MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mike Leach and the Mississippi State football team didn’t lose too much sleep when the Southeastern Conference media poll came out during SEC Football Media Days in late July.

The Bulldogs were projected to finish seventh in the SEC West division. Dead last, in other words.

But they shrugged it off. They had their own set of expectations, developed by those around the program who saw every day what was taking place inside the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex.

In 2021, Mississippi State turned outside presumptions on their head. But after Tuesday’s 34-7 loss to Texas Tech in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the Bulldogs know they fell short of their own goals.

“We’re going to work a lot harder this year to try and meet our expectations,” head coach Mike Leach promised.

Still, despite its ugly end, the season showed a lot of progress in the eyes of Leach and his team.

The Bulldogs beat four teams who spent time in the AP Top 25 — NC State, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Auburn. They finished the regular season at 7-5, going 4-4 in SEC play and winding up fourth in their division, upending the preseason projection.

“We kind of wrecked that for y’all but didn’t wreck it as bad as I would have liked to,” Leach said.

Missed opportunities cost the Bulldogs chances at wins against Memphis, LSU, Arkansas and Ole Miss. Quarterback Will Rogers said at the end of the regular season MSU could have won at least two more games and reiterated the statement Tuesday, saying 10 or 11 wins were in reach.

Still, there were games — Oct. 16 against Alabama and Tuesday night against Texas Tech — in which Mississippi State was simply outplayed. They served as reminders that the Bulldogs aren’t at the top of the SEC just yet.

But Leach knows the good produced by the squad he called the youngest team he’s ever coached.

“I thought we got better and better as the year went on,” he said. “I feel like we let some get away, but I didn’t feel like we faded.”

Mississippi State roared back from a 25-point deficit to win at Auburn, the likely highlight of a respectable year for a youth-led team. Rogers is a sophomore. So are running backs Jo’quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson. So is top wide receiver Makai Polk. So is cornerback Emmanuel Forbes.

The Bulldogs won’t bring back the same team in 2022, and their attrition had already begun when they took the field Tuesday in Memphis. Star left tackle Charles Cross opted out of the Liberty Bowl to prepare for the NFL draft, as did cornerback Martin Emerson. Other players were out, but the two key losses clearly played a role. Reserve linemen Nick Jones and Kameron Jones both allowed pressure on Rogers, and Emerson’s replacement Decamerion Richardson was at one point burned for a big play.

Mississippi State will miss Cross, Emerson and other key players next season. Safety Fred Peters confirmed after the game he had exhausted his eligibility and will not return, a loss in the secondary.

But the Bulldogs bring in a top-25 recruiting class and an extra year for most of their top players on both sides of the ball. Rogers, who already set plenty of records as a sophomore, said his team needs to get older, faster and stronger to compete next season.

That won’t be easy against a 2022 schedule featuring both Alabama and Georgia as MSU trades Vanderbilt for the College Football Playoff participant, a bit of an unfair swap.

Of course, the Bulldogs stood up to tough competition in 2021. Next season, Leach hopes, the same will hold true.

“I didn’t feel like our guys wilted,” Leach said. “I thought they really stood up to a lot of challenges that people weren’t expecting them to be able to do. I think that’s impressive.”

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.