Postgame Quotes: Mississippi State at Alabama
October 31, 2020 | Football
Mississippi State Head Coach Mike Leach |  Mississippi State Student-Athletes |  Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
Mississippi State Head Coach Mike Leach
ML: I thought we played hard. I thought we played sloppy and dumb at times. I think that Alabama is a team that has been put together for over a decade. They have a culture that is extremely hard-working and competitive that permeates their entire program. We're a program that is trying to get there. The good news with us is that we've got some great young guys that will be around for a while. This is a great starting point for them. Some of them probably wouldn't be starting now if it weren't out of necessity. I think in the end, the reps and experience is going to pay off. It's kind of like I told these guys. Everyone can work harder than they think they can, focus harder than they think they can. Alabama through their process, they've learned and discovered that. We're just getting started here and need to discover some of those same things. I was proud of the way we competed; in the future this would not be the standard, but as far as battling that sort of thing, I was pleased with that portion of it. We certainly have miles to go.
On the performance of the defense:
ML: I thought they did pretty good. Overall defensively, other than some big plays and explosives, I thought they played real well.
On trying to mark a guy like DeVonta Smith:
ML: There are a lot of things that impress me about him. One, as a receiver, he tracks the ball really well, and not all receivers do. There are a lot of receivers that are good at catching balls if they are right at them. He's good at tracking balls, in other words, kind of center fielder when it comes off the bat and the guy runs and is standing right where the things going to land. He's good at that, and he's obviously an explosive guy and everybody knew that. The other thing I was impressed with is how competitive he is from one snap to the next. He's a very good example to pretty much anybody on our team.
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Mississippi State Student-Athletes
#40Â Erroll Thompson, LB
Q: What makes DeVonta Smith difficult to defend?ET: Well I'll just start by saying he's a really good player, so it's kind of hard to contain those guys. He had a good game today. But his physical traits, he's been making plays all year and really his whole career at Alabama. That makes him hard to stop, his all-around game.
Q: What changes did you make and why were you more successful in the second half?
ET: I'm not really sure. I've got to go check it out on film, but I feel like we got our feet up under ourselves in the second half. We kind of stayed there the whole time. I'd say we just got settled in more to what Coach [Zach] Arnett wanted and adjusted to the tempo of the game better.
Q: At the halfway point of the season, what's the mindset with the team right now?
ET: It's the same as it's been the whole year since before the season. Work hard. Come in and work hard and compete every day. Come in each week and prepare every week. It doesn't really change. It's five more games, so lay it out on the line. Lay it out for your brothers. Got to put it all on the table now.
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#52 Kobe Jones, DE
Q: Where do you feel like the team is from a mental standpoint?KJ: Right now, I think I would phrase it as under construction. Just worried about us and trying to make sure we're the best we can be every day. We're just going to work and trying to be better than the last day.
Q: What about DeVonta Smith's game is tough to defend?
KJ: Obviously, Smith is a great receiver, a good playmaker. What stood out the most I would say was confidence. When he plays, he plays with great confidence, and he obviously came through in a big way for the Tide tonight.
Q: As a team leader how do you keep the team positive?
KJ: We're just trying to keep them with the right perspective. We've been around for a long time. We've been around for some ups and downs. We're letting them know that if you focus on your craft and getting better, things will work out for you. We're just going to work fixing problems that show up in games.
#85 Austin Williams, WR
 Q: In the second half, it seemed like you started to move the ball better. What kind of adjustments do you have to make when you aren't getting many first downs to build a flow in the offense?
AW: We have to focus on the next play. You can't be hung up on the past with what you've done. Maybe we struggled on a couple of drives. You have to focus on the next play, and everybody has to be locked in, doing their jobs and executing to the best of their abilities. It's just having a short-term memory and focusing on the next play as best as you can.
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Q: You guys have scored 30 points in the last four games. What has the frustration been like from the offense?
AW: We obviously know that we have more potential and could do more. We all believe in ourselves and each other. Obviously, there is frustration, but we are positive and optimistic. We are going to try and move on to the next play and the next game. We know better things are going to come in the future. We just have to put our head down and work this week.
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Q: How much have you seen Will Rogers mature the last few games?
AW: Will is a mature young kid for sure. When he comes to the huddle, there is no transition and nothing that is easy for a freshman. He comes in and takes control of it. He is cool and calm. I haven't seen many transitions during the games, because he has been pretty confident throughout.
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Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
NS: (I was) really concerned about this week. We got a lot of guys kind of beat up, a lot of guys had to miss practice. They had to really choose energy over their feelings in this game. I was really pleased with the way we came out and played, especially in the first half, especially on defense. We did a good job of controlling the ball on offense and time of possession was great. The defense did a good job of getting them off the field and did a much better job on third down. Our guys did a good job of implementing what was a pretty new scheme for us to play against this team and their offense. For the most part, we did a really good job. Turnovers were a big thing in the game. We were able to make some big plays, explosive plays on offense, but I thought their defense really played well, played hard. They were physical, they were tough. It was a grind out there for us to play against their good zone, so it was hard for us to make big plays, but I think we did a really good job and this was a good win for us.
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Obviously, probably the thing I am most disappointed in, was I thought we had too many penalties. Too many times we shot ourselves in the foot, we stopped ourselves. Taking away positive plays on a punt return or a 12-yard gain on offense and putting ourselves behind the sticks – that is something we definitely need to improve on.
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All and all, this was a good game for us. It's great to play at home, and it's great to win on your birthday. I was really happy about that present as much as any. I think the bye week is coming at a really good time for us. We got a lot guys that need to get healed up, and we have a lot of other guys that need to make some improvement so that when they are called on they are going to be able to go out there and play and be effective as players. So, that's kind of where it's at.
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On how Mac Jones recovered from a slow start:
NS: I think that Mac made some good throws, made some big plays. I also think the way they played, they played a lot of soft zone to try and take our deep routes away. There were probably times in the game where we tried to tell them this may be a checkdown game at times. You can't force the deep throws. One could have been intercepted; they ruled that it hit the ground. This is a good defensive team. You can ask Mac, this probably wasn't one of his best games, but he played well enough for us to win and scored enough points for us to do that. I'm not disappointed in him at all. Are there things that he could have done better? I think yes. Did he linger on any mistakes that he made? Not at all, which I think is a real positive sign.
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On the confidence the defense played with this game:
NS: We sold them on the fact that if you are going to play this game the way we played the game, you are going to have break on the ball, vice the ball and you are going to have to tackle well in space. So, I think for the most part, we did a really good job on that. We made them do it in practice – of course it's not ever the same in practice relative to the guys they practice against. We told them to tackle high, to get more than one player there to clean it up, attack the ball and try and get turnovers. Players really responded well and did a good job of that.
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Players Mentioned
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