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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Head Coach Ed Orgeron's Weekly Press Conference
10/16/2006 | Football
After looking at the film, offensively, I'm pleased with the play of Brent Schaeffer. He played a pretty good game and managed the offense well. (Offensive Coordinator) Dan (Werner) was really pleased with his play. There were no turnovers, which was a big change for us, especially on the road. I thought the touchdown after the fake punt was an excellent call by Dan. It was great to see Mike Wallace make a big play. It was a great play by Brent, he scrambled a little bit, and it was exciting to see that play by our offense. In the red zone we were 4-for-4, so we're happy about that.
On special teams, the punt fake was excellent. It was a play that Coach Freeze has had in his game plan and he was ready to go. We thought it was time. It was very close on the mark, but we're happy that Bruce got the first down. We're very pleased with our kicker Joshua Shene, who went 3-for-3. The two big kicks in the ball game really helped us. Mico McSwain added another good kickoff return.
Defensively, Rory Johnson continued to play well. Patrick Willis' fourth down stop to get the game into overtime was a big-time play. It was a very good tackle against a very good player. We were pleased to see Jeremy Garrett and Peria Jerry get in the rotation on defensive line, which I felt helped us. Obviously there were some negative things that happened. We gave up too many big plays. There were eight big plays made against our defense that I feel were critical in the ball game.
Overall, by no means, are we satisfied by going to Alabama and losing in overtime. I want to make that point clear. That is not the intention of this program. We are going on the road to win. I thought we played better on the road to win, but our team was still hurting. We thought that the outcome should have been different. We've got to get our team back this week. We pulled out a lot of stops last week. We went after it, and we're going to have to do the same thing to go and play a 5-1 Arkansas team. We're going to have to get our guys back. We have a 24-hour rule. After watching the film, Alabama is history. We have to continue to get better. I'm really pleased that we played better on the road and we made fewer mistakes. We didn't have a mistake free game, but we played better. We have to take the next step in our program, and we have to fix the mistakes that were on film and move on to Arkansas.
Looking at Arkansas this morning, obviously they've played very well since the USC game. They have one of the better running backs that we're going to face, in Darren McFadden. He's having an excellent year. Quarterback Mitch Mustain is doing a great job of running the offense as a freshman. Marcus Monk is a big time wide receiver. He's tall. He gave us problems last year, especially on third down. They have a very good offensive line, and they have a very good scheme on offense.
On defense, we know we're going to face an experienced group. A zone blitz group that attacks. They have 17 sacks already, so we're going to have to get ready for them.
I do believe our team has confidence, that we can go play a good team on the road and compete to win.
Q: There is some concern with your third down situation on both sides of the ball. What can you do to correct those situations?
A: We looked at what we did. We're making third down passes. We make decisions on protections and routes, and when we go into the game we have an extensive plan. We got beat, we made some mistakes, but the right calls were there. We just didn't execute them.
Q: Where have you seen the most improvement in your team over the last three weeks?
A: Overall competition. Overall physical play of our defense. Our linebackers have improved. Our defensive line has improved. Brent has improved, obviously. Our running game is improving each week. Special teams continues to play well. Attitude.
Q: Talking about linebackers, is there a tandem as good as this bunch that you have ever coached?
A: I haven't thought about that, but they've played pretty good. We've had some guys for example, at the University of Miami, Mike Barrow, Darryl Smith and Jesse Owens that were pretty good.
Q: Arkansas played a lot of young kids last year, a lot of true freshmen. You're kind of in the same situation this year. They were able to turn it around in a year. Does that make you feel good to know that you might be able to do that next year by playing so many freshmen?
A: I like to take things day-by-day. I don't like to look at anybody else's program and say well we could do it like this or do it like that because everyone's program is different. I think that everyone is on a different time table. But, if you're asking me if I think it can be done, the answer is yes. I think you can see the turnaround in our program, even though it's not in the wins right now. You can see us playing better, and we're competing with the teams in the SEC. We're very close.
Q: Talk about the play of Jamarca Sanford.
A: He played okay. He missed some critical tackles that allowed for some big runs. But it is great to see Jamarca out there. We love the way he tackles and we love the way he plays.
Q: Talk about the progression of Joshua Shene and what you see in him.
A: We have a lot of confidence in him after this last game. I think this is a turning point for him. We didn't know what was going to happen. I know he hasn't made a real long one yet, but he has made some pressure field goals. He is passing that test. We want to see if he can make a 50 to 55 yarder. I think he can. It is exciting to know that we have kicker in our program that can make field goals. Last year, we could not kick a field goal against Alabama. This year, we kicked three. So that is a lot of progress.
Q: What have you seen of Mitch Mustain that makes him as effective as he is?
A: His offensive line, Darren McFadden, and Marcus Monk. He has a great cast surrounding him. They don't ask him to do a lot of things. The coaches are very smart to their approach with a freshman quarterback. He throws quick, easy throws. They run the ball a lot. That opens up the passing game for them, and Monk is an outstanding receiver.
Q: Have you seem much development in him from game one to last week?
A: We see them doing a couple of different things with him. His confidence has grown. He is making bigger plays. I know he did very well against Vanderbilt. I haven't studied all the film, but I know he threw for a lot of yards against Vanderbilt, so we will have to be ready for him.
Q: Where do you think the offensive guys are in grasping what you want them to do?
A: We are just hitting our rhythm. We are little bit more comfortable in the offense with our guys knowing what to do. You saw a little more variety in the offense. Once we get better with our receivers catching the ball in certain situations, we will have lot more success. I think our running game is close to where it needs to be. I think it can improve, but we have some really good tailbacks. The offensive line is blocking well. We still need to improve in the passing game.
Q: What was the difference for Brent this week and what is the status for BenJarvus (Green-Ellis)?
A: BenJarvus is fine. He is going to play. He is banged up a little bit like good tailbacks get during the middle of the season in SEC football. I think Brent played with a lot of confidence. We rolled him out more. We didn't give up any sacks. The plays that we called were easy, short throws. On the touchdown play, Brent showed that he could do that against Kentucky, but that one got called back. He has shown that he has tremendous scrambling ability and that he can throw the ball on the run.
Q: Is he where you want him to be?
A: It is the beginning. There are some things that he needs to get better at. There are some things that Alabama gave us that we could have taken advantage of and didn't. There are some things that he did take advantage of. As far as him being the general and the leader, he still has a ways to go.
Q: Is there anything else you can do on third down?
A: There are a lot of things we can do. We have an extensive third down package. I'm a four-man front third-down package guy. We just don't have four down linemen that are big-time pass rushers yet. So we are going with a three-man package. We rushed five on the first touchdown, and we got beat on man coverage. Then we rushed three, and we got beat. I think it is a matter of getting our guys in better position and them understanding what they have to do when the play is called.
Q: How did Jeremy Garrett respond to his playing time? Are you expecting him to play more?
A: He made a nice play on the goal line. He was playing over the guard, and it was a great play. I think he is fine. We expect to get him more in the mix this week. I think that will give us some much needed depth on the defensive line.
