Postgame Quotes vs. Tennessee

OLE MISS HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN

Opening statement...
"It's awesome to win a game in that environment. I told the guys all week that this place was going to be electric, as soon as we heard it was going to be a sellout of 102,455. I remember what it was like when we were here and at the South Carolina game and the energy. I knew we were going to have to weather a storm early of energy and emotion. A lot of stuff went wrong in the first quarter and luckily we played good defense to keep us hanging around. The quarterback (Matt Corral), I don't know what you say about him. He doesn't have his left guard. He doesn't have two of his top three receivers. The tight end's out and the guy ended up—with sacks—carrying the ball 30 times. That was not by design. Some of the quarterback draws and big plays obviously were by design because of their coverages. You can't say enough about a guy who did that on the road and put the game on his shoulders. We should have done better when we got the ball back there with a minute left to win the game. We put our defense in a rough situation and the punt return. Our defense really won the game twice, so it was awesome to see. We needed that. If we would have won like last week in another high-scoring game, then we're sitting here with that same feeling about, 'here we go again on defense.' That was a really hot offense, as everybody knows. We played really good on defense."

On his thoughts on the delay late in the fourth quarter…
"I just wanted to play. The players have helmets. It's the coaches that are going to get hit. I've still got my souvenir golf ball that I got hit with. I just said, 'put the helmets on and let's play.' Really, the Tennessee people were taking care of us. I think David Elliott was over there saying, 'we're worried more about the players than anything else., even the Tennessee people.' That was really cool to see that part of it."

On if clutch play-making is the next step he wants to see his continue to take…
"Yes, it is. This is a lot better feeling defensively than a week ago. A week ago, we made the one two-point play stop, but in this one we stopped them a number of times, including a fourth down stop. We just make it dramatic. I think it was fourth-and-24 and they made 23 and three quarters. I guess that's kind of the story of our life. It just doesn't go easy. To see them rise to that and then after what felt like a 30-minute delay (was good). Then, we do a really bad job with a three-and-out on offense. We don't cover the punt well and put our defense in a rough position. They did a great job. We really rushed there with three at the end. We had relentless effort and ended up getting five sacks against a very athletic quarterback."

On the play that resulted in a safety due to an intentional grounding call in the end zone…
"Yes, that was a long time ago. It was really unfortunate, kind of like the crazy things of the night that happened. Our offensive guys heard a whistle. It's really a pass. He's going to throw the ball and (John Rhys) Plumlee's not covered. (Dontario) Drummond cracks the guy and knocks the guy over while Plumlee's in the flat and going to go for a long way. Matt and a number of the offensive players just stopped. That's why he just let them have the ball. Even some of their defensive players stopped I think. The refs said they didn't blow it, so somehow we all heard a whistle that didn't happen. Unfortunately, the felt like a 14-point play because they picked it up and scored and we had a guy wide-open for a huge play."

On what the difference was for the Rebel defense today, compared to last week…
"I think Jake Springer makes a difference. I think that was pretty obvious, throughout the game. The last time that guy played significantly was the opened I think. I think he makes a difference and we didn't give up many big plays, explosive plays. We controlled the clock, which we don't even try to do. At one point I looked up and we were over ten minutes ahead in time of possession, which probably helps your defense. We don't know what that's like, but we ran 101 plays on offense without penalties. That's probably over 110 plays that were run. That helps the defense sitting there."

OLE MISS QUARTERBACK MATT CORRAL

On the growth of the defense...
"It just gives us all the confidence in the world, believing in all the work we have been putting in. Believing in our standards. Believing in our work ethic. You know, just keep practicing to get better everyday because nobody really gave our defense a chance. We knew that. We just had to depend on each other. We all we got, we all we need. That's just how we play ball."

On stopping Tennessee at the end of the game after giving up a late touchdown to Arkansas the week before...
"I think experience is the best teacher sometime. We just focus. Knowing how it was last week and knowing that feeling, knowing that they was going for two when they really could have kicked a field goal and went to overtime. Had that game turned out different we would have all been sick. That was a good experience for this week, being able to understand how big the moment was for us and to seal the deal tonight."

TENNESSEE HEAD COACH JOSH HEUPEL

Opening statement...
"First, I just want to acknowledge for the few fans, what transpired at the end and disappointed on how the game ended as things were being thrown from the crowd, but I know that's very few of our crowd members. For most of the football games, that was an unbelievable atmosphere to see Vol Nation show out the way they did. From the Vol Walk to the stadium, to the atmosphere inside of the stadium, I thought we're awesome. Those were two good football teams who played hard tonight. Unfortunately, we got the short end of the stick. I talked to our guys in the locker room and was disappointed because didn't think we played smart enough in all three phases of the football game. We didn't play smart enough to make the plays that were there for us and beat ourselves in some way. I'm not taking anything away from Ole Miss, that's a really good football whose quarterback is a special player." On if he was getting explanations from the refs… "Occasionally, I did. On Tyler Baron's play, they said that forward progress had been stopped, and that it was a non-reviewable play. The spot was the decision they came to and the chains were being moved, and I didn't get an explanation on it."

On Hendon Hooker's status and what the discussion on the field was as debris was being thrown…
"No update on Hendon at this point, it's too early and we'll find out as the weekend goes on. As far as what was being said on the field, I was thinking by how much time was on the clock and that we had three timeouts I knew the game wasn't over. The first part about that whole situation was player safety."

On what the defense needs to do to respond to another tough quarterback next week... "There were a lot of things that we did really well. We had some breakdowns at times. I thought we made it tough on him for most of the night. Some quarterback draws that we have to get better against. We had them in some third and longs early in the game. We have to get off the football field."

On the defensive adjustments to contain Matt Coral's running...
"Some of it is twist game. Some of it is awareness. Some of it is based on call and situation. He is a good player, and he puts you in a dilemma. Some of those plays were broken plays. Seeing what they were running on that side of the football, RPO option. The run wasn't there, the throw wasn't there, and he broke contain and made a heck of a play. He's a good football player."

On calling the game during the delay…
"Just that we were going to finish the game. I think there was concern about player safety which there should be. We were still going to find a way to finish the game."

On Ole Miss's defense…
"Not major overall structure difference. There is some things that they did that we did not handle protection. We got behind chains a couple of times. One drive false start, not enough guys on the field, just simple things that you just can't do when you are playing a good football team."

On what he was thinking during when fans threw trash…
"Player safety is one thing you are always worried about. How are you going to finish the football game. The situations that are coming up defensively and offensively. I said it at the beginning, I am disappointed that will be the story from this football game from a small amount of our fans because there were so many that represented intensity in a great way tonight."

TENNESSEE WIDE RECEIVER CEDRIC TILLMAN

On the play call on the last play of the game…
"There was definitely a concept. Once again, I have to go back and look on film to see how it played out. Didn't play out the way we wanted it to."

On the level of adversity the team is under…
"I think we are under a good amount of adversity, but I don't think it's anything that we can't overcome. Tough loss, but tomorrow, we will get ready for our next week opponent"

On impact of missing Tiyon Evans had on the offense…
"I think the running backs did good tonight, but like you said, Tiyon (Evans) is a big playmaker for our team. Jabari Small, Len'Neath Whitehead and our other running backs that ran the ball, I think they did a great job. It's just unfortunate."

TENNESSEE DEFENSIVE BACK REVON FLOWERS

On his interception and how it changed the momentum...
"It felt great. Personally, I felt like my team needed a break. We needed something to go our way to change the momentum of the game. I was willing to do that by any chance, but I couldn't have done it without the other 10 guys on the field, so credit to those guys."

On fans today in Knoxville...
"That's one to remember, for sure. We love our fans. We appreciate the support. Maybe it was a select few that did that stuff at the end."

On planning for the matchup next weekend...
"Of course, we are going to go in and watch the tape, watch the film on the last game he (Bryce Young) just had and put some adjustments together. We are going to try to contain him in the best way possible."

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Players Mentioned

Matt Corral

Jake Springer

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