Postgame Quotes: Mississippi State at Ole Miss
November 28, 2020 | Football
ML: "I thought it was a pretty explosive game. I thought both teams played very explosive. I would say, when that happens, nearly anything can happen. And that's kind of how this thing unfolded. I thought the first half, we missed some opportunities. Some of them were self-inflicted. Some of them, the ball just really didn't bounce very well. You know, we'd be a little bit short on third downs, and one of them I probably should have gone for on fourth down. I thought we played really hard. I thought we played extremely hard. I thought we finished the game. We just didn't win the game. I thought we contained their offense better than most teams have. We dealt ourselves out of some drives, which is unfortunate because they really didn't stop us for the most part. We stopped ourselves. But we played really hard, and it didn't go our way. We're still getting older and still improving." Â
Q: Are you seeing the maturity growing week to week in pressure situations?
ML: "I think it definitely is. We're playing with only 45 scholarship guys, so that makes it challenging too. It comes to a point where I thought our guys kept playing hard the whole time, the whole duration. There weren't a lot of reinforcements out there. I was proud of how they played. You have young guys playing extremely hard, and they're improving. It's not as fast as I'd like or they'd like or anybody else would like, but we're improving. It was one of the grittier games I've been involved in my teams playing I thought."
Q: What did you see from Will Rogers and the offensive line tonight?
ML: "I thought the offensive line pass protected better. I think we're getting better and better at pass protecting. I thought Will did a good job of extending plays with his feet. I thought our receivers, definitely on some of the scramble situations, reacted and got in positions to make plays. I think that Will's pocket awareness is improving, and that helps out the O-line. The O-line is improving, so that helps him out. We can still improve. There's still all kinds of places to improve, but we're heading in the right direction."
Q: How do you think Jaden Walley and Malik Heath played tonight?
ML: "I thought Jaden played really well. I thought Malik did some good explosive things, but kind of ran out of gas late. I think Jaden's playing extremely well for a true freshman."
Q: How much better do you think your guys have gotten these last few weeks and where do you want to see improvement?
ML: "We can improve everywhere. I can't think of anywhere we can't improve. We just have to keep improving. I think everybody's in that boat, but we're young enough that we'll improve by a pretty good margin as these guys get older and get in a rhythm. You know, in a regular season where you have the rhythm of the routine and all of that."
Q: How big was the fumble on the goal line in the first quarter?
ML: "That was a blow. It should have been where we were in a position to put ourselves up 14-7, and we didn't. What I did admire about Austin [Williams] was he rallied, played extremely tough and then drug two guys into the end zone on a play, which I thought was very impressive. He didn't let anything rattle him. It's an unfortunate play, yeah. But that's the thing that I really admire about our guys. They didn't quit on anything. A lot of times guys will hang their head and fold when something happens, but he didn't. He's one of our most-competitive players out there."
Q: What are you most encouraged by going forward?
ML: "Our effort and the way we finished this game. That's the most encouraging. I think that's where everything starts. If you have honest effort and do it with clarity, you're going to improve. That's where everything starts. There's no improvement without that." Â Â
Q: You got some stops that really kept you guys in the game in the first half. Was that something you guys were expecting to see, them being aggressive in those short situations?Â
ML: "No. I was quite surprised with that ... they did go for fourth down more than I expected."
Q: How would you assess Zach Arnett's ability as a play caller so far this year?
ML: "I think he has done a really good job. I think he has done an extremely good job. Part of it is, and you guys don't know Zach quite as well as I do, but there is a lot of qualities about Zach that [are] Mississippi State. He is very congruent to the grit and the personality that exist at Mississippi State. He is kind of an understated guy, but it is usually crystal clear what is on his mind. He is very aggressive schematically and we are closer on that too. We gave up some explosive [plays], which sucks, but we nearly had [Matt Corral] down over and over and over. We are going to get better at [sacking the quarterback], and we are going to get better to where some of those 50-50 balls don't get to the other guy. We just have to keep scratching and clawing that direction."
Q: How valuable is the impromptu bye week going to be next week?
ML: "[The plan] will be similar to the last unsolicited bye week we had. We haven't quite crossed that bridge. I don't know if it is 100 percent official that we have a bye week. I have heard the same rumors you have. I suspect you are probably correct. I am extremely curious if that is final, one, and two, to get some finality on who we might play. We are shorthanded, so hopefully we can gain some ground there."
Q: What was the mood like in the locker room and where do you go from here with two games remaining on the schedule?
ML: "I think they are all excited to play games. As a matter of fact, I think they would all like to play a few more. People don't really dread playing football: they sign up to do it, they practice to do it. If you and your colleagues could start a miniature campaign to generate three more games, most of our players would appreciate it ... I'd like to have more games, if we can. Now that a number of these other conference are playing, maybe we can cross-conference a little bit."
