Notes from Freeze's Press Conference

Freeze said that it was good meeting with the team yesterday. A lot of good things happened with a lot of improvement in a lot of areas. To go on the road to Kyle Field, there was a lot of great things about the game. The defense deserves a lot of credit. They played a really good game. It was overwhelmingly joyous for him to see the players have so much fun in the locker room after the game. When you're having a difficult season, it's really good to see the people have fun that are with you in this journey.Â

Offensively, it was up and down. That was to be expected with a freshman quarterback out in that environment. They threw a lot of looks at him. He made a lot of plays. Five balls could have easily been caught that weren't, so the day could have been better. Shea handled himself well, and some playmakers made plays around him. Robert Conyers and Sean Rawlings are the heroes offensively. They go without attention. Neither felt good enough to play, but they bailed the offense out. They love this team and university and program. They went through a lot of pain to go above and beyond on Saturday.

Vanderbilt is very good. Playing a team led by Derek Mason is always difficult. They know what they're doing defensively, and they're getting better on offense. They want to run the ball, but they can throw it. Ole Miss needs to win on first downs to put Vandy in difficult situations. Mason has given Ole Miss' offense problems every year. They're fundamentally sound, and they're always in the right spots.

Benito Jones has gotten better and better every week. You don't have to worry about effort with him. He loves this place and will be a really great player. Deontay Anderson is coming on as well. A.J. Brown has great hands and continues to come on as well. He needs to block better, but he's progressing and competing.Â

The defensive line has played well all year. They haven't cost the team this year. The defensive line played well on Saturday, but they've played well all year. D.J. Jones was a wrecking crew. A&M's center had problems all year.Â

Freeze felt like the team had a chance to win every game left, and Shea Patterson gave the best change to win those games. The decision to pull the redshirt was for the seniors to finish their careers at Ole Miss in the best way possible.

Freeze hasn't seen better effort from a group as the offensive line has given this year. They're good kids that care about this program. They're willing to go the extra mile to make sure they do the part in Ole Miss being successful.Â

In the second half, Ole Miss ran mainly four plays. They had different options, but it was the day one installation plays. They'll expand it some this week.

The team hasn't been bad in the red zone, but the team needs the offense to be excellent in the red zone.Â

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Players Mentioned

Deontay Anderson

A.J. Brown

Robert Conyers

Benito Jones

D.J. Jones

Shea Patterson

Sean Rawlings

The University of Mississippi Athletics