Postgame Quotes: Head Coach Joe Moorhead (Nov. 28)

Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss
Mississippi State Head Coach Joe Moorhead
November 28, 2019 | Davis Wade Stadium

Opening Statement
"Obviously, it is a huge win for the program on a lot of different levels. I'm incredibly proud of
this team, particularly the 26 seniors. For them to fight the way that they did today in all three
phases, until the very end of the game and until the last second ticked off the clock. I couldn't
be any prouder of the players, the coaches, our administration, the state, this school and the
majority of our fans. In 21 years of coaching and a bunch more as a player, I don't know that
I've entered a season and gone through a season with as much adversity as we've had to
face from having 10 guys out to start the season – some of our best players – going through a
quarterback rotation and having a ton of injuries. We had some ups and downs but the kids
just kept fighting. I think more than anything it's a validation for this team and a validation of
our culture. To me, it puts an exclamation point on the narrative floating around that I'm not
the right man for this job, this program or I can't coach in this league. That's not the case. I'm damn proud of this team. I love the way our kids handle adversity. I love the way the coaches fought through adversity. I know there was a lot of ups and downs and a lot of belly aches. Just make sure that everybody understands: this is my school. this is my team. this is my program. I'm not interested in anyone's validation except the guys in that locker room. If you ask them who is the right man for the job their going to tell you it's me. I promise you that. I'm not going to get into what we've done in the past years and how we were able to get to a bowl. No one get it twisted. I understand what it means for this program and I'm here. This is my team. This is my school. This is my program."

Q: What was the strategy coming into tonight?
JM: "It was a great plan and going through the year we had our struggles. Sometimes stopping runs, stopping passes, and Coach [Bob] Shoop and his staff, particularly on a short week, and coming off of them on a bye week, we just had to get numbers in the box. We mixed up or coverages and mixed up or pressures. [Ole Miss offensive coordinator] Coach [Rich] Rodriguez does a good job scheming up runs, and we had to put in people we are confident in. I thought, for the most part, we tackled well, we got the ball on the ground, we got off the field on third down. The credit goes to Coach Shoop, his staff, and players for putting a great game plan together to stop the most prolific rushing offense in the SEC."

Q: How would you assess Jaquarius Landrews' performance?
JM: "With [John Rhys Plumlee] ability, and how he is able to make plays by design and improvisation, you can't [anticipate what he is going to do]. You kind of just run your own [defense] and get that kid on the ground. He's done it against the best teams in the conference, and if he continues to do it, his future is bright. We need to make sure that between he and [Jerrion] Ealy and the rest of those guys, we did a good job stopping the run. I think we did that for the most part."

Q: What were your emotions like during that last drive?
JM: "I got them down, probably a little bit. From the fourth-and-24 completion, the pass-interference penalties, and kind of some of the other stuff, you know, the last penalty happened, and they did their little celebration. We had the option to take it during the kickoff or the [point after touchdown]. We took it on the PAT. I feel bad for that kid, but I feel great for the Bulldogs."

Q: When did you realize that you would start Garrett Shrader?
JM: "Tommy [Stevens] got a little bit of an upper-body injury during the [Abilene Christian] game. We evaluated him on Sunday and Monday, hoping it would get better during the week. I think we knew by Wednesday for sure and we knew that Garrett was going to be the guy."

Q: What did you think of Garrett Shrader's performance?
JM: "I said to him before the game, 'you are out here for a reason, so be Garrett Shrader.' He's not unflappable, certainly he didn't play a perfectly clean game, but for a true-freshman under those circumstances, with a couple fourth-down conversions, we ran the ball and distributed it to the playmakers. The kid has an incredibly bright future, this season, at Mississippi State and moving forward."

Q: Is this rivalry what you expected?
JM: "I've been a part of West Virginia-Penn State, Pitt-Penn State and some other great rivalries. The ingredients to a great rivalry are usually proximity, passion of the fan bases, and familiarity of the teams. This obviously has all of it. Most of our kids were going out on the field to [John Rhys] Plumlee and [Johnathan] Mingo, those are relationships. If there is a better rivalry in college football, I'd like to see it."

Q: What was it like to see Nick Gibson in his final home game?
JM: "We talked about earlier in the week how Nick has been a tremendous role player. He has been behind Aeris [Williams] and Kylin [Hill]. His carries have been limited, but when he's been there, he has been incredibly effective. He does a great job on pass protection. Nick's a great kid, and he will continue to do well in the bowl game, and I hope he has a chance to play on Sundays."

Q: How happy were you to see Marcus Murphy make big plays tonight?
JM: "I love Marcus Murphy. He has gone through more in the past year that would break most grown men. For him to be able to fight through all of that, fight through some of the stuff this year, to get on the field, make huge plays, and he's also doing phenomenal in the classroom. Once again, he is a local product that decided to stay home, and he's having great success at this university. I love Marcus."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Quotes: Head Coach Joe Moorhead (Nov. 28)

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Nick Gibson

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Garrett Shrader

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