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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Kentucky
9/28/2024 | Football
| OLE MISS HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN |
"Beyond disappointing day. We started fast, then we played really sloppy and really bad in the second quarter. We started playing better on both sides in the third quarter and the game came down at the end with us having a chance to win it in every phase. We stop them, get the ball up by four and we go three and out and punt it back. We end up getting them to 4th down and they throw a go route. I have to credit [Mark] Stoops, that's not anything he's probably ever done in his life. He got out of his character with three and a half minutes left. I commend him for doing that. I'm sure the ESPN percentage had us 98% winning at that point. Good throw and good play by them. Then we had a chance to stop them and didn't. Then we got it back, moved it down and missed a field goal. All three phases had a chance to win the game or atleast tie the game and didn't do it. Ended on a big win for them, but very discouraging and disappointing, especially on the 11 a.m. kick. It's 3 o'clock, so you got all day to sit around and deal with this with a game that could have gone our way in so many different ways. We didn't make the plays and we didn't close them out. We had the ball up by a score and had the chance to not make it come down to a play."
On the momentum swinger with going for it on fourth and seven:
"I thought that was going to springboard us into a two possession type of win. Since we had been playing good defense, we needed a play like that to spark us. I thought the crowd was great at that point, so I really thought it was going to be one of those games that starts really close for a while and we finish them off, but we didn't do that. We had every opportunity to do that with the ball in our hands and up by four, but we went three and out."
On regrouping the team after a loss:
"All of a sudden, our program is terrible when they miss a field goal or don't get a two point conversion at the end of the game. I wouldn't tell you that we have all the answers. We have seen a lot of these where we have won them and all kinds of things can happen there. If they do a go route on fourth and seven or we have a great kicker and he misses or if our defense gives up a touchdown. It could have gone either way so I'm not going to sit up here and say if it goes the other way, then all of the sudden we got it all figured out. I would have said the same thing about third downs or penalties. I'm not going to overreact in a loss like I don't overreact in a tight win or a tight loss."
| OLE MISS S TREY WASHINGTON |
"There's good moments and there's bad moments, we have to do a better job of relating to routes and making plays on the ball. We just have to get better overall as a team."
On his confidence in the team's ability to 'bounce back':
"We know what we are made of and we are not just going to 'coward out' or quit. We are ready to get back to work next week and prove."
On how he will lead the team into next week:
"Just taking it one day at a time by going in, getting things corrected, improving and keeping everybody in the same headspace." On how Kentucky's offense found success:
They did a good job at making their plays today. As a DB we had to do a better job of getting off the field on third-down and fourth-down. They executed well and made plays when they had to."
| OLE MISS QB JAXSON DART |
"There's not really much to say. You can look at it two ways: you can just quit or you can take it on the chin and we're on the ground right now, you either stay down or get up."
br /> On leading the team after the loss:
"You can't blink. We have a lot more opportunities. One game is not going to define the year, but at the same time you better make the most of the rest of your opportunities."
On how prepared the team was for the game:
"I wish that we could have made adjustments sooner than we did. We got caught in too many 'third-and-longs' and we play in the SEC and that's really hard to convert. There's a lot of things that we need to look at on tape and find ways not to be in that situation again."
On the on Kentucky defense:
"They were an elite defense going into the game and we knew that. They did an amazing job on first downs and the first half, especially on the first drive, we were not able to get first downs to get into tempo. We knew that once we were able to get the ball moving, that's when we would have our advantage. When you get stuck in 'second-and-long' and then have to scheme something up like that and we don't do a good job the first time, it really puts you behind."
| KENTUCKY HEAD COACH MARK STOOPS |
"Obviously I could not be more proud of our team. As we talk about weeks, I told you I thought our team grew between week two to week three. We came up short but we played a great team. We improved week four, and we went out and did what we had to do. The guys kept on fighting, we are looking to play to win."
"And then this week, we needed to be better, and we continue to be just that much better to go beat a ranked team on the road and a great football team and Coach that I have a ton of respect for. And we played it our way. It was a dirty game, just a hard fought tough game. Just proud of our coaches for staying the course. And that's not just coach speak when I say that. Our coaches have stayed the course, our players have stayed the course, and we have gotten better each week. And we needed to go play very well this week and we did that. I'm just proud we are getting better. We still will improve. But I thought, you know the critical moments, the critical downs that I always talk about, we made some critical downs and critical plays. The O-line protected better, we got the ball down the field, we weren't sloppy with the football, we needed to turn them over. There is a big discrepancy when they turn it over and when they don't. I couldn't be more proud of the effort. I know It's one game but it's important because of the work that's been going on for a long time. Proud for our fan-base, they deserve it. We have been close a lot. We are very proud to get the victory."
On going for it on the 4th down:
"Your analytics will tell you to punt it. I felt like they were going to be very aggressive. We would get a one-on-one and Barion [Brown] made a great play. I felt like, at that moment where they were at, the way we were playing in the red zone, we had been playing pretty good. If they get it there, there was really not going to be much time off the clock, and we could try to hold them to three. And one of the reasons, I felt like we could get a one-on-one, so we went for it."
On getting the recovery at the goaline:
"Yeah, you know that was huge to get the recovery. Was that a first down? It was a first. You have to be smart with the ball on first down and we left them plenty of time. Believe me, we were trying to score, but if we had scored on third down, it would have made life easier for us."
On Brock setting the tempo:
"Yeah, we have run that a lot of different ways. It was there and felt like it could have been there once or twice later. We did a nice job adjusting, it complements. The biggest thing for us, I told them at halftime that we got to continue to get those nasty dirty runs. We got to get the two, three, four, five; that sets up everything else. So I thought Bush [Hamdan] was plenty aggressive and kept them off balance. I think the one series that was critical, I think we threw it three times in a row, we had the play pass open and got just tipped on that possession prior to our last one. You know it was going to be a big hit and it barely got tipped. I thought he called a really good game, and coach [Brad] White and the staff did one heck of a job."
On Hardaway getting beat and then forcing a fumble:
"I think it says a lot about him. Just keep playing. We talked about that all week, just grind it out. Win your one-on-ones. They are going to win some."
| KENTUCKY DL OCTAVIOUS OXENDINE |
"It just feels like a blessing, honestly. Coach just preached to us all week about being persistent and the consistency in our team. We know how to play, we play hard all the time, it's just about going out there and putting it on film."
On if he felt it was the game they would finally push through:
"We honestly had a lot of confidence going into the game. Like I just said, it was about the persistent part. We knew we could play with this team that we had to face today, it was just about us going out and doing our part."
On the defensive performance:
"I feel like it's something that coach [Brad] White always preaches every week. He always says 'win it at the line of scrimmage' and he always tells the defensive line we've got to win that battle in the trenches. So, I feel like every week we go play, you can tell we're going to put our heart on the field as a D-line and go battle in the trenches."
On holding Ole Miss to a field goal attempt in the fourth:
"I feel like it just goes back to what coach [Mark] Stoops preaches to us all the time, that persistence and consistency. Like, yeah, that play happened but it's football. Even if that play would've happened in the first quarter we would have reacted in the same type of way. It happened in the fourth, but it didn't make us flinch."
| KENTUCKY WR DANE KEY |
"It just felt really good to be able to come here and finish what we didn't get to finish two years ago."
On what the locker room was like after the win:
"Stoops was in the air. I'm going to let y'all know how the locker room was, when Stoops is in the air it's a pretty good thing."
On his thoughts on their 4th&7 play:
"The only thing that was going through my mind was, somebody needs to make a play right here. I didn't really care who it was as long as that play got made. That play got made so it was a pretty good feeling."
On Brock's growth since the South Carolina game:
"Brock's just a play-maker, he's a competitor. He wants to continue to grow each and every week. That's what I know from him. He's going to come out to practice each and every week ready to practice and you know it all starts with practice. So, whenever Brock comes to practice ready to work, everybody else follows behind him."
| KENTUCKY QB BROCK VANDAGRIFF |
"They lined up, they played man and Barion [Brown], obviously, one of the best receivers in the country man-to-man, and I just tried to give him a chance and he did the rest."
On how he felt about the fourth down play call:
"Well, you know there's a couple different options, we had different answers for man or zone. They ended up going man and pretty much every route except for one in that concept is a man beater. You kind of just pick your matchup and let it fly."
On how excited he was for Barion Brown:
"Really excited for that dude, he's a great kid. Great dude in the locker room, good teammate, a guy you want on your team. We were able to connect earlier in the game on kind of a little comeback route, like on the hash and good physical catch, it's just what it takes. SEC matchups are going to be tough, they're going to be physical and you're not going to have as much space. I thought our dudes went out there and competed."
On going back out there and making big plays after struggles:
"I think the word that comes to mind for me is just resiliency. Those dudes, with the guys we've got on our team, you're never really out of the fight with these guys. It all comes down from the coach to the players. What's conveyed to us, we're gonna convey to each other. We knew if we came in here and executed our game plan like we should, we liked where we'd be sitting in the fourth quarter. Especially with our defense. That's one of the best defenses in the SEC and maybe the nation. Just hats off to those guys and definitely to Ole Miss too. That's a great football team."