STARKVILLE – Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby faced the media yesterday with a new perspective on his team’s catastrophic loss to Texas on Saturday.
When asked about the process of watching the film and self-evaluation, the MSU head coach named his key decision in the final minute as one that he wants back “in a big way.”
Lebby blamed himself for the way he handled the two-minute drill offensive drive, allowing the clock to run down rather than burning a timeout on the edge of field-goal range.
“Sunday is a huge reflection day for me,” Lebby began in answering the question. ”Obviously, in a lot of different areas, from whether it’s game planning, calling the game, situational football, the thing that I don’t like is not taking the timeout after second down in two-minute at the end of the game. Just incredibly conservative, not wanting to give the football back to them. It’s not who I am, and that’s the one that I’m gonna hang on to and learn from more than anything.”
The play itself on third down ended with a loss of yards after quarterback Blake Shapen fumbled and fell on the ball for an eight-yard loss.
Lebby viewed the decision in hindsight through the lens of placing more trust in making a play to set up a field goal and win as much as he did having more trust in his defense to get a stop.
Texas had the wind in its sails by that point in the game and was hitting on explosive plays downfield throughout the fourth quarter, but Lebby felt he went against his own aggressive playcalling nature in that moment.
“Had the ability, probably should have taken the timeout, bring them over,” he said of the big third down that followed a lengthy clock runout. “I love our third-down call. You go back, you watch the tape, It’s frustrating. Blake’s going to throw the check down in the flat to Von (Booth), and tip of the ball hits his thigh pad, and the ball comes out. He’s going to complete a ball from me to you, we’re going to gain 20-25 yards, call a timeout, and go kick the field goal. That’s this game. Those moments are crushing, but I want that back in a big way. That one, for me, is really frustrating.”
The head coach made a point of looking to the initial defensive drive where the Bulldogs were leading 38-21, as well. A big touchdown by Davon Booth to answer a Texas score could have been the final swing, but a personal foul on 4th-and-1 gave the Longhorns new life.
For Lebby, those two stuck out the most in the fourth quarter, small errors where he and his team should have shown the discipline to close out.
“There are so many moments in the entire football game that give us a chance to have a different outcome,” Lebby said. ”Those that I’m pointing to right now are the ones that weigh heavily on you because they are chances to win the game.”
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