TAMPA — Will Rogers held back tears, the Mississippi State sideline erupted and a flurry of cowbells drowned Raymond James Stadium as Massimo Biscardi’s 27-yard, go-ahead field goal sailed through the uprights with 4 seconds to play.

Zach Arnett, on the other hand, was stoic. In fact, he was upset.

Arnett was frustrated for making what he felt was a costly mistake in his first game as MSU’s new head coach.

“I was pretty mad at myself because that was a failure of the head coach. That should’ve been the last play of the game,” Arnett said. “Obviously, I did a poor job of communicating that were gonna center the ball, take the clock down to 2 or 3 seconds and that way we ensured that the kick was the last play of the game and that didn’t happen … I was pretty angry at myself.”

Arnett would’ve been even angrier if his mistake led to an MSU collapse in its first game of the post-Mike Leach era following his death in early-December. But it didn’t. When Illinois’ lateral-filled, last-ditch effort was returned the other way for an MSU touchdown as time expired, Arnett improved to 1-0 by virtue of a ReliaQuest Bowl victory.

What would Leach have thought of Arnett’s debut, you ask?

“He’d be pretty mad at me for some of that bad clock management,” Arnett joked. “I’ve been incredibly fortunate and lucky to learn under him these last 3 years. I did not realize how much wisdom I would have the opportunity to soak in.”

Monday’s victory was many things for MSU. It was emotional, it was cathartic and it was promising. The Arnett era began in the only way it could — by honoring Leach.

There were no shortage of Leach tributes. From the pirate-inspired helmets MSU wore to the opening play delay of game penalty out of the Air Raid formation, which Illinois elected to decline, Leach’s presence was felt all over (MSU Alexander Shaw somehow got ahold of a pirate hat and wore it in the postgame celebration).

Of course, it wasn’t exactly a 55-52 shootout like we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from Leach. That part was a bit more aligned with the defensive-minded Arnett than Leach.

It was Arnett’s defense who harassed Illinois quarterback Tommy DeVito, who was sacked 7 times. Illinois was held to 215 total yards on just 3.5 yards per play. Jaden Crumedy, Cameron Young, Nathaniel Watson, De’Monte Russell, Randy Charlton, Sherman Timbs and Jett Johnson all got to DeVito.

But it wasn’t Arnett calling those defensive plays. With him taking on head coaching responsibilities a month ago, studying Illinois’ offense was admittedly put on the back burner. Arnett just took care of the signals while inside linebackers coach Matt Brock called defensive plays, which Johnson didn’t even realize until the 4th quarter.

The bigger question was how would it look without Leach calling offensive plays with Steve Spurrier Jr. handling those duties. He dialed up the looks for MSU’s go-ahead drive in the final minutes. It was also Spurrier who drew up a trick play wherein Rogers caught a pass thrown by Jaden Walley on a reverse. It wasn’t a banner offensive day by the Leach standard with just 1 offensive touchdown — that didn’t come until the first play of the 4th quarter — but MSU rallied back after a sluggish offensive start and took its first lead with Biscardi’s kick with 4 seconds left.

Biscardi could hear Leach’s voice if he had somehow missed the chip shot field goal.

“He’d be like, ‘I don’t understand because it’s not that hard,’” Biscardi said. “He’d say, ‘If I had any eligibility left, I would go out there and kick it myself.’”

Yep. That’s exactly what he’d say.

More importantly, what would Leach have thought of the way things played out?

“He would’ve been very happy. He would’ve been shocked that Will Rogers caught a pass,” Johnson said. “He’d be swinging his sword for sure. It’s a great win for Coach Leach and a great start to the Arnett era.”

Fittingly, it was Johnson who helped get the Arnett era started with a win with his sack in the 4th quarter … complete with a Zorro celebration to honor The Pirate.

It was Rogers who ran out of the tunnel waving a maroon flag with “MIKE” on it with a cowbell in place of the letter “I.” That flag was planted on the MSU sideline all afternoon. After the game, though, a staffer handed Rogers the flag back and he proceeded to wave it around some more to thank the MSU faithful. After an emotionally draining month, Rogers soaked in every bit of Monday’s events.

“It’s been a special day,” Rogers said. “I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t been a hard month or so, for me especially. For me, I can’t have a bad day. If I’m catching the feelings … I can’t have a bad day out at practice. I’ve got to be able to motivate the guys and motivate the receivers and the offensive line to be able to get the most out of practice. I’d be lying if I said this month hasn’t been a lot for me.

“To be able to come out to Tampa, finish strong with a win, it means everything. Man, I can’t tell you how much it means.”

Time will tell how Arnett performs as Leach’s successor. The first-time head coach is still admittedly learning the basics of being a head coach. Between the CEO-like duties, the postgame protocol — he’s still getting used to standing at a postgame press conference to address the media — and everything in between, Arnett is getting his feet wet as the new leader of MSU.

He’ll have plenty of bigger-picture decisions that’ll determine his success in Starkville. Arnett said afterwards that he’ll rely heavily on the document that Leach gives all of his coaches when they join his staff. If Monday was any indication, though, the Leach disciple is ready to be the master. He certainly sounds like him already.

“Today had nothing to do with me,” Arnett said. “First and foremost, games are about players. Players win games. Coaches are overrated in this sport.”

Not overrated? What Monday meant for a healing program who can now turn the page.

Arnett planned on doing that in his own unique way.

“I’ll probably just go take a nap on the plane first. Yeah, I’ll probably enjoy a nice beverage, one that me and Coach Leach have probably enjoyed together several times before,” Arnett said. “I’ll think back on this team and how proud I am of what they’ve accomplished this year, how proud they’ve made all of Starkville and the Mississippi State community across the country.

“I know there’s a cowbell ringing down from heaven for them.”