Auburn’s 39-33 loss against Mississippi State continued a demoralizing five-game losing streak. The Tigers parted with head coach Bryan Harsin after 21 games and a 9-12 record on Monday and promoted Cadillac Williams to interim head coach.

Williams told reporters he slept around 10 hours during the week before entering the contest against the Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium. He likely rested well on Saturday after finishing his duties with media obligations, visiting with recruits, and recording the postgame show.

There wasn’t the historical moment of Auburn’s first win with an African-American head coach for Williams, who didn’t shy away from the emotional week. However, the Tigers rushed back from a 24-3 deficit to take a 25-24 lead with 6:36 left in the game on Tank Bigsby’s 41-yard touchdown run.

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Auburn nearly brought the game home when Jarquez Hunter plowed into the endzone with 1:05 left.

“Two things we talked about all week was serve and believe,” Williams said. “I think those guys exemplified it. They showed that. So, my message to those guys was, we’re not going to take this as a loss. Yeah, we didn’t complete the mission yet; we lost, but there’s so many, so many, so many life lessons. So many life lessons that these kids are going to learn from (tonight).”

Williams watched the 33-30 lead evaporate on a field goal at the end of the fourth. One of the lessons will come from how Auburn handled the game’s final moments. Mississippi State got the back after the game-tying field goal because of a misstep by the Tigers during the ensuing kickoff.

The Bulldogs missed the 51-yard attempt, but it shouldn’t have happened. Williams could’ve pointed the finger at Sean Jackson for mishandling the ball leading to the extra possession. Instead, Williams acknowledged an error on his part.

“Honestly, it’s totally on me. I’m a firm believer in that you get what you emphasize. I emphasized two things all week: serve and believe,” Williams said. “I just added the discipline part today. So it’s: serve, discipline, and believe. Those kids are going to get better. They had a lot going on this week. I told Sean Jackson and all of them that it’s nobody’s fault. We’re going to wrap our hands around Sean.”

“Kids make mistakes. We have to get better with the discipline aspect of it, which I just emphasized today. Don’t look at the kid; that’s entirely on me.”

Williams took the blame for Auburn losing while giving the players the praise for the comeback. It was a tough week for the Tigers, but the postgame mood was upbeat. Auburn hopes to translate the good vibes into a win with the reeling Texas A&M Aggies coming to town this weekend.

“It was just positivity around everywhere,” Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford, who rushed for two touchdowns, said. “Just being happy, because we knew, I kind of feel like everybody knew what happened was just kind of rough. You’re deep into the season, and it’s not going how we want it to, but at the end of the day, Coach ‘lac, he’s been nothing but great to us. I have so much love for him; the positivity brings, I mean, you can’t match it. To go out there and play for somebody like that is great.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.