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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Washington State
10/11/2025 | Football
OLE MISS HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN
Opening Statement:
"The number one goal of the program is to get to 1-0 every week, so we did do that and survived. That's good because if this game went the wrong way at the end, we would really be feeling bad. So, that's not lost, but outside of that, I'm really not pleased with how we performed today, even after kind of messing around early, missing a field goal, and not converting on 4th and goal. To come through all of that and go up two scores with seven minutes left and put ourselves in a bad situation by letting them score a touchdown and not finishing off the drive like we had previously, and putting our defense back out there. So, I'm just really disappointed in that part. So it's on me. Maybe I need to find a better way for these 11:00 a.m. kicks. We had two losses last year and obviously didn't play well today. Credit to them as well. They played great, took a lot of risks on defense, and came through on a lot of them with a lot of "blitz zero," and we finally made a play on it late with Cayden Lee on the first play of that four-minute period. But these guys played really hard and physically after a long road trip and a really early kick for them. Just not to our standard, so I hope nobody is pleased with that."
On Trinidad Chambliss' performance:
"Trinidad [Chambliss] started slow. Missed a really critical in route there that would've converted on 3rd and long, but he made some plays for us, especially on the drive at the end of the first half. Overall, he did some good things, obviously with the scramble touchdown, but he did not play consistently like he had. It is what it is, and you're not going to play perfect every week, and he still was 20-for-29 with two touchdowns. So, he did some good things, but not as consistent as we need to be, and we weren't around him, especially in protection. They took a lot of risks, like I said, with blitz zero. We had a few guys that needed a little time, and we didn't get the plays off."
On Kewan Lacy and lessons to take from today's game:
"Probably the one guy who stood out on not really a good day as a team. Electric energy, making people miss and had another really good run on one that got called back for a hold, and it was a really great effort run. If we all played with that effort today, we wouldn't be feeling like this. Again, we survived. You may have heard me talk about 'reserve judgement' on what's bad or good, and maybe we will look back and say maybe it was good to have this game to wake us up and stop reading where we are ranked. Because, you know, I said on the radio, we are ranked fourth, but we played like the 84th-ranked team in the country throughout that game. So quit reading the rat poison and make plays. Don't make a penalty by hitting the quarterback in the head when we were about to get off the field, and finish drives."
On approaching 11:00 a.m. kicks and the pre-game energy:
"I don't really know. We are a morning practice format team, and that should equate to playing well in the morning. It used to, but it doesn't feel like that now. I thought our redzone offense showed up about as much as the student section did today, very similar. That's on us. I've told them all week that the crowd probably won't be what it's been, and you're gonna have to create your own energy, and we did that a little bit. I felt the finish of the first drive had the feeling of one of those good games, and that's why everything is critical. We don't finish that drive, they get some momentum for themselves. They think, 'hey, we can stop these guys.'"
On if Washington State's game or Ole Miss' lackluster performance kept the game close:
"I give a lot of credit to them for how they played, but again, I think momentum is so critical. If we just finish the first drive, it's 7-0, and it feels different. They have to play a little differently, and you give them momentum, and that play, and in the third quarter, we finally get them in a third and long, but we hit the quarterback in the head. Absolutely completely undisciplined, and that keeps them alive, and they score a touchdown. It's a completely different feeling to the game where we get the ball back versus them having seven points. Those things are really critical when you talk about momentum and energy."
OLE MISS DE KAM FRANKLIN
On what the message was postgame:
"Pretty much we came out 1-0, but you know, it's like we need to work on a lot of lack of attention to detail. You know, we came out slow on both sides, on all aspects of the game. So, you know, we just got to come in on Monday with better focus and preparation."
On if the energy was down at the beginning of the game:
"Kinda, you know, it was our first 11:00 a.m. game. I feel like we should have been more prepared for that. You know that's something we have to take accountability for. It starts in the locker room."
On if Washington State did anything surprising on offense
"No sir, I feel like Pete [Golding] and [Randall] Joyner put me in the best position to make plays. Collectively, I feel like you know, just a lack of detail, lack of attention to detail in all phases of the game. You know, we came out with the win. It was grimy, but we came out with it."
On Da'Shawn Womack getting penalties and how they will clean it up:
"You know, being aware of the situation, the master. I feel like Dan [Da'Shawn Womack], he's a great player. Sometimes you just gotta be in a situation to master. He knows we are going to watch film and get it right."
OLE MISS WR CAYDEN LEE
On how scoring the touchdown felt:
"It felt pretty good. I've been practicing my yards after the catch all offseason, so being able to be intentional with that, it felt really good."
On the offensive performance:
"I felt we were very sluggish. We didn't start the way we wanted to, and I feel like we were very up and down. It felt like there was really no consistency, so we just have to play better."
On what he attributes the slow offensive start to:
"I'm not sure. I feel like we were prepared for the game. The coaches put us in a great position, but we just didn't click, and we just got better for next week."
OLE MISS QB TRINIDAD CHAMBLISS
On his performance:
"I feel like we didn't execute on offense. We were driving the whole game and moving the ball, but we just couldn't finish in the red zone. I didn't play as well as I should as a quarterback, and that's a lot on me moving the ball, executing on third downs, making the right choices, and making plays."
On the offense's slow start:
"We just didn't execute. We were prepared all week, especially with the bi-week, we were focused. We just didn't come out and play fast and execute, and that's on me as a quarterback. I have to do a better job at executing every play."
On how helpful Kewan Lacy is:
"It helps a lot as a quarterback having a running back that is as explosive as Kewan [Lacy]. Getting tough yards and yards after contact is critical for our offense. Our o-line did a great job blocking up front and creating holes, but it definitely helps to have a great running back."
On preparation for the Washington State game:
"We saw what we saw in film the whole week. We knew that they liked the pressure on third down. I just didn't get the ball out enough, and I held the ball a little too long. That does not help my offensive line."
WASHINGTON STATE HEAD COACH JIMMY ROGERS
Opening Statement:
"I appreciate all the Coug fans that came out this way, it was awesome. You could feel that corner of this stadium. It was live and electric, so we appreciate it. It's an awesome venue to play in, great team, great coach. We just came up short. We had them there and we let them off the hook. Some unfortunate penalties, miscues in coverage, poor tackling at times. Gave up probably too many explosive plays offensively as far as sacks and hits on Zevi [Eckhaus]. But we had them, and we competed for over 60 minutes in the game and I'm proud of the guys' effort. I just told them in the locker room that there's no moral victories, but nobody can question your effort. We'll learn from it, we'll get better because we've got to come back out this way and compete against another top 25 team here in a week."
On how to deal with the small victories from the game, but it ultimately being a loss:
"Yeah, we'll review the film and they'll get honesty. There are things in that game that we did really well. There were some huge plays in there that unfortunately got called back that we don't control. Guys made plays, we executed a lot. Kirby [Vorhees] hit some bigger runs. It's a great front that we just went against. So there's positives for sure, but we lost, and the guys are gonna hear that. In competitive sports, there's a winner and there's a loser. If you're going to compete at the highest level, you have to be able to handle it. I'm proud of the way our guys came into the game, how they prepared throughout the week, and blocked out the outside noise that we would get throttled and we didn't and we should have won that game. 'Should have' doesn't count. I'm proud of their effort. It's kind of a little bit of a sick feeling, a little bit."
On Bobby (Isaac) Terrell:
"Bob [Issac Terrell] has trust in the scheme, just the knowledge of being in it, understanding sometimes the chances in which you can take and going out and executing those. He plays with his hair on fire, he's really physical and he's an explosive kid. When you care like how he cares, even when he's banged up and he's still out there battling, I think good things can happen. I'm proud of him and proud of many of them and there's no player in the country that is 100 percent, and he's one that's battled through injuries and you wouldn't notice the difference by how he plays."
On the offensive line:
"I was proud of the o-line and proud of Jaylin [Caldwell]. We got some penalties there that we shouldn't have but overall, we didn't look like we were gassed in the end. Those five guys played consistently throughout the game, outside of Jaylin Caldwell who went down with a cramp. Outside of that, yeah, I was proud of the way they played. We played well enough to win, but we just didn't execute in all phases. We had some penalties that really killed us and put us behind the sticks, and those are hard situations to get out of, and those are little things like not having enough people on the ball or your tackle being too deep and being in the legal formation technically. We've got to learn from these things, but we can't live behind these sticks and expect success. So overall, I felt like we did some positives for sure, though, and we'll learn from them. The guys are beat up and we gotta reset ourselves and travel back out this way to play another top 25 team."
On coming back this way to play another team:
"We'll find out. But, this group is battle tested, they've been through a lot, especially the group that's been here, stayed here. The biggest thing is kind of monitoring how we practice this week, just to make sure that we're at full speed and can give that type of effort one more time at this upcoming game. We've got to figure out some things, move some guys around, put us in a better situation. We lost a couple more [players] today, and I don't know what that will look like moving forward, but it's unfortunate, we played hard, though, for sure."
WASHINGTON STATE WR TONY FREEMAN
On being a punt returner in the past and getting to a role like this:
"You know, just seize the moment, just knowing when my opportunity is ready, and just make the most of it and show everyone that I am who I say I am and I can make the plays when it comes my way. That's all it really was. Just waiting my time and being patient, I knew it was going to come."
On having a good running and passing game:
"Obviously, it just makes more opportunities for everybody else on the field, because when we're running the ball good, then obviously they're going to stack the box and then receivers are going to have one-on-ones on the outside and if we throw the ball well, they're going to light it up and drop a lot of people so we're going to run the ball well. So just having the two best of both worlds."
On his relationship with Zevi Eckhaus and building trust:
"I'd have to say that even last year, you know, when we weren't really getting that much burn, it was me and him on the other side of the field, just getting in. Even after practice just working on catching, different scenarios. So just making him know that he can trust me and I'll be here and I'm going to make that play for him."
On the tight moments in the game:
"We didn't flinch. That's what coach Rogers instilled in us all week, just don't flinch. It's going to be an up and down score. They're going to go up, we might go up, they might go up again and just keep on fighting."
WASHINGTON STATE QB ZEVI ECKHAUS
On having the chance of beating Ole Miss in the end:
"Yeah, obviously a tough one at the end. I mean, they're a good team, obviously number four in the country, but we knew what we were capable of, and we knew what we could do in this game. I don't think anything that we did out there shocked or surprised us. We've just got to finish. We got to finish the game. We've got to finish."
On his first touchdown pass to Landon Wright:
"Yeah, just a play that we worked on during the week that you that the coaches came up with. There's a couple of guys that we can get the ball to and obviously Lando, went in there and made a good play. Not sure what happened defensively, I think they miscommunicated, but, you know, sometimes the toughest catches are the ones when you're wide open, and I definitely didn't give the prettiest ball, so Landon did a good job, you know, breaking him off, you, coming flat and making a catch. That was good to get things going."
On staying focused while being down by 10 with six minutes left:
"I thought we were consistent. Sometimes we've shown that we've gone stagnant, whether it's a three and out or just having a hard time driving the ball. I don't think that we had a hard time driving the ball today, I think that we did that through all four quarters from start to finish. Obviously, you know, tough the way it ended, but I mean, anybody could say this, but I think if we had a little bit more time, maybe if I don't give up that sack, I think the outcome is a little different."
On playing better complimentary football:
"Yeah, I mean, I think there was about six minutes left or around that time. I think you know, crazy things have happened in college football, crazier than scoring two touchdowns in six minutes. I think the important thing for us was, you know, it's a two score game. We had two timeouts, the two minute warning - that's three timeouts right there. The biggest thing for us was just to go down and score points. That was our objective every single drive and even more so on a drive like that. You know, we went out there and did that on fourth downs, we had fourth down conversion and a fourth down penalty. We had big conversions, we had guys making, contested catches, and that's what you have to do to win football games."
WASHINGTON STATE DE ISAAC TERRELL
On how he found breaks in the offensive line:
"It was really just effort. O-line was gassed because they run a really fast tempo, and the o-line wasn't conditioned enough and as the game kept going on, they just kept getting more tired and more tired. I don't know, it just kind of fueled me to try even harder because I was just seeing them tired. I was like, I'm ready to go, I'm ready to roll."
On defensive performance:
"I mean this is kind of just Cougar football. Everyone on the team - they didn't necessarily, like, have God gifted size, speed and strength. Everything wasn't handed to us, and everyone on the team comes from a background of earning what they have, and that's why they play at WSU because other schools overlooked them, so they came to play here. So, each week, we just continue to get better and progress and the defense as a whole, it's been working really hard to get better."
On finding his rhythm and playing free:
"I just want to help the team in any way I can, and playing free for me is something that has been hard for me to do in the past and this coaching staff really helps me. Each week, I just continue to play more free and more free and stop faking so much and just react."
On how the defense played together:
"I think we worked together really well this week and understood the scheme and the game plan and we just flew around and played together as one unit. We'll just keep getting better, but that was a glimpse of what this defense can do when we play together."
