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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Memphis
10/17/2015 | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Ole Miss Football Postgame Quotes
Ole Miss at Memphis
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium â€" Memphis, Tenn.
Oct. 17, 2015
Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze
Opening Statement…
''First, congrats to Justin. He's done a really nice here and deserved to win today. On our end, very disappointed. You know, I've been on the other side of those wins and I know what that feels like. It's crushing to be on the other side. We did not play particularly well. Again, congrats to them. I don't want to take anything away from Paxton Lynch. He's one of the best quarterbacks I've seen in my time here to make every throw and was very poised. But I was very disappointed in how we played and that starts with me. I have to take responsibility for us. We were as bad as you could get on 3rd down getting off the field and, at times, converting those 3rd downs.''
Can you summarize the tackling on 3rd down/Special Teams?
"I wish I had all the adjectives. It was as bad as I've ever seen."
Can you talk about the decision to go it on 4th down?
"That wasn't a good decision. You've got about half a foot, thinking we really need to change this momentum and get some points is what you're thinking but, obviously, it was not a good decision."
Why were they so open on out routes?
''A lot of that has to do with their quarterback. They run really good routes on that deep out and get you running. We've got to play some different coverages that gives our guys some help and stop the run."
Are you at a point where you accept ''We are what we are'' and just run the ball more?
''Maybe so and we'll have to evaluate that and see about next week. I haven't watched next week's opponent yet but, you know, we still have a lot to play for as far as our conference goes, but our character will be tested.''
What's happened to this team since the Alabama game?
"I don't know. Injuries have hurt, obviously, but they're not the reason we didn't play well today. We've got to coach them better and we've got to have leadership in the locker room. We've got to do something to get off the field and convert on 3rd downs."
About the Rebels' energy and focus
''There's something missing for sure and that's my responsibility. I thought we had a really good week of preparation and again, not to take anything away from Memphis. They're a good football team and I don't want anything to sound like I'm not saying that, but we're obviously not locked in totally."
Memphis Head Coach Justin Fuente
Opening Statement:
First of all, again, just fantastic crowd today and couldn't be prouder to be associated with this community and program today. Just the way they showed out early in the morning. This morning at 8:30am, the Tiger Walk was unbelievable. I thought our crowd was great. We sincerely appreciate their support. We want to encourage them to continue to come and to build this into a true home field advantage. We will be back home in a couple weeks and we want to encourage them to keep coming out.
We have a good, tough group of kids. We certainly aren't perfect and we started off rough again. Part of that is because they are really talented. You can see it on the football field. Our kids fought and clawed and found a way to win the game. We are now bowl eligible. All of y'all are going to shake your heads at me, but in six days we got to go on the road and play a conference game against Tulsa. A team that scores points in bunches and it will cause a tough matchup for us.
Q1: After they scored the first 14, did you adjust defensively and if not what was the game plan that was executed pretty well?
A1: Well they hit us with that double pass. Which I thought was a great call for them. Just thinking about the game and how excited we were to play, I had to calm them down. We didn't make many adjustments but we were able to hold them down in the run game which helped us tremendously. We were able to get pressure on the passer and make some plays. We were trying to keep the ball in front of us and not give up yards. At times it looked hard and at times it looked easy.
Q2: Did you sense that the guys weren't rattled because you've been down before?
A2: I think there was a time in the first quarter when they thought "maybe coach hasn't been lying to us forever and we can do this." I think there was a moment of realization today but I'm not sure when it was. My message to the team was you don't have to be better than you are. You don't have to be someone you aren't. The best you is what we need. We need you to prepare and you to play well.
Q3: 31 unanswered points. To do that to the defense, who has taken much criticism, had to be pretty good. If you could, sum up the defensive performance.
A3: You're going to play these guys and they are going to make plays. There is not stopping everything with us in this type of matchup. In my opinion, to hold up their run game and force them to march up the field was huge. We keep talking about getting better and that's not a one week thing. We have a chance to get better next week.
Q4: Anthony Miller, 10 catches and 103 yards. Can you tell us how you feel about that?
A4: Well I didn't know what his numbers would be, but we feel incredibly strong about him. He is incredibly strong and we are trying to refine the skills of wide receiver. Certainly a guy we try to get the ball to.
Q5: You've talked about Paxton handling the attention that has come with this stuff. The whole team is going to get attention now.
A5: No question. I just told the team that if they thought there were distractions then just wait. Some of y'all are going to be mad at me but I am going to try to protect them as much as I can to protect the group. But I know those things are going to come and we have to do a good job of handling them.
Q6: Coach you have been here just a little under four years. Did you think about before this game or tonight that this is probably the largest victory in possibly program history?
A6: I appreciate that. I don't want to diminish that in my remarks. I do have true respect for that and an understanding for that. It's just that cannot be our focus. We are in the middle of the season. At the end, we can go back and think about those things. Will I relish it for a few hours? Yes. But we are in no position to dwell on that because of the rest of the season. It's the same as when I was sitting up here in front of your guys four years ago and we were getting beat every week. I would say we can't sit around and think about that but we have to turn the page on focus on the next week. It is kind of the same thing but obviously with a much bigger smile.
Q7: At what turning point or time did you think "We can win this game"?
A7: I felt like we could win this game from the start. We were going to coach that way. Whether we won or not was going to be determined on the field. I don't know if there was a turning point but I know that we didn't play well to start. I do know that if our offense vs their defense stays behind the chains, then it would have been a wrap. When we settled down, we had a chance to be more efficient.