The University of Mississippi Athletics
Notes from Freeze's Press Conference
10/17/2016 | Football, Blog
There's another SEC road game this week. This one means a lot to our people. They'll let their players know about the history of the matchup between Ole Miss and LSU.
The Arkansas game was frustrating. Ole Miss has to improve to get ready for an LSU team that is super talented. Their offense has rolled up big numbers in the last two games. They're very talented on offense. Defensively, they've always been one of the best in the country. LSU is one of the better teams in the country. It's a great opportunity, and they have to show resolve. They have a lot of work to do this week. They're excited about going to play LSU.
Freeze has reached out to Orgeron several times. They spoke last week. He's indebted to Coach Orgeron because he gave him the opportunity to come to Ole Miss. Freeze's career might not have happened the same way without that opportunity. Orgeron has always been good to him. Orgeron is the most passionate coach that Freeze has ever been around. He came to work every day with that same drive.Â
Orgeron seems different with his approach from when he was at Ole Miss, and it's working for him. They've played two games and looked really good.
LSU is playing with great passion. They're multiple on offense now while staying balanced. Their run game has always been good, but they're using their talent at WR now.
Night games on the road in the SEC are all difficult. It's no different in Baton Rouge. They have passionate fans, and it's a large stadium. When it's hard to communicate and when they give energy to the home team, it makes it difficult.Â
The team has to prepare like Leonard Fournette is going to play in this game after missing two weeks.
The receivers have played well. It just happened that drops happened in critical times. Sometimes, drops happen. Over the season, the position has been a strength for the team. They were not happy with themselves after the game.
Ole Miss had three critical third downs against Arkansas where a missed tackle gave Arkansas the first. It wasn't always the linebacker fits, but they were inconsistent at times.
The West is extremely strong and deep and talented. It's getting better as the season goes on.Â
You find out a lot about your kids after the start to this season. This is a bit foreign when the high expectations are not met early on in the season. You have to go answer the bell. A lot of teams are in the same situation as Ole Miss. Ole Miss has proven that it can win, and it's proven that it can lose. Finding a way to motivate when those losses come is a difficult challenge. Ole Miss has to rally and respond. It's what the school expects and the people deserve.
When you play the quality of teams that Ole Miss has played, you can lose. It doesn't mean you didn't play well all the time. The offense has been good outside of some turnovers.Â
He thinks that they had recruited really well under Orgeron when he was at Ole Miss. The staff thought they were close to turning the corner, but they didn't win enough games in the last season.Â
