Postgame Quotes vs. SIU

OLE MISS HEAD COACH MATT LUKE

OPENING STATEMENT
"Yeah, it's good to be 2-0. That's the most important stat. There are a lot of stats I'm not happy with, but that's the one I am happy with. The fact that we're 2-0. I'm disappointed in the first half, defensively. We didn't come out ready to play, that's on me 100%. I'm very happy with the half-time adjustments, outscoring them 41-3 in the second half. I am pleased with the energy and adjustments that we made at half time, but we obviously need to be better than that if we expect to win. So we have to get on the tape and figure out what went wrong in the first half. Offensively, for the most part, we had a couple of penalties there to stop a drive backed up, and maybe a three and out to start the game, but other than that we played pretty efficiently on offense and we needed every bit of it. But again, 2-0. We have a really big game next week and we have to go back to work starting tomorrow."

ON HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
"I think a lot of it was mindset and eyes and going out there and not waiting on someone to make a play, but going to make a play. I did think he second half was much, much better. So we need to go watch the tape and figure out what exactly it was, because it wasn't indicative of what we expect."

ON STRESSING 12 GAMES, 12 OPPORTUNITIES
"We stressed it all week, but judging by the first half, I would say that that ws some of the issue. But again, I need to watch the film to see. But the focus was much better in the second half and the mindset was much better and we played better."

ON THE DEFENSES' BIGGEST ISSUE
"We got to figure out a way to get off the field on third down. But again, I am pleased in the second half, getting two defensive touchdowns and battling back, so I am proud about that."

ON THE FRUSTRATION OF THE FIRST HALF
"We tried man and we tried zone, but it was much more about execution than it was about making an adjustment. It was just much more about the mindset, than making the adjustment. I felt like the mindset was better, I think that sort of thing wasn't schematically anything, it was just a maybe a shift in mindset going into the second half."

ON BRAYLON SANDERS, ELIJAH MOORE, AND ALEX WEBER
"I'm very pleased with their work ethic and you can see it start to pay off. It wasreally great to see Alex Weber make a play at the end. He has been here a long time, so I was really excited to see him make a good play."

ON RELYING ON THE OFFENSE AND JORDAN TA'AMU
"Yeah, you know I think there are certain games where you're going to have to outscore them and that there's going to be a time this year where we're going to need our defense to step up and make some stuff to help the offense. So you figure out how to win games. But I'm very, very pleased with Jordan and the offense scoring enough points to win the game."

ON MATT CORRAL
"He kept his emotions in check that was maybe what I was worried about the most, but I was proud of him getting the touchdown at the end. I was pleased for him to get in there and get his first action and happy he was able to lead the team down there to a touchdown drive.

OLE MISS QUARTERBACK JORDAN TA'AMU

ON THE OFFENSES' PERFORMANCE
"I feel amazing. I am just happy that everyone did their job on the offense. Our receivers made wonderful catches down field and the offensive line gave us time with their blocks. Just going into this weekend we were prepared to challenge their defense."

ON THE DEEP PASSES
"I just practice because practice makes permanent. That's what Coach Luke says. I try to work on my deep ball. My intermediate throw is my short throw. I try to make the best spot for the receiver to get it. They do a wonderful job of catching it."

ON nWo
"Just the whole room, having depth in the wide-receiving room. That is most important. The back-ups always have chances to showcase themselves and they did that today. I think everyone in that room is a starter. I try to make the best spot for the receiver to get it. They do a wonderful job of catching it."

OLE MISS WIDE RECEIVER A.J. BROWN

ON THE GAME
"It's a blessing. I just tried to take advantage of my opportunities. Catch the ball and run it up as much as I could."

ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH JORDAN TA'AMU
"We all have a different relationship with him but we are all on the same page with him. If one of us does not get the ball, we do not worry, because we know he is going to come to us. When he comes to us we just have to make plays for him. He is real precise and accurate. He never really forces anything so we trust him."

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF QB TRUST
"It is real big honestly. When you have other guys around the field, like myself, that can make plays it does not matter who you throw the ball to. That is our job to make plays and that is what we are trained to do. One-on-one mentality is I have to win."

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH NICK HILL

OPENING STATEMENT
"Yes, obviously I'm proud of their efforts. I'm proud of the guys coming down here and competing. I thought that the entire week they approached travelling well, they weren't wowed by the situation, and they came down here to win a football game. We knew that it was going to take 60 minutes, unfortunately we just kind of ran out of gas. I'm proud of their effort, like I told them in the locker room. There were a lot of tears in their eyes. They didn't come down here to get patted on the back, they're a competitive group that expects to play at a high level. We've set a high standard with our program, and that's for every week. For the entire week, this morning, and our pregame, the message was you only get 11 of these. You don't get up for certain games, it doesn't matter who you're playing.We've set a standard of expectations for yourself to compete to the best of your ability no matter who you're playing. And that's what we did here tonight, but unfortunately they (Ole Miss) made a lot of plays."

ON TA'AMU'S PERFORMANCE
"As a quarterback myself, that quarterback (Ta'amu), he made a lot of plays. I played quarterback in college, five years professionally, and I know that kid will make plays. He has a great demeanor about him, and his receivers, they make plays too. But his passes were put in almost perfect position all night long. We were in great position for a few of them, where it's going to take a perfect throw and catch, but that's what they did consistently all night."

ON HIS QUARTERBACK'S PERFORMANCE
"He's giving us everything he's got. He forced a few balls there at the end, but really 49-41, after the media timeout we had the pick 6. I had a play called, but I switched it. I wish I wouldn't have. They covered it well and made a play, so it's more on me than it is on him. And on the last pick, It's 3rd and 9, he's just trying to make a play for us."

ON OLE MISS' EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE
"We started out making them work. They punted on the first drive, and their first scoring drive we made them work for it, and that what we hoped to do. Then they started hitting us quick. They're just explosive. They can spread the field out, making running lanes, and if you don't put two safeties back then it's going to be bombs away every play. They tried to mix it up, hit us with some big runs too, but overall I was proud of my guess and their performance. Nobody got rattled."

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Players Mentioned

Alex Weber

The University of Mississippi Athletics