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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Head Coach Ed Orgeron's Weekly Press Conference
10/2/2006 | Football
OPENING COMMENTS
After watching the film of the Georgia game, some of the things I really liked was the crowd definitely being the 12th man. It was really exciting, especially when they cheered DEFENSE, DEFENSE. You could feel the enthusiasm and momentum. I thought it was a fantastic night for Ole Miss except for the result of the game. Obviously, we would have liked to have won the game. Looking at the offense, we established some physical toughness with the line of scrimmage by the running of BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and I was glad to see Robert Lane get the ball in his hands. We need to give him the ball more. We had no penalties on offense. Those are the positive things. On special teams, obviously we're pleased with the two punt blocks. Obviously, the one that got called back I thought would have won the game for us, if the correct call was made there. On the next punt block, a freshman blocked it, Cassius Vaughn. We're excited to see that he can make a play as a freshman in a big game. A 41-yard kickoff return was a positive with special teams. On defense, first of all our intensity level obviously picked up. Third down defense was a lot better. Our D-Line improved. The play by Marcus Tillman inside really helped us. Brandon Jenkins continues to improve. Chris Bowers made some good plays. I really think that Greg Hardy is becoming our best defensive lineman. I think that later on, he's going to be a good football player. The linebacker play improves. Rory Johnson made us faster. He made some plays out there that weren't being made. Marcus Tillman, Greg Hardy, Jamal Harvey, Jonathan Cornell, Rory Johnson, Cassius Vaughn all first year players contributed so we are happy about that.
The things we are disappointed about are number one, again, as in the Kentucky game, I felt we should have won this game. We had a chance to win the game and we didn't. I need to teach this team how to do it. I was disappointed on the fourth-down play when we dropped the pass. Looking at the film, it probably was a touchdown if we had caught it. We don't know, but it definitely would have made the first down. We had another key dropped pass on the third down that was right in our hands and we should have made it, and I was disappointed. I thought it was a poor throw on the interception. On defense, we gave up 14 points in the second half. We didn't stop the run. We had a couple of misfits. We had some poor field position, but we should have played better on defense in the second half.
Looking at Vanderbilt, I think they're a well coached football team. I learned a lesson last year going against Coach (Bobby) Johnson, that he prepares well. He did some things last year to us on film. He also looked at some previous film from the previous school I was at and had a good game plan. Some plays we had never seen. When you look at his film, he game plans each week. He's an option coach from Furman and those guys are very technically sound, so we are preparing for that. We don't know what we're going to see. We're probably going to see some new plays, so we have to predict what we're going to see. I think he's a very well prepared coach, and they do a good job on their staff. They're plus three in the turnover ratio and we're minus five. I think that makes all the difference in the world. Looking at the offense, they're averaging 33 points-a-game. They're rushing for 164 yards, 5.3 rushes, an attempt which is high. They only put up 141 but their third-down conversion is 31 percent. Their best player is Earl Bennett a wide receiver. Chris Nixon, a quarterback, is a good player and is dangerous with the ball in his hands, and Jackson Garrison is a good tailback. On defense, they're very well coached, very sound. They run a similar defense as us but a lot more blitzes, so we've got our work cut out for us. The thing I want for our team this week is for us to answer the challenge to continue to improve. To coach better than we did last week, to practice with more intensity and to start playing football the way I know my team can play.
Q: What are some of the problems you see on offense?
A: Protection. Routes. Timing. The whole stuff. You can't just put it on one deal.
Q: How are the freshmen progressing?
A: They're doing fantastic. When you look at Greg Hardy and what he's doing at practice, he's holding his own. Greg comes off the ball well, he has pad level and the best thing he does is he has a motive. He's mature. He plays hard every down. He's exactly what you're looking for in a defensive lineman. I'm so pleased with his play and his motive. In Marcus Tillman, can you imagine being a defensive end and being told on Tuesday that you're going to play defensive tackle against the defending SEC champs and play as well as he did? He played better than Hayward Howard ever played on any snap that he played in the last four games. We're going to continue to play him on defensive tackle, I'm really pleased with that. In Jonathan Cornell, think about this: the game is on the line in the fourth quarter and he went in and he did well. Cassius Vaughn made some plays on the punt block. Rory Johnson played excellent in his first game. We're really pleased at what our freshmen are doing. Jamal Harvey went in there because of injury. The thing I was afraid of with Jamal is that he'd bust some covers and throw a deep ball. He was on everything. I think he had very few mental errors. We're really pleased with that.
Q: The running game has been up and down this year, how difficult is it to obtain the consistency that you want?
A: It all starts up front. BenJarvus is a good player. You give BenJarvus a crack, and he's going to make it. We have go to get more consistent up front, and if the blocking is there I believe that BenJarvus is going to make yardage.
Q: Vanderbilt is a team that can make a good run. Is that a focus for this week?
A: We had problems with the spread offense. They run it I expect to see a lot of it. We have to do a good job of game planning it. They do a lot of things on offense. Coach Johnson game plans each week from what he sees on film and does a great job of it. This week is a big challenge for us on offense. A big challenge.
Q: Will Rory Johnson start next week?
A: Sure. He has to continue to practice, but I think he will.
Q: Can you talk about the difference between Jay Cutler and the new Vanderbilt quarterback?
A: Running the ball. They ran the ball on us last year. Cutler made a lot of plays last year in the passing game. This guy doesn't seem like he's as advanced as Cutler in the passing game. He may be. I don't know that. You don't see it on film. It looks like they can run the ball more. He's more of a runner. Although Jay Cutler could run, this guy is an athlete. He can go. You cannot give him the edge. They have a good scheme. Remember, these are options coaches, they understand option football.
Q: Do you think it just took some time for the freshmen to get acclimated to being one football team?
A: Yes. I think they've kind of settled down a little bit. We've got them lined up. I was pleased to see that we got lined up. I was really disappointed against Wake Forest. We had a lot of misalignments. We simplified things, put our cleats in the grass and let them play, and we're going to do the same thing this week. Really, you can only get game experience by playing, and they are becoming more comfortable out there. I was really pleased that we had a big crowd and that those guys could perform in that arena, and now they're comfortable with it.
Q: What is the importance of getting the ball to Robert Lane?
A: He's a guy that can make plays. You can get the short, easy throws to Robert and he's tough. I like the way he runs the football. He'll hit you. He'll knock you back. I think he gets our team excited with his physical toughness. He's going to catch the balls. He's one of the better players on our team. I think that we need to grow. We need to see where we can put him, move him around, put him in different positions, and create mismatches with him. That's what I'd like to see our offense go towards.
Q: Talk about the decision to put Marcus Tillman at tackle. Was it primarily because of Hayward Howard's production?
A: It was a little bit. I tell our guys that everything you do counts. I want our guys going to class, tutoring, showing up for meetings on time, and lifting weights. I want them to do everything they need to do. If they show me on a consistent basis that they are lacking in an area or two, I'm not going to play them. They're going to follow the program.
Q: Talk about intensity at practice.
A: It all stems from me, with me being the defensive coordinator and coaching the way I know how to coach.
Q: Where is Brent Schaeffer relative to where you would like for him to be right now?
A: Behind. I thought he'd be playing better in a lot of situations. Against Kentucky, we had a chance to win the game, and there was a fumble. Against Georgia, there is no doubt in my mind that my team thought we were going to win the game, and there was an interception. It was a poor throw, so those are two key mistakes that were made by our quarterback. Again, he shows flashes. Those scrambles when he got out of a lot of situations and that throw to Dexter on the sideline was fantastic. So again, he's hot and cold. He's making some good plays and making some poor decisions. I would like to see him be more consistent. Again, we're going to stick with him.
Q: What did you think of Andrew Wicker at right tackle?
A: He struggled. He struggled in his pass protection. He's hurt. We missed him in the pulls. He's a decent athlete, and he's aggressive. We missed him coming around the horn and making some pulls, 60 got around there, but he missed a lot of blocks. Ninety-nine had a great game against us. He was getting great get-off, and we couldn't push off and single-block that guy so we had to change some protection. I think he's a better guard.
Q: What has it meant to have Wicker around?
A: Smart. He's our team captain. He's changed around. His attitude is no matter what it takes coach, I want to win. He's been fantastic. I'd like all my players to be that way.
Q: Did you have anything to do with the "Rocky" video that played some inspirational pieces from practice?
A: I have to give J. Stern credit for that. I had nothing to do with that, but I applaud it. J. did a terrific job. Again, I feel that you couldn't ask for a better atmosphere in the stadium. That was the best atmosphere I've been in in a long time.
Q: What is the importance of this game, especially being at home?
A: Every game is really important. The thing that is really important to me is that I believe we've made tremendous strides from the Wake Forest game to the Georgia game, and I feel a little turn around in our program. I've challenged the staff this week. This is a big week for us, to be able to show that we are continuing to make improvement. I want to take another step forward, and we have no choice but to take another step forward. I don't care who is coming in. It doesn't make a difference who we are playing this week, it's about improving as a football team.
Q: Of the guys that missed Saturday, do you expect any of them back?
A: It's kind of early. We're kind of growing immune to that, and whoever we have out there we're going to play. We're going to do the best we can to get our guys better. I think Tim Mullins has been busier this year than ever. I think he's done a fantastic job and our guys are working very hard. We have the attitude that whoever we have out there we're going to play.
Q: You mentioned Saturday after the game that you had some basic principles in the program that you had changed. Can you talk about that?
A: The way we practiced. It's getting down and practicing the way I know championship teams practice. We're going to do get that done and be demanding and be disciplined. No penalties. We only had two penalties in the game. Being on time, doing the things right and being demanding that they do that. I tell them that everything counts. In all phases of your life, everything counts, and I'm looking at them harder and harder each week. I want to teach the young guys, this is the way we do things and there will be no compromising. This is the way we practice on Tuesday and this is the way we practice on Wednesday. This is the way we practice on Thursday, and this is how we're going to do it and you have no choice.
