Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby - "Being close is not why we do what we do."

Mississippi State football is starting to grow accustomed to "being close". They were close for three quarters on the road at Texas. They were close late in the game at Georgia. And on Saturday against Texas A&M, State was genuinely a few plays away from springing an upset over the Aggies.

But for Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby, the "closeness" of these recent losses makes the final outcome all the more frustrating, as he explained in Saturday's postgame press conference.

"That's where the frustration lies...Our guys had the belief that we had the ability to win. Being close is not why we do what we do...Finding a way to make the play to win the game is something we need to do."

- Miss State HC Jeff Lebby

State had a lot of chances to make winning plays on Saturday. There were 3rd & Long situations they allowed Texas A&M to convert, dropped interceptions, wasted offensive possessions, and failed 4th down attempts. As Lebby puts it, the Bulldogs missed on lot of "layups".

"We didn't play good enough defensively. We didn't play good enough offensively to win the game. There are layups we have to make. We have to make them on both sides of the ball. "

- Jeff Lebby

Of course the fact that the Bulldogs are even in a position where a handful of plays going the other way could win them the game is an improvement. Earlier in the season, those game-changing opportunities didn't exist because of how poorly they were playing. Lebby recognizes that his team has improved. Now it's about taking the next step to finding a way.

"We've gotten better. I don't think there's any doubt about that. We're finding a bit of an identity at times. We have to create more consistency...We have to make the play that can change the outcome of the game."

- Jeff Lebby

Until that next step is taken, however, the frustrations will continue for Mississippi State. Ultimately, true joy isn't going to come until this team is able to find a win. Lebby hopes his team will soon see their effort pay dividends.

"These guys are fighting every day for State, for us, for me, and they're not getting the feel-good. I want to give them that opportunity, and hopefully that will happen next Saturday. "

- Jeff Lebby.

For as frustrating as things may be presently, if the Bulldogs continue on their current trajectory, they will soon convert on those key plays and come away with a win. Eventually, the breakthough is going to happen. We'll see if Mississippi State can find that breakthrough when they host Arkansas next week.