Following Georgia’s too-close-for-comfort 31-24 victory over short-handed Mississippi State, head coach Mike Leach met with the media. He was joined by a couple of his players to discuss their setback tonight in Athens. The following are key bullet points from Mississippi State’s media session:

Leach actually had little to say about Georgia, but had plenty of praise for his own squad, which numbered only in the 50s (SEC teams are allowed to travel as many as 70 players). Although the team entered with two victories this season, including over No. 6 LSU in the opener, the head coach claimed the loss to Georgia was State’s best game played this year. They were 26-point underdogs coming into the game.

“I think this is the best game we’ve played this year. Wish we didn’t come up short, but I’m really proud of them,” Leach said of his team. “By a significant margin, this is the best game we’ve played this year.”

Later, Leach went as far as saying that, regarding maximizing its potential, State tonight “played as hard and as well” as any team he had coached.

Led by freshman quarterback Will Rogers, who passed for 336 yards on 41 of 52 passing (the 41 completions are believed to be the most by an individual against Georgia in a single game), State struck early—and actually led their hosts, 17-10, late in the second quarter.

The visiting Bulldogs’ overall effort was not surprising for freshman receiver Jaden Walley, who led State with seven receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown.

"We knew we belonged here. We just thought [Georgia was] on the same level as us and we could compete with them a little bit,” Walley said. “We just harped on playing the next play and keeping energy up on the sideline."

While Georgia’s passing attack flourished behind transfer JT Daniels, UGA's run game was disastrous, netting just eight rushing yards on 23 attempts. Senior linebacker Erroll Thompson gave State’s defensive coordinator, Zach Arnett, credit for stuffing Georgia’s ground game.

"I feel like Coach Arnett did a really good job game-planning and knowing we've [given up] a lot of boundaries runs from everybody, so we emphasized stopping them,” said Thompson who totaled five tackles and a sack tonight. “I feel like Coach Arnett did a great job installing packages to slow that up.”

Leach was, at times, brief when speaking to the media. On the mood of his team traveling to Athens, considering the number of players it had lost: “We were just excited to have a game.” If depth was the reason why Georgia’s defense started to finally make stops in the final quarter (after scoring on four of its first six possessions, State was forced to punt or turned the ball over on downs on each of its final four possessions): “I think it was depth.”

Nevertheless, it was certainly clear that Leach was extremely proud of his inexperienced, depleted squad—and how, as a significant underdog, it nearly upset the No. 13 team in the nation.

“It’s hard for teams, generally speaking, to stay on the field with Georgia,” Leach said. “But, we played extremely hard—and well, for the most part.”