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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Houston Nutt Press Conference: 11.14
11/14/2011 | Football
Nov. 14, 2011
Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt met with the media Monday and discussed the Rebels' upcoming game versus No. 1 LSU.
VIDEO
Opening Comments:
"If you study LSU you know they are a very good team on both sides. They have excellent special teams and great speed. We got started yesterday with our guys trying to introduce them to their fronts and formations. We wanted to get an early start on that. We are looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow working on one of the best teams in the country, if not the best."
On playing LSU:
"I always love competing against them. They always look the same year in and year out. They are always well coached. We have always enjoyed a competitive game against them. To me they are playing at a very high level right now, especially on defense. They are a team that has given up very few yards. If you watch their game against Alabama you really see it because you know how explosive Alabama is and they gave up very few yards, even to Trent Richardson. He did not have long, explosive runs like he normally has. LSU is powerful and strong. They will bloody your nose and they will throw you the ball to keep you off balance with Reuben Randle, who is an explosive receiver. Both quarterbacks have looked very good. Lee took over first of the year and Jefferson adds athleticism. He also can throw."
On pulling an upset:
"The most difficult thing we have right now is how we played against Louisiana Tech. They are very good this year but you have to be able to win that game. The mindset has to be right so that when you go in there and you have a penalty to stop you and a turnover to stop you, that hurts you. Our defense played well enough to win the game. They only gave up 13 points and had a lot of three-and-outs. Like we told them yesterday, you can't be a team that continues to stop yourself. We have not done a good enough job to get it across to them. The team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win. You can't make mistakes, especially when yards are precious to you. We are not a big, explosive team this year. We have always been able to score points but this year has been different. We have not been able to put points on the board consistently and that has hurt us."
On offensive troubles:
"There were some guys competing awfully hard. Bradley Sowell did not play well, nor did Randall Mackey. There were several guys that for whatever reason did not play well. You have to have good games from them and for whatever reason they did not have good games and it hurt us. When you are counting on those guys to be play makers for you it his hard. I am not trying to single out those guys, it was everybody. We had one drive that was beautiful. We executed it beautifully. We had a touchdown from Brandon Bolden on a nice wheel route and felt really good. Then we got a turnover on their next drive right away, but that has to be points. Our field goal kicker had been our most consistent guy of the year and he missed that one. It should have been 10-0 or 14-0 but it snowballed from there and it has been like that all year. We would like to see a game this year where we put it together. We have not complemented one another. We have not had a game where the offense complemented the defense or the defense complemented the offense. It is all that togetherness and everyone playing at a high level that we have not been able to get this year."
On LSU's defense versus Alabama's defense:
"They are both very good. Watching LSU is more fresh on my mind because it seems like a long time ago that we played Alabama. LSU looks so good, so fast and so quick at every spot. Their defensive line, linebackers and secondary are all good. They have length and are taller guys, except for the honey badger, Tyrann Mathieu, he is something else. What a ball player. He is fun to watch. This guy will take the ball from you, knock the ball down, intercept the ball, disrupt the punt return guy and make him fumble and run it in. He is just a ball player. I hope he doesn't have too many of those against us. Alabama is a great football team and people aren't scoring a lot against them. LSU did not score that many against them. That is a tough question."
On Nickolas Brassell and Tobias Singleton being more involved:
"Yes to both. I like to get both of them more involved. We thought we were going to use Tobias more on motions, runs and reverses. We were trying to save him a bit, but we are going to get both of those guys more involved."
On Cody Prewitt:
"Cody is going to be a special player. He is tall, lean and he could be a safety or a linebacker. He could do a lot of things. He has come so far. He has good instincts for the game. He is physical, he will hit you and he will play the ball. I am really excited about his future. He is going to be a really good football player."
On Ole Miss/LSU rivalry:
"We talked about that Sunday and it has always been a very physical and tough game for us. Their guys are riding on an awful big high and they have good things going for them. They know they are fighting for a National Championship birth. We are on the flip side of that but the bottom line is that we have an opportunity to play the best in the country in our last home game for the seniors. We have a lot to play for. I am expecting everyone to give everything they have."
On Jamal Mosley:
"He is much better and I am hoping he will come to practice tomorrow. I am hoping he will be cleared by tomorrow's practice. I think he will be OK."
On Nickolas Brassell not playing much against Louisiana Tech:
"He did not play as much because he missing a meeting. The thing we have to teach our freshmen about the game plan is that you really have to study it. It is different than walking in when the lights come on and going to play. As talented as you are, you have to study, be consistent and do things the right way."
On recruiting:
"The main thing I'm getting is the question as to who will be the new coach. They ask if they should come to the games. We are telling them to come to the LSU game like everything was on schedule, especially the ones who are committed. Questions are hard to answer because we don't have the answers. We want them to come and visit because this could be their future home. Since they planned on coming anyway they shouldn't cancel that out. They should come and enjoy the game, enjoy campus and they should check out the depth chart and see who is playing in their position and how many true freshmen are playing. They should do some investigating. We are trying to encourage them. I think it is important for them to keep coming to the games. Some of them are already committed to Ole Miss so they should keep them first. This is the biggest decision of their lives so far."
On the offensive line:
"Their play puzzles us a lot. We were really counting on those guys and we didn't get it done. We hate that part of it. That was supposed to be the backbone of our offense. There were times where they did play well, such as against Arkansas and Auburn. There was a string of games there where they were good and there was a lot of improvement. There was not consistency from game one on and it hasn't been there. It is hard to answer as to why."
On most memorable LSU games at Ole Miss and Arkansas:
"There are a lot of them. Of course the first one was memorable when we beat them down there in my first year here and the first year of the Magnolia Bowl trophy. Peria Jerry was physical and Jevan Snead and Mike Wallace had great games. The game the following year here was tight and we were very physical and played a good ball game and got all the way to the end. We won a close one. I will never forget all the letters and e-mail's we got saying how Ole Miss never wins those close games. People were saying how we always would lose those games at the end. That was a big, memorable moment. There were also some e-mail's that I got that said I was going to be here as long as John Vaught during that time. That shows you how quickly our game changes. Those games are in the rearview mirror. While I was at Arkansas in 2007, our game against them down there was memorable because it was my last game to coach at Arkansas. It was an overtime game that was hard fought. I always remember more games there in Baton Rouge because we always played well there in a tough environment."
