Postgame Quotes: Head Coach Joe Moorhead (Oct. 19)

Mississippi State vs. LSU
Mississippi State Head Coach Joe Moorhead
October 19, 2019 | Davis Wade Stadium

Opening Statement
JM: "First and foremost, you have to tip your hat to Coach Orgeron and his staff. That's a very, very good football team. They're ranked No. 2 in the country for a reason. They're going to have an awesome chance to win the SEC, win the SEC West, and compete for a national championship. Credit where it deserves there.

"The biggest thing with this football team that we stressed this week, last night at the hotel, and this week is that we were going to freaking fight. No matter what the circumstance was, we were going to continue to punch and continue to scratch and continue to claw and get up off the mat. No matter what the clock said or what the score said we were going to keep plugging away and keep fighting. I felt like our kids did that. That was a different football team than I saw on the field against Tennessee, and that was stressed. We were going to play with emotion. We were going to play with pride, and intelligence. The intelligence part, maybe we didn't get.

"What games come down to, particularly when larger barriers are invisible, is turnover margin, which we lost. You can't turn the ball over three times against this team and expect to win. Explosive play margin. We created a good number on offense, probably gave up a few too many on defense. Then it's going to come down to third down percentage and red zone, and certainly, those 13 penalties. Some of the pre-snap things, like making a move call, and we are jumping, that's stuff that's not maybe at the front-end of it, but it's stuff that's going to not help and get you beat against a team like this.

"I'm certainly not excited about the outcome. That's the No. 2 team in the country. But when you look at it in spurts, it seemed when we were playing well, and when we were executing and doing things we needed to do, we stopped them, we moved the ball, and we were making plays. When we were doing things we weren't supposed to do, we were not making plays. It's going to come down to how we prepare during the week and our belief and commitment in our culture, and doing the little things, and building this program the way it needs to be built. I know people sometimes don't want to hear it. They want the answer now. But Coach O's in four or five years.

"I promise you this, the things we are building with this program, with a true freshman quarterback, true freshman running back, Nathan Pickering, with Maurice Smitherman out, two true freshman corners in the game. You look at all the youth that we have, and the things that we are building, now once again, not a moral victory at all. I get that part. But the process of what we're doing and where we're taking this team is going in the right damn direction. We played our asses off today, and we fought. Was it clean, was it precise, was it what we needed to be against this team? Absolutely not. But I know this – when I'm in that locker room and I look at that team and I saw how we fought; we're going to build off of this one. We're going to take the good things and correct the bad things and be a football team that continues to fight for the rest of the year. We're going to get ready to roll tomorrow. We're going to get the corrections and get rolling for Texas A&M."

Q: You had three goal-to-go stops on defense. What do you have to say about the defense's performance today?
JM: "They're a team averaging 55 points per game, and I think well over 500 yards, as well. We held them to 314 [yards] and made some critical stops in the game to give ourselves a chance. Once again, I thought we competed. Going back, offensively, we run the trick play and had the ball inside the 15-yard line, but it was erased by a penalty. You can't make those kinds of execution errors. I thought the defense fought and played [well]. I didn't think it was particularly clean, but the effort and spark was there along with the juice and enthusiasm across the board from the sideline with the coaches and the players. It needs to be better."

Q: How would you assess Garrett Schrader's play today?
JM: "I don't want to say indicative of a freshman because that's not necessarily the case. He ran nineteen times for 66 yards and a touchdown….Short term, we're going to look at it, and there are going to be things where we got on the phone and asked him what he saw. Those are some of the things that a freshman sees. You've got to get them corrected, but on top of that, you talk about making plays with your arm, getting the pass game, and with your feet by design or improvisation, that's the reason he was recruited. That's the reason he's doing a good job and giving this offense an opportunity to be successful and score points. And that's the reason he's going to be the quarterback to do the things we need to do moving forward. Not happy with some of the things but pleased with what he can do and what he can bring to the table."

Q: What are you seeing from those younger guys on the defense?
JM: "Number one; when those guys were recruited, those are guys that we recruit for two years. We got to know them, we got to know their families. We got to know what made them tick, got to know that they were guys that believed in the process. They're not only going to do the right things on Saturdays, but they're going to believe in the process in doing all the little things off the field. They're competitors, and they want more. They don't just come in and check in, they're going to watch film on their own, they're going to do all the little things. There's a reason why they were recruited, and they're going to continue to have a great year this year and they're going to do a great job in the future. Those aren't the only ones. Those guys playing are being exasperated by the fact of what we had to deal with at the beginning of the season, and on top of that, all these injuries. These are excuses, I'm not into the excuse making. But we are fighting our tails off under a unique sets of circumstances, and we're going to continue to get better and better. We'll be a better football team next week and going on down the line until the last game of the year."

Q: What do you think has been the difference in Kylin [Hill]'s performance?
JM: "Not with Kylin. We're doing the best we can. That team stops the run very well. They were giving up 91 yards per game rushing. We had 102 [yards]. We dealt with this issue at Penn State a little bit with Saquon [Barkley]. There were games [at Penn State] where I can go back to the Michigan State game in 2017. I think he was held to 14 yards rushing. We threw the ball over their heads and scored 48 points. We want to get Kylin going. The offense kind of centers around him because he's our most talented player on offense. But at a certain point when they're trying to stop him or we're not getting a push and there are some numbers and angles that don't work in the run game, then you've got to do some of the things that you saw a little bit today in the pass game, and that's get open, protect and throw the ball down the field. The thing that I liked about Kylin today is that he kept his attitude positive the entire game. It didn't necessarily go his way. It wasn't a 100-yard game. He fought for the tough yards, and we're going to continue to work and get him going. Part of it is schematic. Part of it is what the defenders are doing. Part of it is us being able to get a push, and part of it is if that's going to happen, the offense has got to pick up the slack. I would say it's a combination of those things."

Q: How important was it to send a message to the team and to the crowd that you guys were here to fight?
JM: "It was the message we talked about at the hotel before we left: we were going to stand toe-to-toe with the No. 2 team in the country, we're going to look them eye-to-eye. We were not going to back down, we were not going to cower. We were going to bow our backs and we were going to play to win. Reverses, flea-flickers, trick plays, throwing the ball down the field, go for it on fourth down, being aggressive on defense. It didn't bare out, but that's what we need to do to be successful offensively: be an aggressive offense. [We need to] Be an aggressive defense and be an aggressive special teams, but we didn't get it. The defense did. When we went for it on fourth down near midfield to start the game, they weren't complaining that it was a short field. They said 'Good coach. Keep going for it. Let's keep going after these guys.'"

Q: With Kylin Hill getting bottled up the last couple of weeks, has that put a little bit more pressure on the passing game?
JM: "I don't want to say it's much pressure, but when a team like that plays quarters coverage or man-free coverage and they're bringing a lot of pressure, there are more numbers at the line of scrimmage than you have people to block. When you run the ball and they're pressuring or using secondary support, you are getting one-on-one matchups on the perimeter. Look at Stephen Guidry, he had six catches for 98 yards. Isaiah Zuber had three catches for 53 yards. We were able to protect and make the reads. It was great to see the quarterback stand there and make the throw accurately. Once again, the kids don't want to hear it, and I don't want to hear it, but there were a lot of positive things to build off of today."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Quotes: Head Coach Joe Moorhead (Oct. 19)

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Stephen Guidry

Kylin Hill

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Maurice Smitherman

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