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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Georgia
11/9/2024 | Football
| OLE MISS HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN |
Opening Statement:
"Really happy for our university. Five years ago, when we came here coming off of four non-winning seasons, the Chancellor and Keith [Carter] made a decision to bring us here. A lot of really good things have happened, but there has not been a signature game like this, been close when Alabama was here. Just really happy because it's been close in games. I'm happy for our fans, for them to be able to enjoy this. That's a great Georgia team. Outside of Alabama, they've won 51 straight games since COVID-19. Just happy for our players too, to play that way. What ends up kind of being dominant to win by three scores is a lot of people doing a lot of things right. This game started a year ago when these guys beat us like that. We made a decision to go to the portal and we got some guys to come back and not go to the draft and they did a lot for this game. The guys said that this week, they came here for this game. It's a long year and a lot of off-season film work. The coaches plan for this game, so just really happy for a lot of people."
On if the 24-hour rule applies in the bye week:
"[It still applies] for me, probably not for the players. We got a lot of work to do. We put ourselves in position now, not just beating Georgia, but beating them like that, to be in the playoffs. Not worry about the rankings, it will work itself out. We got two more games to play and we've got to go win those two games to put us in that position. I told them three weeks ago after the LSU game when we screwed up at the end: you go down there and don't win, you're going to have to win every game. It's been four games so we had to win every week. The playoffs to me, you're going to have to go through Georgia and it's a different system now."
On if the team is playing to their true potential:
"Yeah, but you have to do it every week, get Tre [Harris] back. I definitely think our identity is being shown as a dominant defense at times that shuts people down and a really good passing team, leading the country in passing coming into the game. Again, that's the last two and a half, three and a half teams without Tre [Harris]."
On the defensive effort:
"That's a credit to Coach [Pete] Golding's staff. That's why we brought him here, for games like this. He showed up and they showed up. To be at the end of the game and they are throwing screens, staying away from our rush, it was pretty cool. He is doing things right and showing up. It was great to have Princely [Umanmielen] back after the last couple of weeks."
| OLE MISS QB JAXSON DART |
On how the success feels after coming back to make another run:
"It feels great. I feel like everybody counted us out after the LSU game. We felt like we were two plays away from being the number one team in the country. I'm so proud of how resilient the guys are and it starts with our coaching staff and us never giving up or losing faith and just sticking together."
On Austin Simmons' performance during the second drive:
"I really wanted to start this off by saying how awesome of a job he did. I felt like his drive really changed the momentum of the game. I'm just so proud of him and he's a hell of a player, so him just being able to come in and manufacture a drive like that, which resulted in a touchdown, was huge. It really provided a spark for our team."
On relying on the defense when offensive production slows:
"It's huge, it's a security blanket to have. Pooh Paul, Jared Ivey, TJ Dottery, and Trey Amos all came up to me this week and they just kept telling me 'We got you, bro, we're locked in, we got you' and hearing that just gave us so much confidence that we can rely on those guys and they can close out games. This week really showed it, we have all learned from our mistakes in previous weeks. Besides the pick that I threw, they really dominated them. I put them in a bad situation, but from then on they dominated."
On becoming the winningest quarterback in program history and this team's story:
"It's huge, you want to go into a place and leave it better than when you first stepped foot and I think that's been my main objective, day-in and day-out and how I handle my business. Really all of the credit goes to my teammates and the coaches. I'm so blessed to have those people around me that make my job so much easier. I'm just so proud to be an Ole Miss Rebel and I'm grateful to be here. There's not another group of guys that I'd rather go to war with."
| OLE MISS DE PRINCELY UMANMIELEN |
On being a part of a win this big:
"Have I ever been a part of a win like that? I don't think I have. It was great. That's why I came here. To play big time football and to play in big time games. The feeling is just unreal."
On his performance in the game:
"Go to work everyday. That's all it is. To come out there and play my game. Not to play their game but to play mine."
On ability to reach the quarterback:
"Coming into the week I was telling some of our guys when watching film, Georgia does not give up sacks easily. Or at all. It was going to be on us to set the tone."
| OLE MISS LB CHRIS PAUL JR. |
On Austin Simmons coming in for Jaxson Dart:
"I was very proud of him. If you see how he comes in and works each and every day, he's awesome. He's on top of film study with [Jaxson] Dart and you can see him out there throwing passes, building that chemistry with the offense in total. It was awesome for him to get the opportunity to go out there and showcase what he has been working on."
On the energy of the fanbase:
"We have put in a lot of work this off season to showcase to the fans and show them what we have been working on, so to see them out there being the support behind us, raising chaos out there, it was nice. It brought energy to us as a defense and as an offense. The adrenaline starts to rush and you know it's time to play. We can't thank them enough."
On the defense in the last few games:
"We went out there to our standard. Coach [Lane Kiffin] goes out there and lays out the standard for us each week. That's what I feel like we did tonight. We played Ole Miss defense football."
| OLE MISS LB TJ DOTTERY |
On playing behind the defensive line:
"I think it's awesome. I saw a coach from Princeton talk about how we don't have any backups on the defensive line and that's true. If one guy goes off the field, the next guy goes in. He could be a starter too so it's just amazing to be efficient and let everyone stand out."
On his relationship with Chris Paul Jr. as defensive linemen:
"I think we go well together. I think Pooh [Chris Paul Jr.] makes me better: playing with him and communicating."
On how the linebacker corps and their communication:
"It's very good. When he came here, I think it started on day one. We just continued our relationship on and off the field and I think our relationship off the field is what makes us better on the field, just being able to talk about anything. I can ask him questions and he can ask me questions and it makes us play better."
| GEORGIA HEAD KIRBY SMART |
Opening Statement:
"First off, a lot of credit to Ole Miss. The atmosphere was great, they played a really good game. I thought Lane [Kiffin] had his team ready to play. We obviously struggled in a lot of areas. We had miscues, mistakes, penalties, things that are really hard to overcome especially when you play a really good football team, and they are. I told our team coming into this week, I felt like they were probably the most talented team that we have played on both sides of the ball and special teams. They have elite specialists and they have really good players on defense and the skill positions on offense. Give their quarterback credit, he made a lot of really good throws and their defense affected us with the pass rush. So, a lot of credit goes to Lane and his staff. Look, they really should be undefeated. I know people think that's not true, but they really controlled the game against LSU, the whole game and lost it. They're playing good football and they outplayed us tonight, outcoached us, and did a great job."
On the struggles on offense:
"I think we didn't have a great run game going. Sometimes we ran the ball well, but I thought their front defensively stunts and moves a lot, so they're very disruptive. So you have to be willing to go outside. We had some outside run game. I thought Nate did a really good job. Unfortunately, he had a turnover, but he ran the ball really hard. We talked all week about how they go after the ball, so give them credit, but when you have the penalties we have and the sacks, you're not going to be very successful, right? Penalties stop drives and sacks stop drives, and we had both of those."
On the offensive line shuffle for Georgia:
"Yeah it's tough right now because Tate [Ratledge] didn't practice all week. We thought he'd be able to go like he did against Florida. He was not able to do many reps but we thought he'd be able to go into the game just off experience. He struggled. That foot is still not completely healed and he's out there giving us all he can, so that made it a little harder. Micah [Morris] is still dealing with injury too, from the Florida game, so those two guys struggled. We tried to play a combination of [Xavier] Truss and Drew [Bobo], rotating in at guard and still playing our three tackles. They did a good job. Princely [Umanmielen] did a great job with get off. When you get in a mode of 'I have to throw the ball', you can get in trouble. Especially on the road. We had some drives there where we had to throw the ball and we struggled to block Princely in obvious passing situations."
| GEORGIA DB MALAKI STARKS |
On Ole Miss offense and their performance:
"They have a really good offense, probably one of the best in the country. I think we play really well sometimes and sometimes we didn't. I think we showed what we can do, but we have to do better at the end of the day. We need to be able to help our offense out when they need it."
On the post-game celebration:
"That's never happened to me before. I ran into a few people, but it sucks. It sucks being on the other side. I don't ever want to feel that way again. We just have to go back to work and be better all around."
On Kirby Smart's message after the game:
"He basically said we gotta be better, we gotta execute better, and don't point fingers and look yourself in the mirror and realize what you have to do better. I think that is something we all can do and we gotta go back to work on Monday."
| GEORGIA DL NAZIR STACKHOUSE |
On the fans storming the field:
"It was a funny experience for me. I'm used to just talking to the guys after the game, so it was just hard to communicate with some of the guys after the game. I just thought, 'go to the locker room, you know how fans get. Stay safe."
On Jaxson Dart's playing style..
"Jaxson Dart is a great quarterback and he always keeps us honest, especially with his footwork and how he can scramble out of there. There's just a couple things we need to work on, on defense. We've done a decent job this season. A couple of guys probably feel like they've had their best games, but that's okay cause once we start off next week, we can find out what we can do best to help the team out, especially in this past game."
On offense affecting defense:
"They do their job, and we do our job. If the other team's defense gets a turnover, we go right out there and do what we know. We aren't a "pointing fingers" type of team. We know some guys can struggle, but that's why we are a team. We have each other's backs. As a defense, we just know we have to go out there and do our jobs without pointing fingers."
| GEORGIA QB CARSON BECK |
On offensive's struggles to score after first touchdown:
"You look at their defense, I mean they played a hell of a game. We struggled to move the ball after that first touchdown after the defense was able to get a turnover. We found some momentum and we started to move the ball better in the second half and it just seemed we stalled out at times and didn't finish drives whenever we were moving the ball, just a couple costly mistakes. Their defense played really well."
On how the pass rush affected offensive production and how Ole Miss found defensive success:
"Whenever you start to go down and the game starts to get late, I mean I think that we were able to drive the ball methodically in the second half, but once they know that you're passing the ball and they can rear their heads back, they are coming at you. Maybe we need to mix up the snap count because they're jumping the snap. They have got good talented guys and we knew this going into it. When you're behind against a team like that, that has the front four that they have and good DB's to match it in the secondary it's gonna make moving the ball really difficult."
On Ole Miss' pass rush:
"They have good players, it is what it is at the end of the day. They came out and they played better than us. Their defense was able to stop our offense and their offense was able to score on our defense and that's as simple as it gets. A lot of credit to them, their front four played really well tonight"
