Head Coach Ed Orgeron's Weekly Press Conference

Nov. 14, 2005

Opening Statement
After looking at the film (of the Arkansas game), we are very pleased with the play of Robert Lane, Larry Kendrick and Ethan Flatt on offense. We're really pleased with the way the defensive line played; we think they are really coming together. McKinley Boykin and Michael Bozeman really played well in the middle along with Jayme Mitchell and Corvelli Haynes. The way our linebackers defended the run was excellent. That's something we worked on very hard.

Obviously we have to correct the things on third down that went wrong in the second half, which we did. Some of the things were that we did not hit their protection right; some of the calls did not hit their protection. We were in poor position on some of the plays which enabled them to get first downs.

Overall, we're excited to play LSU. We have to bounce back. I believe our team was ready to win against Arkansas; we just didn't get it finished. We have to bounce back. We're excited to play a really tough and athletic LSU team. I believe this is the best team we have seen so far, watching their offense with JaMarcus Russell and Joseph Addai. They have the speed at receiver, a big offensive line and probably the most talented defense we have faced all year.

Q&A

Q: Is this a special game for you, being from down there? And did you play them while you were at Miami?
A: We played them at Miami and beat them 44-3. It was nice. We played them down there and I remember them screaming "Tiger Bait" and stuff down there, but this is for our team. This has nothing to do with me.

Q: Can you talk about the rivalry?
A: I grew up in Louisiana. It's a heated rivalry and I understand. It's neighboring states and a big time rivalry. You throw out the records. It's always been a good football game. I go back to the years of Johnny Vaught and think about the run with Billy Cannon and how it's been a great rivalry and all the great players who have played here. I know the great players on both sides.

Q: Without a bowl game to play for and the last two games being LSU and Mississippi State, it's almost like two bowl games. Is that the atmosphere and attitude?
A: We play one game at a time, and just playing LSU is enough, whether you are going to a bowl game or not. Just being able to play and compete with LSU, who will be one of the top ranked teams in the country, is enough for us.

Q: What can you tell us on Mico McSwain and LaMark Armour?
A: Mico is definitely out. LaMark is definitely out. I don't know whether they will be back next week or not.

Q: Tre Stallings mentioned that getting a win over LSU and Mississippi State would be huge for recruiting. You can't go to a bowl, but could sell that to recruits. Can you talk about that since you also recruit LSU so hard?
A: It would be big for us to go down there and say we can compete with LSU and beat them, obviously. But that's not why we play the game. That's not what we're about. We want to win for this football game. It helps all that other stuff, but we want to win because we are playing this football game.

Q: What's the situation at running back?
A: It will be Larry Kendrick, and then we look at Alan Abrams and Antonio Turner for sure. Those three guys for sure. And maybe there is someone at another position who can play.

Q: What about Robert Lane?
A: Robert is doing well where he's at.

Q: You are saying Antonio Turner will be back?
A: I think he will be, but I'm not certain. We'll see.

Q: You were impressed with Ethan Flatt. Can you go into that a little further?
A: He had 300 yards passing and he operated pretty well for the most part. I was really impressed that he came back after the hit he took. He seemed to do a good job.

Q: Do you know when you will name a starter at quarterback?
A: Ethan Flatt is our starter.

Q: How much progress do you think Ethan will have made having played a game?
A: A bunch. Talking to the offensive guys and watching the tape last night, we felt he was a little rusty. We feel he'll make a lot of improvement this week, just like anyone else would going into their second game.

Q: Can you talk about LSU's personnel?
A: Joseph Addai is very fast. Justin Vincent was all everything in the national championship year. But I think, really, what separates LSU from everyone else is the size of their offensive line and the speed they have at wide receiver. They have Craig Davis and Early Doucet, who is a great player. They have Xavier Carter and Dwayne Bowe. You have Skyler Green and they try to get him the ball all over the place. He has great speed, and they are very good on special teams. I recruited most of these young men, so I know their talent. They are very good. I think JaMarcus Russell is an excellent quarterback, and he's big and he's physical.

Q: Last year, Saban ran a zone blitz package. What does Les Miles do on defense?
A: Well Bo Pelini is the defensive coordinator. We both worked with Coach Pete Carroll, so his defense is very similar to the defense we run here.

Q: Have you thought about running some running plays with Micheal Spurlock?
A: No, we haven't. We need him to be our second team quarterback. Everyone else has, though.

Q: With (Mico) McSwain out, pressure falls on other areas to make up for that loss. Does that fall on the quarterback and the skill guys or does it fall on the offensive line?
A: It falls on the offensive line. The thing we didn't do a good job of (against Arkansas), was protecting Ethan Flatt. It was the offensive line and the backs. Those guys are not big, physical backs. We have to find some guys who can protect.

Q: Talk about the game with (LSU's) Skyler Green.
A: We have to do a tremendous job of coverage. Our special teams has not performed the way I want them to perform. We are looking at the personnel and see why that unit is not performing. We have to put better people on special teams, especially this week.

Q: Can you talk about Kyle Williams?
A: He's tough. I like watching him play. He is a really good player and gets after it. They are a great defensive tandem, he and the defensive tackle. Those guys get after it. They are really good and I love watching them play. They are exciting, along with Claude Wroten. He is obviously an NFL player. Their defense plays very well. They are fun to watch.

Q: They say a defense can dictate what an offense does. Is LSU capable of doing that?
A: I think that LSU can do about anything they want to on defense. We are not going to change the offensive scheme for anyone. We will obviously make some adjustments based on `We can't do this, and we can do that," and make some adjustments at the line if they give us certain formations on defense.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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