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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Auburn
10/20/2018 | Football
Auburn 31, Ole Miss 16
| OLE MISS HEAD COACH MATT LUKE |
"The main story of the day is pretty obvious, when you get in the red zone you have got to find a way to score a touchdown. Also, I thought that our ability to run the football really hurt us at times. Give Auburn a lot of credit; they are really good on defense. I thought our defense played well in the first half, keeping us in it. I think the story of the game was the red zone. We have got to find a way to get it in, and it does get tough to against a good defense. It is our jobs as coaches to find ways to get it in the end zone. I thought our players played hard; our defense played hard being depleted. I am proud of the way they fought giving us an opportunity to win the football game."
On Auburn's defense:
"They are good players. They are big and fast. We did a good job of moving the football, but we did not have the points to show for it. We cannot just kick field goals, have blocked field goals, and not get a first down on fourth and one. Down in the red zone, it does get tougher, we have got to find a way to win one on ones."
On the change in Ole Miss' defense as the game progressed:
"They kept battling and battling, and the dam just finally broke. They battled back in the fourth quarter, but the three scoring drives back-to-back were because of too many explosive plays. We cannot allow that to happen. I thought they kept us in the game long enough, but we were not able to put points up to win."
On D.K. Metcalf's absence:
"You always wish you had D.K., but he was not available for this game. Braylon was prepared; he played hard. We have some other weapons, and we have to find ways to utilize those guys so we can score."
On priorities during the bye week:
"It is a great time to look at everything, overview and scout ourselves. Obviously, we want to look at some things in the red zone and how we are going to fix that to get better. We will also take the opportunity to use the extra week to get healthy. We will try to get some of these guys back, like Robinson and Miller. We will try to get some of these guys back to help us. We will try to get a jump start of South Carolina."
| OLE MISS WIDE RECEIVER A.J. BROWN |
"Yeah, we left a lot of plays out there today. We just couldn't get it done today."
On difficulty of scoring in the red zone:
"When you in close you've got to pay attention to details. Whether it the routes you're running, the passing protection, but mainly everyone just beating their man one-on-one."
On team's ability to recover from loss:
"We're definitely going to get back, and get up off the mat. It was a tough loss, but we have an open date and we're going to be ready for South Carolina."
| OLE MISS LINEBACKER MOHAMED SANOGO |
"I have tried to go in everyday and improve my physicality and my relentless. Just knowing where the play is going and where to be."
On defensive injuries and his leadership role on defense:
"We know that if someone goes down the next guy has to step up. I have to make sure the guys understand that and make sure everyone is lined up and ready to play.
On the team being banged up:
"Everyone has their own nicks and bruises, but at the end of the day we have this off week. We're going to get all rested up, and come out ready to go again against South Carolina."
| AUBURN HEAD COACH GUS MALZAHN |
"This was a very good win for our program. I would like to start out by just thank the Auburn fans that traveled here. They were a big factor today and really appreciate them being here. It meant a lot to our team and to our players. Offensively, what really stood out to me was we were able to run the football and we had over 200 yards rushing which was huge. Another thing that really stood out to me was the third quarter. We've had some trouble in third quarters coming out of halftime and we played probably our best quarter during the third quarter and kind of put the game away. Defensively, well, they have a scary offense. They have great receivers and an offensive line I'm very impressed with. Their quarterback is a runner and for us to really hold them like we did; we didn't give up the big plays and that was the plan. We tried to keep everything in front of us and tackle. I think for the most part we tackled well. What really stood out to me also is there are a bunch of young guys who made plays today. A bunch of guys offensively who made plays today and a bunch of guy defensively. Overall, I'm really happy for our players and our staff. We still have things to work on, there were things we could have done better. I think the big thing for me right now is we got an off week coming up and it couldn't be coming at a better time. We need to heal up a little bit. It'll give us a chance to see where we're at. That will give us a plan for the next four games to finish this thing off the right way. Today's win will really help us move in that direction.
On Jeremiah Dinson and Jamal Dean not getting to start:
"Yeah that felt like a big deal. Not having Dean, he's an impact player, and our corner has really stepped up and played a whole of snaps. And not having Dinson who is really one of our leaders, in the first half, those young guys really stepped up. Very proud of those guys. When you two have valuable players like that not in the first half against an offense like that, it's a scary thought."
On the feeling going into this week:
"You know, obviously we went through a storm last week with all the negativity and everything that goes with it. And with that we either divide, and I think a lot of people root for that, or it brings you together. We've got super young men in that locker room with high character. We have a bunch of really good coaches close to the players. And we've just had really good practices, some of the most spirited practices I think. Just that feeling we were going to play good football today and start playing like we can. And I expect we will for the rest of the season."
On the source of the negativity going into the week:
"We have great fans. I'd say it's all others to be honest with you. But that's part of it. We weren't happy with how we had been playing there for a couple of weeks stretch."
On JaTarvious Whitlow's game:
"Yeah he is one of those guys who gives 100% coming in here. He got dinged up a little in one moment. We put him back in later and he got dinged up again. But he had a big game. That touchdown on the smoke draw that busted out the back side I thought it was really one of the big plays of the game."
On the third quarter:
"You know, I think we had a decent idea of what to expect. I think it was more of a run the football and we felt like we could. I think we had a big pass play to Seth that was another big one right there. I think they were playing well. Very proud of our defense today up against their scary offense."
| AUBURN QUARTERBACK JARRETT STIDHAM |
"I thought we ran the ball really effectively. Those guys up front did a tremendous job today and the running backs did a good job of finding those holes and making big plays. I think it opened up the rest of our game plan. I think they played really good today."
On the negativity leading into the game:
"Anytime you face adversity, there's going to be all sorts of noise around you, but everybody in that locker room, team and staff, we just blocked out the noise everyday all week. It is hard to bounce back from that adversity but our guys we stuck together we got it done today."
On the third quarter:
"It was huge we emphasized at half time strong and getting touchdown at the start of the second half and from that moment on we got our rhythm and played really well."
On if this game was a turning point:
"For sure. Definitely think anytime you can get momentum going in the off week before you have this four-game stretch like we do in November its really big for us. Its key for this off week to really get into it before Texas A&M."
| AUBURN FS JEREMIAH DINSON |
"It was boring watching the game from an iPad in the locker room, but you get a different perspective watching the calls, stuff like that. I kind of got an extra film study before going out there."
On how the defense performed:
"We played good, they are a good offense. They have a QB that can run, big receivers and make plays so I feel like we did a good job. We know what they have up front, and we did good."
On the red zone stops:
"We missed tough things in the red zone all season. We just all look at each other like don't let them in. We did a good job."
On needing the win:
"We needed this win. It's huge for a positive mindset for our team as a whole. You are kind of down when you lose back to back games. This win is huge going in a bye week, get whoever is injured healthy again and get back rolling."
