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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Houston Nutt Press Conference 09.06
9/6/2010 | Football
Sept. 6, 2010
| Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt met with the media on Monday and discussed the Rebels' upcoming road trip to Tulane.
Houston Nutt Opening Comments:
What I like about our schedule is we were able to get back in the film room and watch and correct. We were able to get back out on the field and get going. You have to put that last one to bed, learn and correct as many things as possible and get going. That's the thing about this game, it is a tremendous teacher. It is a lot like life, things aren't going to always go as you planned. It is all about your attitude and how you get back up. We tried to get back up yesterday, had a good practice and on board with Tulane. We are preparing as we speak; to me you can't get back on the field quick enough. It was good yesterday to put everything to bed, now let's go forward. There were a lot of hurt feelings and we expected that. You want it to hurt. I know we can have a good football team; we just have to get going and get back out on the field.
On the second half:
The thinking was to just keep doing what we did in the first half. We had a few blown assignments and we turned the ball over twice which really hurt in the second half. We were making some good gains and then we would stop ourselves. You got a 21-point lead and not that you're trying to be conservative, but you just keep trying to do the things you have been doing. We had a very quiet third quarter and that is when the momentum turned. They started scoring points and we didn't. I was proud of the way the offense came back in the fourth quarter, that drive to get the field goal was critical. We did some good things for a young offensive line and a young group.
On yesterday's practice:
It always starts in the film room first. It was very somber and very quiet. They were disappointed as they should be, and they went to the field the same way. It was a bitter taste in your mouth. When you don't expect something like that to happen it reaches up and bites you. It was a tough turnaround. I'm glad we got the film watched and got back out on the field. You put it to bed and you just go. There is nothing we can do about that one now. Only thing we can do is learn from it and get better.
On players responding to outside influences:
I tell them that inside this family right now is what is important. When you get hit in the stomach like that and things don't end up like you want them to, it is how you approach your practice, your preparation. It all about that to me. I am not concerned about how they are going to react to someone on the outside.
On the importance of Tulane:
They are all must wins to me. We take it one game at a time and try to have the best plan and best preparation. Bottom line is that we didn't win Saturday and this next game is the biggest game of the year. Each game will be like that.
On quarterback play:
I was really proud of both of them. You have to give Jack Crowe's team credit, they played hard and made plays. That one turnover by Nathan just gave them a lift, but I was proud of Nathan. I thought the first touchdown pass he threw was great. He had to avoid a blitz, find the receiver and get the ball down the field. He did an excellent job for his first outing. I think Jeremiah with no practice was very, very good. I am glad we have these two guys and I am glad we have Randall Mackey. It was a smart move for him to let us redshirt him. We will take him on all our trips with us and he will learn about these atmospheres. I feel good about our quarterback situation. I feel a lot better after a game, of course I still got that sick feeling in my gut from losing a game, but I feel good about what they did.
On the offensive line:
I thought the offensive line did very well. We only gave up two sacks and they played a physical game opening up some holes for us. We had some brand new guys. It was A.J. Hawkins' and Alex Washington's first time. When you get right down to it, Rishaw Johnson has not played that much either. I was proud of Bobby Massie, Bradley Sowell, Ferbia Allen and Reggie Hicks who all did a great job. In our secondary, I was disappointed in our eyes towards the end. Fourth and fifteen, fourth and eleven; we have to make those plays. We have practiced them a lot. You have got to be able to defend the ball, knock the ball down and make those plays. There again, they are young and we just have to keep working.
On Sawyer and Crawford:
Charles Sawyer did some good things until right at the end when the game started moving a little too fast for him and he got into some pressure situations. He will get better with time. That was his first experience with the game on the line and things like that. Frank Crawford is the same way, they are just young. It is about where you put your eyes and where you play the ball especially at the end when it is getting tight and someone needs to make a play. It was a tremendous learning experience, painful, but a great learning experience.
On Kentrell Lockett:
I think he is doing much better. He didn't do anything with the team. He followed Tim Mullin's (team trainer) orders and did a little bit of jogging and a lot of watching. He mainly just watched the team at practice. Today they will do a little bit more like put him on a treadmill and monitor his heart rate. I think it may be Wednesday until hopefully we can get him back out on the field.
On Jack Crowe:
He is an awesome guy. As happy as he was after the game, he still knew how I felt. He always says that if you are in it long enough it is going to happen. Well, I didn't want it to happen to us but it did. He knew the stars were aligned right. You could see it on their sidelines in the third quarter. They were hanging in there, making a play and scoring. That is when that momentum changes and it is hard to stop it when it was going that good.
On playing two quarterbacks all season:
We don't know yet. I feel good knowing that I have confidence in putting them both out there. I did not know much about Nathan or Jeremiah except that Jeremiah has experience and what I have seen of him on film. It was good to see Nathan out there making good decisions except for that one ball he let get away. He really did a good job all day. As far as two quarterbacks playing all the way through, I just don't know right now.
On running backs:
I thought they ran hard with a lot of attitude, authority and leg drive. A lot of times they refused to go down. Sometimes we didn't block them very well and they had to turn a lot of nothing into something. A lot of times we blocked for them and they hit the hole with pads over their toes, running hard with good ball security. I was really excited about how well they played.
On Tulane:
I have been watching them all day. They are a team who has gained a lot of confidence. It always helps when you win the first one and I'm sure they have their mind set after hearing our score. They have a defense that runs good, is very aggressive and they twist and stunt. They have great linebackers. One of their linebackers was player of the week and makes a lot of tackles. Offensively they have a quarterback with a good head on his shoulders. They have receivers and backs that play hard; they just look good. But right now, to me everybody is going to be good. Because when you don't start off the right way and now have to travel away from home, you have to be more focused and ready to play.
