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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Press Conference: 11.03
11/3/2014 | Football
Ole Miss football head coach Hugh Freeze and senior quarterback Bo Wallace met with the media Monday to discuss the 12th-ranked Rebels' upcoming game against Presbyterian (Saturday, SEC Network, 11 a.m. CT), as well as recapping last week's game against Auburn.
Head Coach Hugh Freeze
Opening statement...
"It obviously was a disappointing weekend. We work with a group of young men, coaches, administration and fans that absolutely love what we do and love how you do it together. To be involved in a game of great magnitude for our program and our university that affects the young men's outlook on life and all of the things they have going on from the academic world to the social world. When you put a lot into something like that, it certainly is very hurtful when things don't go your way. I tweeted out this morning that when you choose to love something it means accepting the inevitable in pain and loss. That's the way life is. On the other side, when you love something, it certainly gives you some great joy at times and hope. That's a great lesson for all of us involved in that difficult evening to remember. We define love around here as the ability to handle the inconveniences that come with relationships. We were inconvenienced the other night because of our love for what we do. Our kids will no doubt respond, as our coaches will. We look forward to continuing our journey here."
On Laquon Treadwell…
"Jill (Freeze) and I got up yesterday morning early and went to the hospital and hung out with him there. A lot of our teammates were there throughout the night, which was good. He had surgery that night. I appreciate our doctors and everybody getting to him that quickly and promptly. The outpouring of love and support that Rebel Nation and others have given him certainly has been heartwarming. When I got there early Sunday morning, he was good. As a competitor and a guy that's dealing with not being able to play the rest of the year and the fact that he was involved in the play that, in his mind, he let us down in some way. Certainly we don't feel that way. He has to deal with all of that. We're going to help him do all of that. Everyone else will, also. He's a tremendous young man. We're looking at four or so months of recovery time. He'll be back with us and hopefully ready to go for spring ball. We love him and appreciate the effort he gave in helping our team in that situation. Now others will step up and carry it on."
On missed calls…
"I tell my three children all the time that life's not fair. I got a letter from former Chancellor (Robert) Khayat about some of these things. Sometimes it's unjust. What I mean by that is the reward you get is really not equal to the effort you put in or to what you think you might have deserved out of a situation. As far as the calls, our officials work extremely hard at being the best at what they do. I have confidence in the leadership they have in Steve Shaw. It is frustrating at times for certain things that you feel like you saw a different way. Just like at the time I thought it sure looked like it should have been a horse collar call. After watching the film, it wasn't. Sometimes I don't see things correctly. You're frustrated when you see certain things, but I have confidence in them. I make bad calls, too, sometimes."
On Vince Sanders stepping up with Treadwell out…
"He'll handle it well. He was certainly very hurt for Laquon. Vince, like we've talked about many times, he's one of the more underrated players in this conference. He continued to win a bunch of one-on-ones the other night. He had some chances for some bigger plays, and we either didn't get it right to him or we got held. We had a couple of calls on that that were good calls. I think Vince will respond extremely well. He had some good things to say in our team meeting yesterday, being a senior and a quiet leader. I'm excited about seeing his role increase, as I am Quincy Adeboyejo and Markell Pack. We have to discuss this week a possible Derrick Jones move back with this open week and all the time we have to prepare for the last part of our season."
On injuries…
"The list is long. I'Tavius (Mathers) and Trae (Elston) both had concussions. They've started our concussion protocol. We'll have to wait until the doctors clear them for them to return back to practice. Laremy (Tunsil) has a partially torn bicep. One week wasn't quite enough for him to feel like he could function. Now we're hopefully with this week and next week we can get him, hopefully, ready for the last stretch. Aaron Morris left the game and didn't finish. He's getting some tests done today. I don't think it is anything that will keep him out for the remainder of the year. It just made us even more thin at the end of the game than we were already. Ben Still will be day to day. I'm super proud of how he gutted his performance out. Not just him, but he was playing on one wheel. There are some other little things but nothing I expect anybody to miss any time for."
On close losses and the message going into the rest of the season…
"Don't blink. We play the next play. We keep pressing on. We've lost two games by a total of seven points to one of the hotter teams in the country right now at their place and then to one of the top two or three in the country. Had a ball bounced our way we're sitting in that position. I'm a big-picture guy. I'll continue to talk about our journey. It's still young, in my opinion. I'm excited we're still relevant again in a short time. Having a chance to win these types of games speaks great volumes for our young men, our administration and the job our coaches have done in a short time. This conference is tough. This half is difficult. It's not over. It can be the wild, wild West before it's over. You don't know who is going to win and who is going to lose on a given night. We just have to worry about us and continue to stay the course and not be discouraged."
On if the game plan changed with Tunsil out…
"I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to play or not so the game plan stayed pretty much the same. Having to move Fahn (Cooper) and Robert (Conyers) over, I went through a brief period of self-pity when I knew Ben Still had to play and knowing he's struggling. You hate to put him in that position. He was willing and ready and the doctor said it was OK to give it a go. He gutted it out the whole game. Fahn played solid, moving to left tackle. He made a couple of mistakes thinking he was at right tackle, which is a little bit understandable in some of our verbiage that goes on. He hasn't done any so he's used to playing on one side. He played hard and played solid, as did Conyers at right tackle. He played hard. Rod (Taylor) finished the game. If something holds Aaron out of any time, Rod will move in with the first group there at right guard."
On struggles in rush defense…
"I know everybody always wants a sophisticated answer, but the best I can give you is we're playing some pretty darn good teams. You go look at how many teams have held those two for minimal yards rushing and there aren't many over the course of time in the recent years. Certainly, we've made mistakes. I do think some of it - nobody likes to hear anything that sounds like somewhat of an excuse and I don't use this with our kids - but when you play six straight night games in this conference, it takes a toll on you mentally and physically. That's what we've endured. We can't control the scheduling and it sure would be nice to have a break somewhere in it. That's not something we can control. I'm not saying that's the reason. Our kids played hard the other night. It does take a toll on you physically and mentally. The bottom line is you have to give those other guys some credit; those offensive lines, running backs and the schemes they used. That quarterback makes them a different team. Not many people have stopped them. A lot of it has to do with him. We have to do some things better, too."
On scheduling and if playing Presbyterian this late in season helps…
"That's probably a better question for Ross (Bjork). I don't get too much into the dates. I'm not even sure how the open dates arrange themselves. We're going to treat this just like getting prepared for another game. It counts. It matters. I hope it matters to our fans. They need to be here to support these young men. We're excited it's an early game. Our coaches and players are excited to get up and go play instead of waiting around all day. I think it's important to our program that we bounce back and we play well with the ones who are healthy. I've been in these games before, where if you don't play well, you don't feel great. We need to feel great going into our open week. We need to feel great about the way we're progressing. We have to work hard this week to get our kids ready for that. Hopefully our fans understand the importance of being here to support these guys."
On whether the game will allow for snaps for young kids and reserves…
"You hope that going into it. They're going to come and compete, I'm sure. They'll be excited to play in this environment. For me to expect our kids to be all hyped up and excited after coming off of the last two weeks is probably not a reasonable expectation. I have to get them ready to execute. That falls on me. Hopefully the case will be a lot of kids will get some reps. That will be determined Saturday by the way we perform."
On fits…
"It was definitely an issue at the LSU game. Fits weren't the biggest problem the other night. It was more of once they run the reads stuff, you reacting and having to play your assignment and make that tackle in a one-on-one situation. These good players don't always get that done. The receivers pinned us on some bounce plays that hurt us. It wasn't so much that he didn't know his fit as they did a good job with it. Their guys made some plays. It was two different schemes. That's my opinion. I haven't had that conversation with Dave (Wommack). I think he would say fitting the A-gap wasn't the issue the other night as much as leverage issues and some good players making plays. We didn't always make them."
On Chief Brown's return…
"There definitely was some rust. You don't question his heart or passion or anything like that. When you haven't for seven or eight straight weeks had to make a tackle in open field against an SEC running back, we can't simulate that for him too much in practice. It's going to be an adjustment period for sure. I'm glad he's back with us, though."
On Presbyterian…
"From watching them on film, I'm learning about their schemes. You're going to see a team that's very similar to Auburn defensively. They do quite a bit of the similar stuff. Offensively, they're doing a variety of things; some that we can mirror very easily. Their wide run game - they like to live in that world if they can. They play hard, they're disciplined and they line up where they're supposed to. You have to execute against them. They don't make many mental mistakes. Physically, we're a better football team. We just have to go out and prove that. That doesn't mean you always win. That's the way it should be, but you have to go earn it. You have to go earn it each play."
Senior QB Bo Wallace
On communication with Laquon Treadwell since the injury…
"I talked to him and he's good. The big thing is practice and his leadership and pushing guys. He said he'll be out there. He called himself Coach Treadwell. He's out there pushing guys, and it'll be good for us having him out there and being the leader he is."
On taking the LSU game personally…
"No doubt. My focus all week was more intense, and I studied more film than I probably ever have. I could tell what they were doing before they did it, and I think that was the work I put in all week, and it showed."
On the effects of Treadwell's injury…
"I told (Markell) Pack Saturday night, he came to my house, that he has to step up, and he's not a freshman anymore. He's going to have to step up. Obviously Vince (Sanders) is going to be the older guy and go-to guy right now. Every time we've needed Vince to make a play he's made it, so I have confidence in our receivers. I know they are going to make plays for me. It's going to hurt not having Laquon, but we still have a lot to play for this season, and there's season left to go."
On the focus of the team…
"We don't feel like we're out of it. Obviously we don't control our destiny anymore, but crazy things can happen in the SEC. A lot of people still have to play each other, so we're hopeful good things can happen for us, but we can win all our games down the stretch. We have to come in and prepare and come out and have good showings in every game."
On the inside screen play…
"You saw Vince when we ran it the other night he broke a couple tackles and got a 15-yard gain, and that's one of the only times we've run it to Vince this year, and he did a great job with it. I think Quincy (Adeboyejo) is really good in space. Pack is really good with the ball. I like Pack with the ball in his hands. We have playmakers. Cody Core, you saw him on the reverse the other night. If we can get them in space, they can work. They can do some of the things Laquon was doing."
On Laremy Tunsil's absence…
"It's difficult, but those guys played like warriors the other night. Ben Still wasn't expected to play and comes in and plays every snap of the game. Fahn (Cooper) has to be moved to left tackle from right tackle and he played well. Obviously, it hurts with a talent like Laremy, but at the same time those guys are going to have to step up just like those receivers are going to have to."
On Evan Engram against Auburn…
"We wanted to get the ball in his hands. You saw a couple times where we pitched it to him to get the ball in his hands. The drop-step he ran for a touchdown was one of the prettiest plays I've seen him make. As soon as he caught it, he dropped and got it straight, and that allowed him to score. I think he was a matchup we wanted to go to, and he showed that Saturday."
On the timing of Presbyterian and the bye week…
"Guys are beat up right now and our defense is beat up. It's a great time for the bye week to fall next week. Hopefully we'll come in and prepare and hopefully have a good showing and let some young guys play a little bit this week. I think it's a good time the way the schedule is set up."
