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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Vanderbilt
9/26/2015 | Football
Ole Miss Football Postgame Quotes
Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium - Oxford, Miss.
Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze
Opening Statement…
"Compliments to Coach Mason and his squad. Coach Mason is doing a really great job there. I really like that guy. He cares so much about the mentorship of his team. He has kids ready to play. We did not have our team prepared as well, especially in some critical areas, such as third downs and red zones. We scored some points there, but we need to get more efficient. There were a lot of penalties. We had 11 penalties tonight for 120 yards. We turned the ball over tonight. That is not stuff that is elite football. We just did not play well. I have to start with myself and say that I did not prepare them well enough. We didn't have a good third down plan, and we need to correct that. I have to say, I told the team we need to celebrate the wins in life. Life moves too fast. You better enjoy the wins that you get. We need to celebrate but learn from the things we didn't do well. If we want to be elite we have to prepare like we are an elite football team. We had an awful Wednesday at practice. Tuesday was okay. We need leadership in the locker room to help us with that, for sure.
On Chad Kelly's performance…
"I don't have to watch the film on the two picks. Those were just really, really bad reads. We have to coach Chad (Kelly) on that. He threw a fade ball into the boundaries of a cover two safety. Both picks were into the same coverages."
On coming back from last week's game…
"Again, a lot of credit goes to Vanderbilt. They are a better team than people give them credit for. Last week's game took a lot out of us. We got back to Oxford at 5 a.m. We had a lot of banged up kids that didn't get to practice some during the week. All of that is something every other team has to go through. Did that have something to do with some of our play? I don't know. I just know if that is the case we are going to have a long year. This is week three and we don't have an open date until about 10 games in. We are in for a grind. We have to prepare better. I do know that games do take a lot out of them."
On third down struggles…
"We struggled with their two-man twist that gave us pressure. They went two man a lot. We didn't either have a good call for it, or we didn't win in the areas we needed to win in. The whole thing needs to be evaluated. Coach Dan Werner does a great job planning for those. There are times I will have to help him if need be, but Vanderbilt had a good plan tonight. We had some bad calls on third down so we had very little chance at times."
Ole Miss Student-Athletes
#4, Denzel Nkemdiche, LB
On the game …
"As a senior and someone who's been in those type of environments, I let my teammates understand that we're going to get everybody's best. Everybody is going to play their best against us. "
On moving past last week…
"Personally, it was just any other Saturday. It's my senior year. Every game is different and played like it's the last one. You have to tell yourself that every day is leading up to this Saturday and this Saturday could be the last Saturday."
#6, Jaylen Walton, RB
On the game…
"That's what I'm here to do, is to make big plays for my team. It just comes in handy in those types of moments to win big games."
On his determination tonight…
"I like to compete, especially against the best. With the first two games, the competition wasn't as high. I would have liked to get 10 to 12 carries in each of those games. But I stayed healthy through those games, and tonight we came out with a win, and I ended up having a pretty good game."
On his focus and attitude towards running the ball today…
"I always harp on, with me being my size, be someone today. I watched (LSU running back) Leonard Fournette, and the way he ran, so today I was going to see if I could do the same stuff. I'm not comparing myself to Fournette, but just my mentality to just run the ball really hard. I'm probably 100 pounds less for sure, but his mentality is to run the ball hard, and my mentality is to run the ball hard too, so I just wanted to try and put my team on my back and get a W."
On what it takes to get ready for Florida…
"I would definitely say preparation. It starts Sunday. It starts tomorrow. So we'll watch the game and have a good workout. That plays a big part for next Saturday because we need to be mentally and physically ready for the game. "
#27, Cale Luke, WR
On his blocked punt tonight…
"First, I would like to thank God for an opportunity to do this. I want to thank Coach (Hugh) Freeze for putting put me in the position to make the block. I saw an opportunity and took advantage of it, gave it 100%, and found an opportunity to get the ball."
On what the team tries to do on special teams to block punts…
"We have kind of established a game plan to block the punt. Sometimes, we'll blitz eight people trying to go block the punt. We got through a few times tonight, and finally we got an opportunity and got one."
On the tradition of his family, and the meaning of his play tonight…
"My whole family has been here. My uncle, my grandfather, my dad, they all played here. I'm glad I get a chance to carry on the family difference tonight and make a difference. In high school, I never really knew if it was going to happen or not. I just decided to walk on the football team, and gave my all every day. It paid off."
Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason
On the game...
"I went into the locker room and talked to my football team about this game we just played. We had opportunities. Tonight we lost to a good Ole Miss Rebel football team. I tell my guys there is never any solace in that. We play the game to win. We came here to win. We came up a little short. We will look at this game and what we did, and the things we did not get done. They gave us the opportunity to score some points, and defensively we had some turnovers. Turnovers sometimes come in bunches. This team is going to continue to fight. We are going to continue to get better. Teams are not going to want to see us in October and November. I can tell you that. This team has a lot of pride.
On competing defensively…
"We just do what we do. I do not think there is any secret sauce. I think it is in who we are and how we play and how we function. I know we lost our composure late in that ballgame. Just in terms of getting lined up and making plays. We have to get off of blocks. For us we are going to line up, keeping playing football, and coming at you.
On losing composure once Ole Miss got into their tempo…
"It was not getting off blocks. To be great you have to be bigger than the moment. We just were not bigger than the moment. That is okay. We will take a look at it we fix it."
Vanderbilt Student-Athletes
#2, Johnny McCrary, QB
On difference of performance from week one and now …
"My teammates and coaches are working with me. It's about progress, and we're getting better each and every day and each and every game. Working with them is making me a better player."
On failing to convert after the interception…
"I feel like anytime we get down to the red zone or the maroon zone or close to scoring and we don't convert, it just sets you back. Our job is to score, so at any time we don't score I feel pretty bad about it.
#7 Ralph Webb, RB
On playing one of the top defenses in the country …
"It's been tough but we just have to keep fighting and keep trying to wear those guys out. Late in the fourth quarter we know we're conditioned enough to keep running the ball. The offensive line did a great job, so we just know we have to keep pushing."
