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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Luke Weekly Press Conference
10/1/2018 | Football
<i class="icon-video"</i> Matt Luke Press Conference<i class="icon-video"</i> Wesley McGriff Press Conference<i class="icon-video"</i> Phil Longo Press Conference
Ole Miss Football Coach Looks Aheads to Homecoming Contest vs. ULM
Ole Miss Football Head Coach Matt Luke met with the media Monday after looking at tape of the setback against No. 5 LSU. He also addressed preparations for the upcoming matchup against ULM (3:00 p.m. CT, SEC Network). The full transcript can be found below.
Opening statement…
"After watching the tape, give a lot of credit to LSU. They're a good football team, top-5 program. We didn't have the discipline or the consistency it takes to go win on the road in this conference. As a head coach, you have a vision of what you want your team to look like and when it doesn't look that way you look at yourself first. We're going to continue to work and get the problems fixed but that was disappointing that you work hard and you have this vision and when it doesn't show up the way you want it to, you're disappointed. We'll continue to work to get it fixed, that starts with me, and we will. After looking at the tape, there were some positives to take from it, but ultimately consistency is the key to win in this league. You have to be consistent offensively, defensively, special teams, there has to be consistency there and it wasn't there, and that starts with me."
Injury update…
"C.J. Moore tore his pectoral muscle. He'll be out for a couple weeks, maybe indefinitely. We have to check and see what we can do. We're getting a couple of opinions now, but he will definitely be out this week. We're hoping to get Victor Evans back. We're going to move Armani Linton from running back to the secondary to give us some depth back there. He's done it before and he knows it, so hopefully he can give us some depth back there."
On ULM…
"I have a lot of respect for Coach Viator. He does a good job. What sticks out immediately is that win over Southern Miss. They have a really athletic quarterback, and he's their leading rusher. Marcus Green who is from right down the road here is their leading receiver. He does a really good job in the slot, and they are very active on defense. We'll have our work cut out for us, but again after a tough loss we are looking forward to getting back on the practice field and going back to work."
On discipline and late hits on Saturday night…
"Obviously, you can't have that many penalties and win games. That's not us, that's not who we are. You can look at each one of them and I have, over and over and over again and you can try to justify it but it's too many to win games. We just have to make sure we keep working on the little things, and we will and the kids will respond. I thought the one from (Zedrick) Woods was really good effort, bang-bang play, and the one with (Kevontae') Ruggs was late."
On the running game in the first half…
"In our RPO stuff, Scottie (Phillips) does have a lot of yards per carry because he is running into really good looks, so when they do bring pressure and they have 1 on 1's, we've made a living of making those plays. That's who we are, and when people do bring pressure and leave 1 on 1's we believe, and I know we can, make those plays."
On his message to the fanbase…
"There's a lot of people who have passion for Ole Miss Football, and I'm one of those people. We're working really, really hard every single day to put a product on the field. It didn't look the way we wanted it to look on Saturday, but we're going to continue to work and all be pulling in the same direction. We'd love for everybody to show up on Saturday, and let's keep working to get this program where we all want it to be."
On dropped passes Saturday and inconsistencies…
"Some of it was when you play against that good of a team, they force you to execute, and when you don't execute it shows up a little bit more. In a tough environment against a top program, you have to be consistent. You can't have any inconsistencies or they get magnified. Sometimes if you're winning the game they don't get magnified, but in big games they do. We have to make sure we stay consistent because that's what you have to do. This is the best league in college football, and that's what you sign up for and what you expect."
On keeping morale up…
"It's very important that you keep it inside because that is where it starts, from the inside out. These players, they go through a bunch, but I think they are very resilient, and you can see that on Sunday when they come to practice, they work really hard. They were embarrassed about what happened on Saturday too, and I think they want to go back out and prove to everybody what they are capable of. I like this team, and again, we're just excited about the opportunity to go get it fixed."
On if there is a magic formula for success…
"It's funny that you use the term 'magic formula,' because I told the team Sunday there is no magic formula. It's just hard work and going to get better week in and week out. When you have a vision, you have to work until that vision comes to life, and I think you've just got to go keep getting better. There were some good things that happened on the tape, and you have to take that, and you have to learn from that and move forward. I think there is no magic formula, there is no quick fix. It's just hard work day in and day out and getting better."
On the team's mindset…
"I think we're looking and searching for consistency. There's been flashes of really good stuff on both sides of the ball. I thought our defensive line did a lot of good things in the game, and the same thing on the offensive line. You can have breakdowns. You have to be consistent and that's coaching. It starts with me and helping them be consistent. That's what we're searching for, and that's what we'll be working toward."
On ULM WR Marcus Green…
"You see he's a redshirt senior, so you know he's experienced and he's paid his dues. He's very quick, very good in the slot. What they use him to do sweeps and reverses—they are utilizing his skill set really well and he's a really good player."
On the fourth-down timeout at LSU…
"As far as the alignment, we didn't want to give it up, and then they sent their offense back out there, and that's a typical situation. They're going to try to draw you offsides, and that's one that we practiced, but we haven't practiced it enough because we jumped. That's a kid trying to make a play, but again, that goes back to putting in that situation so many times that we don't mess it up, so I'll take the blame for that one."
Opening statement…
"After watching the tape, give a lot of credit to LSU. They're a good football team, top-5 program. We didn't have the discipline or the consistency it takes to go win on the road in this conference. As a head coach, you have a vision of what you want your team to look like and when it doesn't look that way you look at yourself first. We're going to continue to work and get the problems fixed but that was disappointing that you work hard and you have this vision and when it doesn't show up the way you want it to, you're disappointed. We'll continue to work to get it fixed, that starts with me, and we will. After looking at the tape, there were some positives to take from it, but ultimately consistency is the key to win in this league. You have to be consistent offensively, defensively, special teams, there has to be consistency there and it wasn't there, and that starts with me."
Injury update…
"C.J. Moore tore his pectoral muscle. He'll be out for a couple weeks, maybe indefinitely. We have to check and see what we can do. We're getting a couple of opinions now, but he will definitely be out this week. We're hoping to get Victor Evans back. We're going to move Armani Linton from running back to the secondary to give us some depth back there. He's done it before and he knows it, so hopefully he can give us some depth back there."
On ULM…
"I have a lot of respect for Coach Viator. He does a good job. What sticks out immediately is that win over Southern Miss. They have a really athletic quarterback, and he's their leading rusher. Marcus Green who is from right down the road here is their leading receiver. He does a really good job in the slot, and they are very active on defense. We'll have our work cut out for us, but again after a tough loss we are looking forward to getting back on the practice field and going back to work."
On discipline and late hits on Saturday night…
"Obviously, you can't have that many penalties and win games. That's not us, that's not who we are. You can look at each one of them and I have, over and over and over again and you can try to justify it but it's too many to win games. We just have to make sure we keep working on the little things, and we will and the kids will respond. I thought the one from (Zedrick) Woods was really good effort, bang-bang play, and the one with (Kevontae') Ruggs was late."
On the running game in the first half…
"In our RPO stuff, Scottie (Phillips) does have a lot of yards per carry because he is running into really good looks, so when they do bring pressure and they have 1 on 1's, we've made a living of making those plays. That's who we are, and when people do bring pressure and leave 1 on 1's we believe, and I know we can, make those plays."
On his message to the fanbase…
"There's a lot of people who have passion for Ole Miss Football, and I'm one of those people. We're working really, really hard every single day to put a product on the field. It didn't look the way we wanted it to look on Saturday, but we're going to continue to work and all be pulling in the same direction. We'd love for everybody to show up on Saturday, and let's keep working to get this program where we all want it to be."
On dropped passes Saturday and inconsistencies…
"Some of it was when you play against that good of a team, they force you to execute, and when you don't execute it shows up a little bit more. In a tough environment against a top program, you have to be consistent. You can't have any inconsistencies or they get magnified. Sometimes if you're winning the game they don't get magnified, but in big games they do. We have to make sure we stay consistent because that's what you have to do. This is the best league in college football, and that's what you sign up for and what you expect."
On keeping morale up…
"It's very important that you keep it inside because that is where it starts, from the inside out. These players, they go through a bunch, but I think they are very resilient, and you can see that on Sunday when they come to practice, they work really hard. They were embarrassed about what happened on Saturday too, and I think they want to go back out and prove to everybody what they are capable of. I like this team, and again, we're just excited about the opportunity to go get it fixed."
On if there is a magic formula for success…
"It's funny that you use the term 'magic formula,' because I told the team Sunday there is no magic formula. It's just hard work and going to get better week in and week out. When you have a vision, you have to work until that vision comes to life, and I think you've just got to go keep getting better. There were some good things that happened on the tape, and you have to take that, and you have to learn from that and move forward. I think there is no magic formula, there is no quick fix. It's just hard work day in and day out and getting better."
On the team's mindset…
"I think we're looking and searching for consistency. There's been flashes of really good stuff on both sides of the ball. I thought our defensive line did a lot of good things in the game, and the same thing on the offensive line. You can have breakdowns. You have to be consistent and that's coaching. It starts with me and helping them be consistent. That's what we're searching for, and that's what we'll be working toward."
On ULM WR Marcus Green…
"You see he's a redshirt senior, so you know he's experienced and he's paid his dues. He's very quick, very good in the slot. What they use him to do sweeps and reverses—they are utilizing his skill set really well and he's a really good player."
On the fourth-down timeout at LSU…
"As far as the alignment, we didn't want to give it up, and then they sent their offense back out there, and that's a typical situation. They're going to try to draw you offsides, and that's one that we practiced, but we haven't practiced it enough because we jumped. That's a kid trying to make a play, but again, that goes back to putting in that situation so many times that we don't mess it up, so I'll take the blame for that one."
Players Mentioned
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