What Brenen Thompson, Nic Mitchell said after loss to No. 5 Georgia

Mississippi State's players didn't have a lot to say in the post-game press conference after losing to No. 5 Georgia 41-21.

Mississippi State's Brenen Thompson and Nic Mitchell showed why they're senior leaders, though, by what they said after the devastating loss.

Here's what they said:

Brenen Thompson, WR

On takeaways from the game...

I kind of think the first thing I want to say is shout out to the fans. I thought we had an amazing environment out there. Ultimately, we didn't play good enough to win, that's what happens. But there's still so much ball ahead of us. There's still two games ahead of us. There's still every opportunity to go get the ball game. So we're going to watch film, we're going to learn from our mistakes. We're going to get healthy, we're going to go attack next week.

On impact of loss to the team...

Obviously, it's not what we wanted. I think that's kind of an obvious one. But we have a decision to make. You can either quit or you can keep going. And I don't think quitting is anywhere close to the mentality in that locker room. So I think we're just going to go try to be one and own next week.

On resolve and unity in the locker room...

I feel like it's just fine. I feel like we've kind of battled this entire year, up and down, up and down, up and down. And so I think it's crucial for the leaders in the locker room, including myself, to really rally this team together. And there's still so much to fight for.

On Kamario Taylor coming in for an injured Blake Shapen...

I think he did a great job. Nothing but respect for Kamario. That's a tough position to be in. Going against one of the best defenses in the entire conference. Obviously, Blake's our guy. We want Blake in there. We want Blake to do the things that he's capable of doing. But I think Kamario is just as capable. So we tried to just lean on him, and I think he did a great job tonight.

On post-game reaction...

Yeah, for me, obviously, I'm a senior, so I don't have a lot of these left.

On helping Kamario Taylor...

Absolutely, for him, I think it's just, he's gonna be such a great player. But for me, I think he's even a better human, a better person. I think both those guys, Blake and Kamario and Luke, if you want me to be honest. So I think words from me to him is, look, you're gonna play this game a long time, I think both of them are. And so just being able to not get too distracted with outside noise and what fans are saying and what people are doing and everything like that. So for me, it's just, this team is what is important right now. Your job is what is important right now. And so just being able to go execute that and not get too high, but not get too low as well. So that's kind of been my message to him.

On team's offensive game plan...

I thought we had a great third down game plan, and tried to execute it to the best of our ability. But I think at the end of the day, we have to execute better, and so tonight wasn't good enough.

Nic Mitchell, LB

On Georgia's rushing ability...

They didn't run games. They didn't do nothing crazy. We watched, I mean, we watched all the plays. They ran out as moon, counter, split zone. I mean, we just, it was us. Us was the story, just us not doing our job to a high enough level, consistently.

On what Mississippi State can do to improve its rush defense...

It's not that complicated. It really is just do your job better, do simple better. It's not nothing. I can't come up here and tell you nothing crazy, XYZ, no, it's not that. It's do your job. If your job is to play the A gap, play the A gap. If your job is to squeeze, squeeze. If your job is to serve, serve. I mean, there's nothing crazy I can get up here and tell you. We gotta do simple better.

On Georgia's touchdowns before halftime and right after halftime...

Yeah, the middle, that's crucial. I mean, we just didn't, they got away from us. I mean, they popped the moon on us. They split us, so I mean, everybody was fired up coming out to have to get back going and get back on track. We just didn't do it.

On losing Isaac Smith and Jahron Manning during the game...

I think it's critical every time you lose key players and star players and playmakers, but it's really next man mentality. That's no excuse for us. For what we put on tape, that's not an excuse.

On Tony Mitchell...

I think he has great instincts. I mean, you see him on those TFLs, he shoots, he gets down there and he can tackle well, so Tony did a good job today. But it's obviously not good enough as a team, so we gotta get back to work and get better.

On getting ready for next week's game...

I mean, you gotta get on the plane and go to Missouri. It's no wait or let's wait and get healthy, no, no, no. You reset tomorrow, you get back to work, you get your body right, and you get ready to play Missouri. You flush this one, you can't live in the past. In this league, you can't just mope in the past, because I mean, the next game gonna hit you quick.

On defense's response to injuries and suspensions...

I mean, the goal is to get Isaac and (Manning), well, J-Man got targeting, so he's gonna be out the first half. But the goal is to get Isaac healthy, and we're gonna respond, next man up. I mean, we gotta go back and get to work and clean up the stuff we messed up on today, you know what I mean?