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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes Vs. Florida
10/3/2015 | Football
2015 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida 38, Ole Miss 10
October 3, 2015
Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze
Opening statement:
"Difficult night. They beat us in about every facet of the game that you can imagine. We did very well with the intensity that you have to play in an environment like this early on to be able to compete. We broke down in some coverages on third down and just things that we continue to do. We have to coach better. We have to get better. We didn't take care of the football. Our plan was, I think it was a solid plan but we didn't execute it, which means we didn't do a good enough job preparing our kids to play in this environment."
On concern for (what's going on up front) offense:
"I'm concerned for everything, that being one of them. We thought we found something at halftime. We said, "Here, let's do this and we clipped off two pretty good drives but fumbled that next drive, and from then on it was pretty much throw it. So, if we were in a tighter game, maybe we could have run it a little better â€" but we certainly did in the first half. We're playing some young kids up there against a really good defensive front. Everybody has some young kids and everybody has some injuries and nobody really wants to hear that. We just have to get the ones we have prepared to play, and play better. Chad (Kelly) was under a lot of pressure. But, credit to them and we have to get our guys better prepared."
Was it execution, guys physically getting beat or a combination of both?
"Well, without watching the film it's hard to say. We felt like most of the time we just lost some one-on-ones. We thought Chad (Kelly) did a good job tonight on setting the protections and the right direction, but you just get beat in some one-on-one situations. And, you have to stay off third and long. If you're balanced and can run in some (situations) you can probably stay out of some of those."
On Will Grier's performance:
"He was really solid. I hope we have a bunch get the flu next week. They had 21 (players) that had the flu, Grier had the flu. I think that's something we need to look into. They sure played extremely well with it. But, I think Grier is a really good player. They had a good plan, used misdirection early on and slowed us down some, but they played extremely well.
Junior quarterback Chad Kelly
On what wasn't right on offense:
"It was just execution, everyone do their one eleventh and make sure every play is a positive gain."
On tonight's first quarter:
"We just never got in a rhythm and when a big play came our way we didn't make the play. You just have to get better every day and that's about it."
On first and second-down plays:
"We just weren't executing. The coaches had a good game plan put together for us and we just didn't execute. Being the leader of the offense people look to me. They look to me when things go wrong and I have to do a better job making sure everyone is on the same page. (It) Starts tonight when we watch film. We have to correct mistakes because losing is the worst thing ever."
Junior tight end Evan Engram:
Talk about the Gators' success and their defense tonight:
"They came out on all cylinders. The crowd was behind them. We hurt ourselves early in the game, putting ourselves back with negative plays, tough situations, second and 15s. We really hurt ourselves tonight, but they came to play and put a lot of pressure on our offensive line. They came here to play and we hurt ourselves as well."
Talk about the frustrating plays during the game:
"When we got the ball moving we were rolling. We got to the red zone a few times, didn't finish and took three points, but we needed touchdowns. It was a little frustrating, balls weren't bouncing our way, but we were hurting ourselves a lot and that was the most frustrating thing."
On the message from Coach Freeze during halftime:
"Just to take care of the ball. When we do that, we have positive plays, we get in our tempo, get comfortable and get the ball down the field. We did that a little in the second half. A lot of times we just didn't finish."
Senior defensive back Mike Hilton
On the most frustrating thing about the game:
"Everything was kind of frustrating, little things from missed assignments to missed tackles. Everything just piled on top of us and we just didn't bounce back well and it showed. But, it happens in college football, we just got to bounce back and get ready for next week."
On Will Grier's success passing the ball
"He was really moving in the pocket and giving himself time. His receivers made plays when the ball was in the air and made separation for the defense, so they really had chances to make plays and go and attack the football."
On what Florida's offense could do:
"They were really balanced and they kept us off-balance. We didn't know whether to put more in the box or keep some out the box for the pass. They just really had a pretty good scheme against us."
Jim McElwain, Florida Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"We have players who have accepted the challenges that we've put forth and are really invested in themselves and invested in each other and I think there were a lot of good things that pointed to that in this ball game. I think it starts, obviously, with defense. Our defense played their tails off and they had a great plan. I thought the guys executed it and they communicated and I'm going to tell you something: they practiced that way Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, they had a perfect Thursday, a great walk through Friday and the routine details of the weekend, they're starting to understand, maybe, the why and some of that stuff, so it was good to see. Offensively, we did an okay job, I thought, took some shots, we were aggressive. We need to figure out, you know, we had some penetration and stuff, but you know what, we're growing up offensively, we're getting a little bit better and that's what we want to do. Man, what a great win for the Gators, for our fans and Gator Nation. Again, you guys were there, that stadium was something special and you know, for a kid from Montana, man, I just got to tell you, that was pretty cool."
On if Will Grier solidified the starting quarterback job:
"I think he played pretty decent. We'll check the film and go from there, but Treon was ready and he will be ready. He'll continually prepare."
On how true Will Grier's illness was:
"He missed some things, but we talked about that, yeah, he was sick, but you know what, we had 21 other guys sick, so it ain't about him, it's about everybody pulling up. There was some guys that stepped up, some guys that did a great job on special teams, it's not about him (Grier) at all, it's about all of them, you know. They all went through some adversity and found a way to focus and go play, so about 21 of them did a heck of a job getting in there."
On how sick everyone was:
"It was one of those 48 hour things. They were quarantined, put away, whatever don't be around (laughs). The beauty of technology now, at least we could send film to them and they could look at it on their iPads, but they were, I mean, it was not pretty, do you want me to get descriptive (laughs)? Okay, good, I'm glad you don't (laughs)."
On the offense:
"It still is (shaky). You know, we're growing up just like I said, we're getting a little bit better and we're learning to compete. I think the biggest thing we're learning is we're learning how to go about our daily business. It's okay to play hard, to practice hard, it's okay to care. It's okay. And you know, bit by bit, I see these guys growing up and yet we'll see how we handle success now. We get to go on the road, we've been pretty lucky, we've been at home, and obviously a team (Mizzou) that beat us, what, 45 to whatever a year ago or whatever it was and, you know, we've got to go there, it'll be interesting to see how we travel. I thought we traveled pretty decent to Kentucky and, so the routine, I want our guys to understand the routine and what it takes because, you know this could be fleeting, as well, and, but, don't downplay, that was a good football team we beat, that was a really good football team, let's not, and our guys took it to them."
Senior Defensive Lineman Jonathan Bullard
On the dominance of the Gators' defense:
"We want to stop the runs and that what we did. It's easier to know when they are about to throw the ball, you don't have to worry about too many gaps. We could afford to jump a few gaps on pass situations. We also try to have five turnovers (each game) and we had four tonight. We wanted to go out and get the ball."
Redshirt junior defensive lineman Bryan Cox, Jr.
On Florida's performance and on the new coaching staff:
"We are just playing our style of (foot)ball. What we do on the weekend, we are doing every day in practice and capitalize when we can. From day one, the way we worked (in practice) we knew we were setting ourselves up for something big. We kept nailing at it and it's paid off.""
Redshirt junior safety Marcus Maye
On UF's impressive performance:
"Over the past couple of years, we haven't lived up to being a Gator. Coach McElwain has been preaching to us that the players on our team have the ability and talent to be one of the best teams in the country, that's what we are striving and working toward."
Redshirt senior tight end Jake McGee
On the mindset of the Gators:
"We know what we have in the locker room and there is a lot of talent in this building. We hear the noise and are getting this Florida brand where it's supposed to be. We are putting the product on the field each week and we have to make the most of every opportunity. We have to do the best we can and let our confidence build to take (our game) to the next level."
