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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Houston Nutt Press Conference: 10.24
10/24/2011 | Football
Oct. 24, 2011
Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt met with the media Monday and discussed the Rebels' upcoming game versus Auburn.
Opening Comments:
"After watching the film and putting everything to rest I was proud of our effort. I thought our guys played extremely hard. We have to finish and play all four quarters. The first two quarters were outstanding and guys were really flying around, executing and making plays. It shows you what our conference is about. It doesn't matter if its the number nine ranked team in the country or whoever it is, this is the toughest league in America. Everybody has to be ready to play everybody. That sixty minutes is so important and we have to do a better job in the last thirty minutes. I liked the way we fought until the end. We are looking for that W and that win. I liked the attitude we came to work with yesterday. We have to work, watch film and to get better. Let's start the week off right tomorrow."
On the run defense:
"We talked hard yesterday and today about being better tacklers and better run fits, especially against Auburn. Michael Dyer is of course very good. They have speed guys as well with him and you know they are going to run the football. That is no secret. We have to do a good job with that. Everybody has to work hard to get better. Not only our front, but also our linebackers and our safeties and corners. Everybody has to be good tacklers."
On Auburn's quarterbacks:
"They have used three different quarterbacks and I am sure they will still mix in Kiehl Frazier. He is more of a running quarterback and he will throw a little bit here and there. Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley throw pretty good balls. Again, it is no secret that they are going to hand the ball to Michael Dyer. They have playmakers. Trey Mason is one of them. We have to stop the run."
On Ole Miss' freshmen:
"There are no limitations in the game plan in regard to them. We are throwing them out there and throwing the game plan at them. They are learning and playing extremely hard with a competitive spirit. That is what we appreciate. Aaron Morris was outstanding Saturday for his first start. He got better as the game went on. He had 78 plays. Cody Prewitt went out there with his hand wrapped up like Patrick Willis and covered kicks for us. I think they can be very very special."
On Auburn's mentality:
"I have no idea about Auburn. I just know what I see on film. Every team is good and I am more concerned about our guys. We have to play at a very high level for sixty minutes, not just thirty or forty, but every single play and series. Auburn, again, losing so many players wasn't expected to do what they have done. They went to South Carolina and won. They beat Florida. They have won a lot of games. They are defending national champions and that is what has carried them in the games that are close. They were behind Utah State and won the game at the end. They have had close games and they finish them. I am not worried about their mindset I am worried about our guys."
On the third quarter against Arkansas:
"I addressed that Sunday. The same fire and attitude that we come out with in the first quarter has to be the same in the third quarter. The first five minutes of the game and the first five minutes of the third quarter are so important. You cannot look for things to go wrong. You have to expect good things. That is the way you started the game and that is the way you want it to finish. We have been talking really hard on that. It is just really a funny, difficult thing to read. Some of them act like they are ready to go. We talked hard about it being 0-0 at halftime. We talked hard about Arkansas' performance against Texas A&M. They were down at the half and they scored a lot of points in the fourth quarter. We didn't get it across. We have to get them to understand that the first five minutes is critical when you get out of the dressing room and are ready to go."
On Ja-Mes Logan:
"Donte Moncrief, Tobias Singleton, Vince Sanders and Collins Moore have stepped up on the depth chart. One good thing about the young guys is that they are pushing and they have to stay on point. We used him at the end of the game Saturday to run a route he was familiar with. He made a big catch for us. We haven't thrown him to the side, but there is competition there and I like that."
On the end of the game against Arkansas:
"That is what we have been talking about. I really appreciate the attitude, effort and really laying it on the line and competing hard. There was a lull there in third quarter where we didn't have good field position. We didn't get a turnover or stop them. That adds up. The thing we could've done is remember what happened in previous weeks and stopped playing, but we didn't. We kept playing and kept fighting. We had a chance until the onside kick and we had a chance to do something. I am really proud of them. We have to keep building on that, keep getting better and improving. Our wins are going to come."
On Nickolas Brassell and Donte Moncrief:
"The one thing that you love about them is whether we play Alabama, Arkansas or Auburn, they are ready to compete. We saw that when they came here on campus in high school. We saw the competitive spirit and the fight they had. They have to keep adjusting to the speed of the game. They cannot expect that the ball is going to come to them or that they are going to make a catch without looking it in. This game is very fast and defenders try to strip you all the way to the end. We need them to look it in, take care of the ball and keep playing the way they are playing. Film study is important. I'm sure that in high school they could get their scout report from their coach on Friday night and go out and be the best player on the field. Here it is a little bit different. There are a lot of good athletes on Saturday. They have to know and learn who they are going against, while improving fundamentally. They have the talent to get it done."
On playing away from home:
"When you don't have success it is easy to fall into that mindset of either something bad is going to happen or something bad is going to happen even when good things are going on. We have to have the mindset that good things are going to happen. Guys are going to make plays. We are going to win. We have to keep believing that. That is the mindset of the coaches and the players. We have to keep believing that and playing for sixty minutes."
On the defense:
"They have gotten better. There have been times where we need them to be much better. Then there have been times where they played over their head, like where they are holding their gap and doing a good job for us. They have to keep playing and keep working. It is one of the toughest jobs on the field, especially when you are going against grown, older men. Those guys are working and I love their attitude and the way they are fighting. They have to keep getting better fundamentally. They have to have a good first step, hold their guys, get off blocks and tackle some of the best running backs there are. They have a real job to do but they are getting better."
On opponents playing single coverage:
"One of the things that teams have tried to always do is get us into third down where they can come after us. They try to get us behind the count a little bit so that there are some one-on- one match ups. That is one of the best balls that Randal Mackey throws. He doesn't need to be afraid to take what the defense gives him and not force it. Again, a lot of teams in this league do such a good job of mixing up coverages. A lot of times it is hard to get a beat on someone. You don't know that until the snap of the ball, then you have to process it in a very short amount of time. It is pretty quick reaction time and Randal is the guy making the decisions. We have been able to get some one-on-one's, but it is not always like that. Sometime they put a two shell and make you throw underneath the chains. We have to do that too."
