Ole Miss Rebels College Football Pregame Quote, 09/02/2019

Just like every year, I think you make your biggest improvement from week one to week two. Especially with a young team like we have, that will be very important. Defensively, there’s a lot of stuff to build on, there’s obviously things that we can get corrected. Offensively, not what we expected. We have the right pieces in place. We have some young guys, and we’re going to get them better. We’ll coach them better. There were some mistakes made, but we can put them in a little bit better position too. We’re going to play a few more guys, in particular Nick Broeker; he’ll see some playing time this week. We can get better on that side of the ball in a hurry. We’re looking forward to coming home. That’ll be huge for us to get back home, SEC opener against Arkansas, a good football team. I have a lot of respect for Coach Morris, he does a really good job offensively. Coach Chavis is a long-time defensive coordinator. They have a veteran front with seniors, their linebacker (De’Jon) Harris has been there forever. They have two really good running backs which will be a challenge for our defense to get a stop. We’re really excited to be back home at Vaught-Hemingway and we’re looking forward to the challenge.

On evaluation of the offensive line after Saturday’s contest:

We need to get better It (the loss) doesn’t all fall on the o-line. There are other things, but it all works together. There are some things that we can do better, and playing more guys is one of those things.

On the biggest difference in the running game of the two halves on Saturday

Anytime you play offense, you have to stay away from negative plays. Sacks, negative-yard gains on first down are even more critical because you lose yardage on first down. It puts you in third-and-longs, and those lead to sacks. Staying ahead of the chains and no minus-yard plays will be huge for us. There were a couple things that we did with some bigger personnel groupings. There were the same calls we just executed a little better (in the second half).

On the receivers not getting separation in the game Saturday:

I think it’s a combination of things. Obviously, you need to protect the quarterback, to get open down the field against press coverage. You have to separate and get the ball out on time to the right place. We’ll find a way to score points.

On the lack of misdirection in the game Saturday:

We saw a lot of minus yards on first down, and it prevents you from doing that. When you’re behind schedule, it’s hard to get into a rhythm. In the second half when we were on schedule, you saw more of it. Staying ahead of the chains lets you open up the playbooks a bit more.

On the plan for touches for Jerrion Ealy:

When you don’t have many snaps, it’s hard to get people touches. You’ve got to get first downs to get more snaps, and then that’ll get people more touches.

On the importance of the game Saturday vs. Arkansas:

It’s huge. It’s important because it’s at home and an SEC game. It’s a big game for us. We’ll continue to build defensively, and we’ll work hard to get some of these guys to play better offensively. Schematically, we can put them in some better spots and have a chance to be successful with some things to get the ball out quicker for Matt (Corral). We can make a big jump there, but it’s obviously a big game.

On Matt Corral’s performance against Memphis:

He made some really good decisions and some poor ones. In your first start, that happens. There are some things we can do to help him with the o-line and receivers. We can’t put it all on Matt. It’s coaching, everybody working together and finding a way to get it done. We have to get the ball out quicker and if we want to take a shot downfield, hold up in protection for him.

On the close Arkansas games:

This will be a four-quarter game. That’s why our fans will be so key in this one. For a young team, this one is going to be a four-quarter battle. We’ll have to go win it in the fourth quarter, and it will be huge to have a home field advantage.

On facing Arkansas running back Rakeem Boyd again:

I wish we didn’t. He’s a good back. It seems like he has been there for a long time. I just remember vividly in the game last year that he has the ability to run through you. He can make you miss, he is just a very good back. (Devwah) Whaley is really good too so they have a really good one-two punch there. We’ll have our hands full trying to stop it.

On special teams:

I think Jerrion (Ealy) just being nervous early there on the first kickoff return. Everything else was pretty good with the exception of punt coverage, a couple times we had a breakdown but everything else was pretty clean.

On the team’s health:

I think just looking at the injury report, Braylon (Sanders) is questionable with a hamstring but everyone else came out pretty healthy.

On playing teams with multiple quarterbacks:

(Ben) Hicks fits their system, so that’s why they got him to transfer in there. I think he’s got a good understanding. (Nick) Starkel I think is a big, strong kid with a really good arm. You do have to be prepared for both. You saw Nick Starkel a little bit at the end of the first half last week, but Hicks the rest of the time. So, I think you prepare for Hicks, but you’ve got to be aware of Starkel because he’s big, physical guy with an arm that can run too.

On tackling from the linebackers:

I thought they played well. They showed up. And again, there are some things we can improve on like pulling the trigger a little bit faster. I thought Lakia (Henry) showed up around the ball as he had all camp, and he did it in the game. I saw Willie (Hibbler) make a couple of nice plays in pass defense. Again, trying to make a huge jump on both sides of the ball from week one to week two. I think we can make a jump there as well.

On Qaadir Sheppard playing with a cast on his hand:

It’s obviously tough to grab on and tackle. On the boundary side, one time he couldn’t wrap up because of that. It’s good to have him out there. With his speed and power, he’s able to take on the guards. It didn’t take away his physicality. It may have showed up a couple of times because he couldn’t grab on with the club, but it didn’t really affect his play, and it was really good to have him out there.