Derek Mason sounds alarm. Will Vanderbilt football react to it?

At last check, Vanderbilt’s locker room has no alarm to set off in case an under-performing team walks through its doors.

But that didn’t stop coach Derek Mason from ringing his own after the Commodores’ unspectacular 31-27 win over FCS foe Tennessee State — a game that nearly became an all-time bad loss.

“Oh, they’re alarmed,” Mason said. “I rang the alarm when I walked into the locker room. They were put on notice.”

To escape a potential devastating loss, Vanderbilt had to connect on a clutch fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Kyle Shurmur to Kalija Lipscomb and make a fourth-down stop at its own 15.

But as bad as it seemed, it is not Defcon One. The Commodores are still 3-2 heading into a trip to No. 3 Georgia on Saturday. They are halfway to six victories for bowl eligibility, and winnable SEC games are ahead.

“The win we’ll take. We’re not going to give that back,” Mason said. “But what’s not acceptable are some of the errors that occurred (Saturday). That’s on us as coaches, them as players, and everybody has a hand in it. We’ve got to be better.”

Mindset still an issue for Commodores

The miscues were shared among all three phases. Shurmur threw a season-high two interceptions, both in the first quarter. The defense recorded only one sack and no takeaways. Ryley Guay missed two field goals, leading Mason to announce that the placekicking job is open for competition this week.

So what’s the overriding issue? Apparently, the Commodores’ focus is not where it needs to be.

A week earlier, Mason said a bad “mindset” was the problem in a disappointing 37-14 loss to South Carolina. And after narrowly beating TSU, he said it’s still an issue.

“We struggled through the mental piece,” Mason said. “We had plenty of opportunities. But we let one (error) become two, two become three, three become four.”

Players disappointed, but moving on

The Commodores appeared as disappointed as players could be after a win.

“It doesn’t feel good right now,” offensive lineman Bruno Reagan said. “But if we have the season we want to, no one will remember this one. But that’s on us.”

Indeed, Vanderbilt has a 3-2 record or better for the fourth time in the past 10 seasons. The final seven games will determine if the narrow win over TSU is a sign of bigger issues ahead or simply a pothole the Commodores maneuvered around.

“Concerned? I don’t know if concerned is the right word," Lipscomb said. "But we are definitely ready to get back to work. We have to push forward and play better next week.”

AMMENHEUSER:Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt recover just in time to avoid Tennessee State football upset bid

RECAP:Vanderbilt beats Tennessee State football 31-27: 5 things we learned as Commodores escape

Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.