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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Luke Weekly Press Conference
9/16/2019 | Football
<i class="icon-video"></i> Matt Luke Press Conference<i class="icon-video"></i> Mike MacIntyre Press Conference<i class="icon-video"></i> Rich Rodriguez Press Conference
Head Football Coach Recaps SLU Win, Previews Matchup with No. 23 Cal
Ole Miss Football Head Coach Matt Luke met with the media Monday to recap the win over Southeastern Louisiana, while also looking ahead to Saturday's non-conference matchup versus No. 23 Cal (11 a.m. CT, ESPNU). The full transcript can be found below.
Opening statement…
"I'm excited about this opportunity, a chance to have a top-25 team coming into Oxford. I really encourage our fans to show up and create a good atmosphere. Cal is a very good football team. Watching them on tape, the first thing that jumps out is how good and physical they are on defense. They have one of the best secondaries we'll face all year. It's seniors across the board on the defensive front. They have the leading returning tackler in the FBS coming back in (Evan) Weaver, their middle linebacker. He plays extremely hard and they are very good in the secondary. Offensively, they grind it out. Their quarterback (Chase Garbers) has been very good. He hurts you with his legs and also throwing the football, so it's going to be a tremendous challenge. It should be a great atmosphere in Vaught-Hemingway Saturday, and we're looking forward to it."
On evaluations after watching the SLU game film…
"I didn't think we played our best. I was very excited about Jerrion Ealy breaking records, and he showed up in the kickoff return. He showed up running the football. I thought Scottie (Phillips) and Snoop (Conner) ran the ball well too. We left some points out there for sure. We don't want to see the two turnovers. Defensively, there were some minor things here and there. We gave up some big plays that we haven't been giving up. Again, it's always good to hold your opponent to 60 yards rushing when you rush for 200 yards. That's a recipe for success for us, and we have to continue to build on that."
On the challenges of the time difference for Cal and the 11 am kick…
"Maybe coming out a day early, potentially you could do that. My biggest thing is it's tough to go on the road and win, especially when you have to manage silent cadence and playing early. That's why it's even more important for our fans to show up and create that home field advantage. Our players really feed off that energy. Just creating that home field advantage is key for us."
On the familiarity of the coordinators with Pac-12 football and Justin Wilcox's Cal team…
"It works both ways. They (Mike MacIntyre, Rich Rodriguez, Justin Wilcox) have familiarity with each other, having played against each other. But it works both ways because he (Justin Wilcox) has played against them (Mike MacIntyre, Rich Rodriguez) too. Anytime you have a coordinator or head coach you've played against, you can go back and watch some of those things, and it does help."
On the offensive line play the first three weeks of the season…
"You can always be better. In the offense, it all works together. The o-line, quarterback, receivers, backs all being on the same page, and sometimes it's the quarterback getting the ball out faster. Sometimes it's the o-line missing the block, sometimes it's the running back not seeing the hole. It all works together. The more that you do simplifying, getting the ball out quicker, making sure it gets distributed to the right places at the right time, your chances of success goes way up. As we continue to build with our young team, it's getting the ball to the right spot and winning with ability."
On any different game plan to eliminate allowing tackles for loss…
"We need to make sure we understand and rep everything we're going to run against every look that we'll see. The more you do, the less you can rep in practice. The more reps you do, the most the ball will get in the right spot."
On the linebackers stepping up…
"Jacquez (Jones) played well. He keeps showing up. He's very physical and explosive. You saw that kickoff coverage. That was the biggest hit we've had in a while. He separates the guy from the ball. It was a textbook tackle. Just to have him coming on shows that we are building that depth that even when a guy does go down, we have a guy that can step in and go in there. That says a lot about Coach (Jeff) Koonz and Coach (Mike) MacIntyre having guys ready to go when someone does go down. This is a long season. It's going to happen not only at linebacker, but at every position, and you have got to have the depth to step in there."
On Cal's pass defense…
"Number one, they have the personnel. They are very, very talented in the secondary. They can play man. They are experienced in their zone coverage. They don't give you anything easy, they make you earn it. When you have really good players executing a really good scheme, that is a recipe for success. It's a combination. They understand their defense. Coach (Justin) Wilcox has done an unbelievable job in creating that culture on defense. They are really talented as well."
On Cal's transition towards a run-heavy offense…
"I think they've done a good job of creating that mentality. They play really hard. Right now, they are basically in the top-five in every category, run and pass, in the Pac-12. They run around, they've got a good scheme, and they've got good players that play hard. We have to go in and protect the football. We've got to move the football, stay away from negative plays. They thrive off of turnovers. They had a pick-six against Washington, that was a big play. So, we've got to protect the football and stay on schedule."
On protecting the football…
"You can't turn the ball over against anybody. We have to protect the football. These guys are good in the secondary. They had 21 interceptions last year which I think was second in the entire country. The guys that had 20 of those interceptions are back. They are very talented in the secondary."
On big plays allowed…
"It was little things here and there. Just attention to detail and a couple of times we were right there and didn't make the play, but they got behind us on a deep ball, which hadn't been happening. But it's more about just attention to detail on little things. And again, it is things that can be corrected."
On getting more people involved in the passing game…
"Third down was pretty good there at the end of the game. I thought he (Matt Corral) did a good job of getting to his second and third progressions there. Credit the O-Line for being there when we needed them. I think every route has different people involved and what they play dictate where the ball goes."
On kickoffs going out of bounds…
"I think we are breaking in two new kickers. Spencer (Cole) got his chance. He has the stronger leg, and he had two touchbacks early which was good. I think we had seven or eight kickoff coverages, and he kicked one out of bounds. Obviously, we want to be consistent. He does have the stronger leg, and he will continue to move forward being the guy."
On fair catches…
"We want to use them. We have a system that we have and if we have a certain kick, we want to return it. Another kick, we'll fair catch it. Again, if they keep kicking it to (Jerrion) Ealy, we want to keep giving him chances to be explosive."
Opening statement…
"I'm excited about this opportunity, a chance to have a top-25 team coming into Oxford. I really encourage our fans to show up and create a good atmosphere. Cal is a very good football team. Watching them on tape, the first thing that jumps out is how good and physical they are on defense. They have one of the best secondaries we'll face all year. It's seniors across the board on the defensive front. They have the leading returning tackler in the FBS coming back in (Evan) Weaver, their middle linebacker. He plays extremely hard and they are very good in the secondary. Offensively, they grind it out. Their quarterback (Chase Garbers) has been very good. He hurts you with his legs and also throwing the football, so it's going to be a tremendous challenge. It should be a great atmosphere in Vaught-Hemingway Saturday, and we're looking forward to it."
On evaluations after watching the SLU game film…
"I didn't think we played our best. I was very excited about Jerrion Ealy breaking records, and he showed up in the kickoff return. He showed up running the football. I thought Scottie (Phillips) and Snoop (Conner) ran the ball well too. We left some points out there for sure. We don't want to see the two turnovers. Defensively, there were some minor things here and there. We gave up some big plays that we haven't been giving up. Again, it's always good to hold your opponent to 60 yards rushing when you rush for 200 yards. That's a recipe for success for us, and we have to continue to build on that."
On the challenges of the time difference for Cal and the 11 am kick…
"Maybe coming out a day early, potentially you could do that. My biggest thing is it's tough to go on the road and win, especially when you have to manage silent cadence and playing early. That's why it's even more important for our fans to show up and create that home field advantage. Our players really feed off that energy. Just creating that home field advantage is key for us."
On the familiarity of the coordinators with Pac-12 football and Justin Wilcox's Cal team…
"It works both ways. They (Mike MacIntyre, Rich Rodriguez, Justin Wilcox) have familiarity with each other, having played against each other. But it works both ways because he (Justin Wilcox) has played against them (Mike MacIntyre, Rich Rodriguez) too. Anytime you have a coordinator or head coach you've played against, you can go back and watch some of those things, and it does help."
On the offensive line play the first three weeks of the season…
"You can always be better. In the offense, it all works together. The o-line, quarterback, receivers, backs all being on the same page, and sometimes it's the quarterback getting the ball out faster. Sometimes it's the o-line missing the block, sometimes it's the running back not seeing the hole. It all works together. The more that you do simplifying, getting the ball out quicker, making sure it gets distributed to the right places at the right time, your chances of success goes way up. As we continue to build with our young team, it's getting the ball to the right spot and winning with ability."
On any different game plan to eliminate allowing tackles for loss…
"We need to make sure we understand and rep everything we're going to run against every look that we'll see. The more you do, the less you can rep in practice. The more reps you do, the most the ball will get in the right spot."
On the linebackers stepping up…
"Jacquez (Jones) played well. He keeps showing up. He's very physical and explosive. You saw that kickoff coverage. That was the biggest hit we've had in a while. He separates the guy from the ball. It was a textbook tackle. Just to have him coming on shows that we are building that depth that even when a guy does go down, we have a guy that can step in and go in there. That says a lot about Coach (Jeff) Koonz and Coach (Mike) MacIntyre having guys ready to go when someone does go down. This is a long season. It's going to happen not only at linebacker, but at every position, and you have got to have the depth to step in there."
On Cal's pass defense…
"Number one, they have the personnel. They are very, very talented in the secondary. They can play man. They are experienced in their zone coverage. They don't give you anything easy, they make you earn it. When you have really good players executing a really good scheme, that is a recipe for success. It's a combination. They understand their defense. Coach (Justin) Wilcox has done an unbelievable job in creating that culture on defense. They are really talented as well."
On Cal's transition towards a run-heavy offense…
"I think they've done a good job of creating that mentality. They play really hard. Right now, they are basically in the top-five in every category, run and pass, in the Pac-12. They run around, they've got a good scheme, and they've got good players that play hard. We have to go in and protect the football. We've got to move the football, stay away from negative plays. They thrive off of turnovers. They had a pick-six against Washington, that was a big play. So, we've got to protect the football and stay on schedule."
On protecting the football…
"You can't turn the ball over against anybody. We have to protect the football. These guys are good in the secondary. They had 21 interceptions last year which I think was second in the entire country. The guys that had 20 of those interceptions are back. They are very talented in the secondary."
On big plays allowed…
"It was little things here and there. Just attention to detail and a couple of times we were right there and didn't make the play, but they got behind us on a deep ball, which hadn't been happening. But it's more about just attention to detail on little things. And again, it is things that can be corrected."
On getting more people involved in the passing game…
"Third down was pretty good there at the end of the game. I thought he (Matt Corral) did a good job of getting to his second and third progressions there. Credit the O-Line for being there when we needed them. I think every route has different people involved and what they play dictate where the ball goes."
On kickoffs going out of bounds…
"I think we are breaking in two new kickers. Spencer (Cole) got his chance. He has the stronger leg, and he had two touchbacks early which was good. I think we had seven or eight kickoff coverages, and he kicked one out of bounds. Obviously, we want to be consistent. He does have the stronger leg, and he will continue to move forward being the guy."
On fair catches…
"We want to use them. We have a system that we have and if we have a certain kick, we want to return it. Another kick, we'll fair catch it. Again, if they keep kicking it to (Jerrion) Ealy, we want to keep giving him chances to be explosive."
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballPete Golding and Chris Malloy Join Paul Finebaum (04-29-26)
Wednesday, April 29
PRESSER | Oscar Bird (04-28-36)
Tuesday, April 28
PRESSER | Lucas Carneiro (04-28-26)
Tuesday, April 28
PRESSER | Pete Golding (04-27-26)
Monday, April 27