benefit us. I think that's obvious. Guys got to find ways to be able to go step up and go play ball and then make the plays when we have opportunities to make them.

On what difficulty stopping Georgia's rushing attack...

The backs, for them, did a really good job. They did a really good job targeting. And again, our edges weren't what they needed to be. I did not think we tackled the way we needed to tackle and the way we've tackled prior to, obviously, today. And again, a lot of frustrating moments. But again, the two tight ends that they play nonstop and those follow line and those two backs, they did. They played better than we did. And that's the reality of it.

On post-game message to team...

The message was is we have a lot left in front of us. Just like I just said in here, we picked a really bad time to play the way we played today. And for us, man, having the ability to be able to get back in the building, to be able to clear it, and to understand we've got this incredible opportunity as we go on the road next week. And I want to see no pity party. I don't want to see anybody feeling sorry for themselves. I want to see guys with great toughness, great edge, being pissed off about responding the right way and being able to go get in a fight and go win next Saturday. That's the expectation. And every single person inside that locker room has that responsibility. And again, everything always starts and ends with me. So I've got to find ways to make sure that we're ready to go play next Saturday night.

On CB Kelley Jones...

Kelly was a captain for us today because of how he's gone about his business. This is a guy that, as I point to him, he is eager to get coached every day. There's great urgency in him getting coached. And he's fighting every day to get better. He's got this incredible skill set. But what he's done from the first day we got here until today and what he's got ahead of him is special. So proud of Kelly, proud of who he is. He's got an elite future ahead of him.