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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Press Conference: 09.29
9/29/2014 | Football
Ole Miss football head coach Hugh Freeze and senior quarterback Bo Wallace met with the media Monday to discuss the 11th-ranked Rebels' upcoming home game against No. 1 Alabama on Saturday (CBS, 2:30 p.m. CT).
Head Coach Hugh Freeze
Opening statement...
"We're excited about coming into the week 4-0 and having the opportunity this week to play the No. 1 team in the country at home with College GameDay here. That's going to provide a very festive atmosphere here in Oxford, and we're excited to showcase our atmosphere in the Grove. Our team will hopefully play well against a superb Alabama team. We're coming into the game with the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked defenses in the conference and No. 2 and No. 4 ranked total offenses in our conference, so something has to give at some point. At the end of the day, it's about players playing their individual matchups and that's something we'll challenge our kids all week long to prepare themselves to do. It should be a great, great atmosphere, and we're looking forward to the challenge. Looking back to the Memphis game, I'm really proud of our defense and the way they played. They made very few mental mistakes. We tackled extremely well and got turnovers and sudden-change moments. We played really well, which is big. Special teams obviously missing two field goals and fumbling a punt is something that makes it very difficult to win moving forward with the schedule we have. Offensively, we did some good things and ran the ball as well as we have all year. We had some tough, tough breaks that didn't go our way with turnovers and penalties that put us behind the chains and didn't allow us to finish drives. We have to get that corrected, but we had a lot of positives, also."
On the program's improvement from his arrival to now hosting College GameDay…
"I think that's a great point, and I hope everyone understands that because I really want our people to enjoy the journey. I think it's human nature for all of us to get a bit head in the clouds with all of what's going on right now. We all want that, but I sit back with my staff this morning and reminded coaches exactly what the process has been like with our journey to get us to this point. It certainly happened faster than I thought possible when we first got here, so I'm thankful and I thank God every day for this job and the opportunity we have to impact the lives of the kids in our program and also the opportunity to compete. I'm going to enjoy this week. Last week, I have to be candid, it wasn't enjoyable for me. This week I'm going to enjoy it and have fun and get our kids ready. I know they'll play extremely hard. Whatever happens with this game Saturday you can't make too much of it - too much of a win or too much of a loss. There's a lot of season left and a lot to play for. I do think we have been on a short journey and come a long way in a short time."
On Chris Kiffin coaching against Lane Kiffin…
"I don't know that there's an advantage. I actually spent a week with Lane back when I was here with Ed (Orgeron), and I don't know how much they sit around and talk offensive football. (Chris) probably talks more with Monte (Kiffin) about the defensive side, but we'll certainly ask him. I'm sure in the defensive room they'll talk about anything that will give us an advantage. I know a lot of their family is coming, and I'm sure Chris is getting them tickets so I assume they are cheering for him. Anytime you compete with people you love, you want to win. I wanted to beat my brother growing up and my cousins growing up in anything we did, but that certainly didn't mean that after it's over you fight with them in life. I'm sure it'll be the same Saturday. Chris will want to win. Lane will want to win. At end of the day, it's not about Lane or Chris or Nick (Saban) or Hugh. It's about these kids who will have to win the battles."
On whether the SEC has suspended players involved in first half fight…
"I haven't heard anything. I guess if you ask, I'm concerned. I'm concerned about everything that happens. It's not who you want to be. I haven't heard anything. I watched it a lot of times, and there was a lot of pushing and shoving in the pile. I saw a still shot of one of our guys with a hand to a face. I haven't heard anything. I do think they kicked the wrong kid out. Gary (Wunderlich) sat out a half. He would have kicked those 43-yarders, but I don't think it was him from watching the film unless someone has a different version. And I don't think it was me that got the 15-yard penalty even though people choose to write that. It's not the truth either."
On the run game…
"I believe I'm accurate that there hasn't been a team to rush and pass for over 100 yards against Alabama in the same game in the last two seasons. I know there hasn't going back to the middle of last season. I didn't check all the way back. There are people who have rushed for 90 and thrown for over 100 or thrown for 200, but it's very difficult to rush the football against them. They are so well-coached and have a really good scheme and a really good plan and they have really good players and there are three-deep of them. It's a difficult task. Do I think we're better running the football? I do, but are you judging it just on this next game? I don't know. It's a tall task to consistently do it. You have to be balanced. You have to mix it up and find things that give your kids a chance to do what you're asking them to do, but it's a difficult defense to do it against."
On Lane Kiffin's impact at Alabama…
"Number one, they've always been very good offensively at what they do. I would say to you that they have some different things now that adds to that. Having the kids they have makes their schemes even better. I know Coach Saban is getting out of his kids what he wants to, and they, under Lane, have changed a bit offensively that has made them more difficult to defend."
On punt return issues Saturday…
"We'll go with (Markell) Pack and Anthony (Alford). I'm not sure which will start. Pack is a true freshman, and he got his first dose of a mistake, and he was really nervous from that point on. We'll get him to shake his nerves and Anthony will be ready, also."
On recruiting impact this weekend…
"I never make too much of one game. I think relationships win out in the end. However, if I had to pick a game that would matter nationally to us with kids that we are trying to recruit, there's no question a win Saturday would go a long way in helping with that recruitment. It's very difficult to balance the time between media requests and preparing for a very, very difficult opponent and all the recruits who will want to come to this game. It's difficult, and you have to be organized. We'll be on the phone a lot tonight with recruits. We'll try to handle it best we can. The biggest disadvantage I have on a recruiting weekend like this is I'm in Tupelo, and the recruits are here. That's always been difficult for me because I struggle leaving our team in preparing for a game. At the same time, I need to spend time with those kids. We'll have official visits here, and I'll see those guys Sunday, but that's not as much time as you want to spend with them. In January with official visits, you get to spend time with them Friday, Saturday and Sunday. When you choose to bring them in during the season, it's not that way for me. That's a challenge and it's difficult."
On Alabama's Blake Sims and Amari Cooper…
"The most impressive with Sims is his accuracy and how efficient he's been running the offense. He's completing a huge percentage of his passes and throws the deep ball extremely well. Cooper is arguably one of the top three receivers in the nation, if not the best, and he's been super explosive. You have to guard him on runs because of the screen game, and you have to guard him on the deep ball. He's a difficult matchup for everybody, including us."
On balance offensively against Alabama…
"If I had an ideal balance it would be 50-50. Is that reasonable in this game? I don't know yet. I probably won't know until we start the game, and the score dictates a lot. If your defense is playing really well, then you're going to continue to try things to stay balanced and play field position and punt and play defense. That's the reason I've said from day one we're going to build defense first. I think we're close. I wish we had a couple of our injured for this game. That would really help us, a Tee Shepard to go out there at 6-foot-1 and line up and play a guy and feel good about it. We have some, but I wish we had more of them. We're close enough and playing really well there and taking care of the ball, and you're more apt to be balanced. If you're really struggling, you're more apt to find ways to protect and throw it around."
On the middle of Ole Miss' offensive line against Alabama…
"That's the struggle with running it, with how big and physical they are, particularly inside and their ends are good, too, and they have improved themselves on third down with the addition of some guys. Their third down rush is better than it was last year. Their base defense is very difficult to get movement on, especially against the inside guys."
On Ole Miss' offensive line today versus a month ago…
"No question they have improved. We still have some needs to address in recruiting. That's the number one need on that side of the ball with recruiting. We're on our way to hopefully filling some of those needs. The ones we have now have certainly gone through the work ethic and improved."
On injuries, specifically Tee Shepard…
"He's doing great. He has a smile on his face. He got some new hearing aids and for the first time he's heard some noises, so he's fired up about that. It's a blessing for him. He's not going to play this year. We feel good, just nags and bruises and pains. Senquez (Golson) would be the biggest concern. He didn't play the last quarter and a half against Memphis with a tight hamstring, so he would be the biggest concern. We have a couple ankles with Aaron Morris and Mark Dodson and D.T. Shackelford. I don't expect them to miss any time this week."
On Alabama no longer being just a measuring stick…
"In this room, we expect to compete Saturday. We expect to have a chance to win it. I know our kids feel that way, and our coaches feel that way. I don't know that we will. I have no idea what the scoreboard will say at the end, but I expect our kids to go and compete and have fun and do a good job."
On the line of scrimmage against Alabama…
"I think anyone would be hard pressed to say they match them, probably 80 or 85 percent of the teams in the country would struggle saying that looking at their three-deep depth chart. I know we're better than year one and year two, and we believe we're able to compete as long as we can create some balance. I think we'll have a shot to compete at the line of scrimmage. Defensively, we're much more equipped."
On Bo Wallace…
"His mindset never changes. He'll be as confident as any kid on the field entering Saturday's game. He's always that way. It's a really good quality about him. He's very resilient. He'll be looking forward to this game."
On Evan Engram…
"He's very important. He's a guy we can line him up anywhere in our formations. He's the guy that allows us to be as close to 50-50 as we can be. He gives us a chance to be a part of the blocking scheme and the passing game. He's really important to us."
On cornerback if Senquez Golson can't play…
"Cliff Coleman and (Mike) Hilton on one side, and then Kendarius Webster and Derrick Jones and then Kailo (Moore) would be the backups."
On the buy-in of the team…
"There's no question I've noticed it. The buy-in is greater. The attention to detail is greater. The accountability is greater. I've said from day one that the difference to me in being an average team and a good team is the level of buy-in to being accountable to the core values that are in the program to accomplish the journey. I think one difference is the leadership on the team has definitely chosen - I think everybody knows Cody (Prewitt) and CJ (Johnson) and those guys and D.T. (Shackelford), but guys like Senquez (Golson) and Cliff (Coleman) have totally changed and helped with buy-in. It certainly takes you from being better than average."
On Derrick Jones…
"I love him. He's had some chances to make a couple plays and had a couple drops. That ball Bo (Wallace) threw to him the other night was a big-time throw, and he should have caught it. No one hates it worse than he does. I think he has a chance to be a very special receiver. I'm looking forward to when we do get to the point to get him some reps in spring practices. Right now, he still splits time, so he's not getting as much work as he needs, but he has a chance to be pretty special."
Senior QB Bo Wallace
On turnovers against Memphis…
"As soon as I came in yesterday, Coach (Grant) Heard apologized for the first one. He said that was on them. At the same time, being a quarterback, it was still a little bit too close to still make the throw. On the second one, I should have thrown it away. I just have to have better security in the pocket on the fumbles."
On pressure to be perfect throwing the ball if Alabama's defense stops the run…
"It doesn't. I have to get back to really thinking about check downs this week and not trying to do too much or trying to have a big game. I have to really let it come to me. That's really all my mind is on right now."
On the biggest challenge the Alabama game presents…
"It's obviously a big challenge playing Alabama. They're a top-five team and the distractions are going to be here. It's a great opportunity for our team. We're excited about the challenge, and we know it's going to be a good game."
On what Alabama looks like defensively…
"I just got out of class so I haven't watched any film on them yet. As soon as I get finished here, that's what I'll start doing."
On difficulties against Alabama's defense last year…
"I think we're a different offense than we were last year. Our guys have matured. Those young guys, one of their first big tests was going into Alabama and having to play them. Those guys have matured and are making great plays. We're getting the run game together at the right time. We had a good rushing game last week. We're just going to go out and play ball and see what happens."
On how he handles distractions…
"My mindset is on this game. When you're sitting in class, you're trying to pay attention, but you know where your mind is. Every ball player in this building, this is where their mind is at. It's on Saturday. It's the process through the week of having good practices and preparing yourself. I'm just excited, and I know our team is."
On why the run game was successful Saturday…
"Up front, they got some pushes. Jaylen (Walton) was really finishing runs really well. You could see it on film. Jordan Wilkins was, as well. Mark (Dodson) had some big, long runs. Our guys were really running the ball hard and taking what they saw."
On the relief of finally getting to Alabama week…
"Honestly, I'm going into it like any other week. I've been here for two years, and I've played against top-10 teams, but never with the opportunity we have right now, being undefeated. I can't think about that too much. Being the quarterback, I have to be the one that's even keeled the whole time and the one that settles them down when they get riled up."
On if knowing division standings has an extra impact on the game…
"We haven't lost a game yet so we're going to go into every game and try to win it. As soon as we walk out onto the field, we're trying to get a victory. We haven't talked about that. All we're talking about is trying to win this game."
On attention on the program now versus when he got to Ole Miss…
"It's different. Its daylight and dark from our sophomore year, when going to Baton Rouge and playing with LSU was a moral victory. Now we have to win these big games to take our program to the next level. We're going to come in this week and prepare."
On how far he's come since last year's Alabama game…
"A long way. I never felt great at all last year. This year, I feel good. I made a bad decision last week, but other than that I feel good. I'm confident going into this game. I'm confident in our guys. We know it's going to be a big test for us."
On playing Alabama…
"Obviously, they're a top-five team. It's going to be big for us and big for our program."
