By STARKVILLE – Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby considered using his last timeout before a two-point attempt with 32 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs had stormed back from a 16-point halftime deficit against Vanderbilt at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 7. A successful conversion would've tied the game and possibly forced overtime.
"I was about to use the timeout, and then I saw the picture and I loved the picture for the play," he said. "I thought we had exactly what we wanted. Obviously, I haven't seen the replay of it yet, but it's exactly what we wanted. Didn't end up making the play."
AJ Swann's pass sailed well over the head of Marquis Johnson in the back of the end zone. MSU (4-5, 2-5 SEC) lost, 25-23, to the Commodores (4-5, 1-5) for its fifth consecutive loss since star quarterback Kamario Taylor got injured.
The uncatchable pass was a fitting way for another brutal offensive game to finish. The Bulldogs did score 23 points, but that doesn't tell the full story.
One of the scores came on defense when Will Whitson returned a Jared Curtis fumble 14 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. But for most of the game, Mississippi State's offense was ineffective.
Vanderbilt had a 16-0 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs finished with 297 yards, but 150 came on the last two drives where they kicked a field goal and scored a touchdown on a 30-yard pass from Swann to Sanfrisco Magee.
Swann, who was not made available for interviews after the game, was 23-for-36 with 254 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Before the fourth quarter, Swann was 10-for-21 with 113 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Swann is Mississippi State's third different starting quarterback this season. He was playing against one of his former teams.
"I've got to do a better job of coaching (Swann) Sunday through Saturday and create some predictable outcomes for us," Lebby said. "I've talked about that a thousand times. When I call play, I expect to know what's going to happen, one of about two or three things. That has to show up for us. AJ gives us the best chance to go win and play as good as we play offensively to help our defense, who is playing their butt off right now."
Jeff Lebby explains fourth-down call on Mississippi State's first drive
The Bulldogs were moving the ball well to start the first drive but then faced a fourth-and-1 from their own 49-yard line. Instead of handing the ball off to Fluff Bothwell, who converted a third-and-1 earlier in the drive, Swann threw an incomplete pass to Anthony Evans III.
Vanderbilt took over and went three-and-out, but the failed fourth down killed Mississippi State's offensive momentum. MSU had four straight three-and-outs after that and then threw an interception on the last possession before halftime.
"The ball could've gotten handed to Fluff and it would've been really good," Lebby said. "We had a good call. It came up two other times in the game, we handed it off, and it was really, really good. Frustrating moment. We should've gotten the first down on third down.
"Those are the things I'm talking about where we can't keep overcoming third-and-2, not getting the first down when we got the play blocked really, really well. We got to go get the first down there to take the stress off the fourth-and-1. It's all over the tape. It's frustrating, but our guys are going to respond the right way."
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Why Jeff Lebby didn't call timeout before Mississippi State's failed 2-point try vs Vanderbilt
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