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The University of Mississippi Athletics
10/31/2026 | Football
OLE MISS HEAD COACH PETE GOLDING
Opening Statement:
"Just really proud of the effort; I thought it was a team effort. We kind of talked last night about not living in the past; we've gone through a lot together. Made a lot of mistakes, all of us. Put it on tape and had to get it corrected. And not to be unsure of the future either, and get ahead of ourselves and worry about the things that we can control. We talked about living in the moment, and I thought they did. It wasn't perfect by any means, but I thought they played extremely hard. I thought you saw complementary football at times; I thought the efficiency on the offense was incredible. I don't know what they ended up being on third down, but it was impressive. I was most proud of some guys that haven't had success in the past that we got on pretty good and made a point in front of the team, and they came out and really responded. They did it right, Monday through Friday, and took coaching, had good energy, had good attitudes, good body language, and I think that paid off today. It wasn't perfect, but I was really proud of their effort and their toughness in playing together."
On RB Shekai Mills-Knight's career-high 71 yards rushing and gaining confidence in giving him the ball:
"Becoming an every-down player. Especially at that position, there's just so much more to it than just running the football. I think Frank [Wilson] has done a really good job with him, and JDB [John David Baker] has a good plan for him, but his development at the position and playing without the football, understanding protections and route concepts, and all the other things that you have to do. Because when you put a 6'3, 235-pound kid out there, they will expect you to run him, and you will be seeing some different looks. Really proud of his development, and I think Frank [Wilson] has done a really good job with that. For sure, playing without the football, we always knew he could run the football. You can see that in his development and understanding of the offense. Allowing six [Trinidad Chambliss] and the other guys to trust him to be able to be out there to do what he's supposed to do. Super proud of him for that."
On having a better third quarter performance than last week:
"I think they have come out with the right mindset. Putting their focus on attention to detail and them doing their job adding consistency and performance. When you see 11 guys out there on all three phases doing what they are supposed to, it looks good. And we've been fortunate enough the last two weeks to do that in the third quarter. They got the ability to do that more; that's what I think you saw more than today: guys doing their jobs and playing with toughness and executing. I don't care if that's the first quarter or the third quarter; we don't get to pick what quarter that is. We're going to play an elite team this week, and you can't start slow. So, we can't pick and choose; we want to focus on the attention to detail to do our job. I think that has been a constant buy-in for our team. I think we've seen it Monday through Friday."
On talking to QB Deuce Knight in the tunnel after the game:
"I said, 'Deuce [Knight], did you score tonight?' Because I'm always practicing my Deuce [Knight] touchdowns, because he's my guy. He said, 'No, coach.' I was like, you know what I'm most excited about? That we scored 45 points, and I feel like our most explosive and best player didn't. That makes me feel really good. I said, "Keep your head up and let's learn from this. We are going to need you, and you're a great football player." He was down on himself, obviously; he had a couple drops that aren't like him and all that. It's the same thing that we do in the past; we're going to correct it on tape and what he could've done better. He has a highly competitive character, an unbelievable guy. That's what I told him: we score 45, and you don't score. I feel good."
On the team's mental toughness and not panicking after Auburn made the score 17-15:
"Man, I know it's super cliché to not talk about not looking at the scoreboard, but that has been the focus of living in the moment with this group. There wasn't a panic even then; at that point, it felt like third down on defense was the Achilles ' heel, and then penalties obviously a lot of PIs and holding and things like that. It was about not looking at the scoreboard and getting to the iPad, and the coaches did a good job cleaning things up, but the efficiency on third down got to that in my point of view in the first half. But just focusing on the things we can control, and that was the thing last night. We really don't control the outcome; we control our energy, attitude, body language, and focus. Whatever, if that dude is better than you and he goes over the top and makes a play, you don't control that. I thought our guys were locked in and had attention to detail, took coaching, and played extremely hard."
OLE MISS RB SHEKAI MILLS-KNIGHT
On stepping up with more playing time:
"I'm just staying level-headed. I feel like being on the scout team and playing against one of the best defenses from last year just had me ready. So, when I stepped up in game time, the moment wasn't too big for me."
On why he chose to stay at Ole Miss:
"I fell in love with this place when I was a recruit, and I stayed true to it. I knew my time would come, so I just kept working. I love everything here. I love the offense, and I love the coaching staff."
On learning from RB Kewan Lacy:
"When I decided to stay, I said we have the best running back in the nation. It was just like watching greatness. I always stayed ready, learned from what he did, added some stuff to my game, and stayed patient, willing to do whatever the team needed me to do. I got to see how Kewan took off last year, and that just really inspired me. He's a great dude. Just always inspires me to be great every day. So, I just took the things that he did, and added it to my routine."
On his relationship with WR Caleb Cunningham:
"He was my roommate when we both came in, and just being able to see his growth and how focused he is. He goes to the jugs machine, takes recovery seriously, and it's just been great to see. He has unbelievable potential. Iron sharpens iron. We motivate each other every day."
OLE MISS LB KEATON THOMAS
Preparation for Auburn QB Byrum Brown's rushing threat:
"That was a big emphasis this week at practice. We watched a lot of cutups of missed tackles on him, knowing that he's a really big jump cut guy, and he's a phenomenal athlete. He's 6-4, 235 (pounds), right? Reminds you of Cam Newton back in the day."
On RB Shekai Mills-Knight's breakout game:
"At the beginning of the year, Shekai [Mills-Knight] was doing some scout team work for us. He was constantly running through tacklers. So to see him do that today, I kept telling him that his time was going to come. Stay up, keep praying, and just keep working."
On his pride in the linebacker group:
"Super proud of the room. These are the guys you wake up early with, you grind with, you bleed with, and sometimes even cry with. We developed that relationship when we first got here in January."
On potential improvements on third down:
"Talking on the sidelines, making adjustments, and making sure that we're being elite communicators. With me having the green dot, I have to get guys set faster and give them the checks faster. It all plays a part."
On the Georgia game next week:
"Their quarterback, [Gunnar] Stockton, he's got really good poise. It's a Kirby Smart team, so we know what's coming and it's going to be a real challenge and I'm excited for it. The guys are excited for it. It's going to be a night game at home. We are going to Lock the Vaught and take care of business."
OLE MISS QB TRINIDAD CHAMBLISS
On Georgia next week:
"It's going to be a fun one. We know what we're getting into with Georgia. Solid group on both sides of the ball. Coach Burwell, Coach Smart, Coach Schumann all on the defensive side. We've got to come ready, and it's going to take 110% effort. We have to be dialed in, and it's going to come down to whichever team makes the fewest mistakes and who capitalizes on those mistakes. Play hard, play fast, play physical and leave it all out there. Like you said, there are playoff implications, but we can't focus on that. It's a big game, and we all know that."
On how he played today compared to the last month:
"I feel like I played better. There's always room for improvement. The same thing I was going into this game with was, don't try to press. Go out there, cut it loose, be confident in yourself and have fun. I feel like I got too far in my head the past couple of weeks: Vandy, Missouri and obviously Texas. Just having those games where I was kind of off, some uncharacteristic things, I would say. There's a lot on my mind, looking at the past and the future. There are a lot of expectations for me and all that, so it's getting back to my why, why I want to do this and what I do it for. Just enjoying football. A year or two ago, I was at Ferris State in front of like a thousand people, so it's getting back to that mindset: go out there, have fun, enjoy this now. You're going to miss it down the road. That was my mindset today."
On "cutting it loose":
"It depends on how your mental is and who you surround yourself with, and going back to clearing the clutter in your mind, because I feel like I was just cluttered. There was a lot of fog in my mind a little bit. I was just thinking a lot. Even just talking to my family, praying a lot, talking to God, talking to Coach [Judge], and having them say, 'Hey, don't worry about the next level or any Heisman Trophy, any of that stuff. Just focus on having fun. Remember your why, remember why you're doing it, and just go out there, have fun and cut loose. Like I said, there's going to be a day where I'm going to miss putting the Ole Miss uniform on and playing in front of the Vaught and all these fans. It was just good to go out there and have fun and enjoy it and not really press."
On his relationship with Coach Joe Judge:
"He's a great play caller. I have all the trust in him to get us in the right position, getting us to the right calls depending on down and distance and how much time is left in certain quarters, certain halves. I'm now understanding, and we're kind of getting the flow of things, going from 'OK, he's calling this play, I wonder why' to 'I know why he's calling this. I know what I'm looking at, and I know what to do in those situations.' It's good. He's a very hard worker. He's up here all the time, like any other college coach. He really loves this, wants us to be successful, wants us to win, and that's his main goal."
AUBURN HEAD COACH ALEX GOLESH
Opening Statement:
"First, grateful for our fans that were here, grateful for our band. Obviously, disappointing in every way. You know, I thought the first half, and the beginning part of that third quarter, I felt there was an intent. We obviously left some points out there, but I thought on both sides of the ball, it was going back and forth. Obviously, some good, some bad, and then you have the turning point in the third quarter. The quarterback run for them on third-and-11 with a penalty, and they scored three plays later. I just felt like we never had a chance offensively. Never had a chance with us shooting ourselves in the foot, not executing, and then we give up 28 unanswered. So, I was very disappointed. I thought there was a lack of finish and that was the first time I've seen that out of this group. That's as disappointing as anything, and I have to figure that piece out. That's the part that's making me sick is the lack of finish. Obviously, the plan is to win. The goal is to win. But, the lack of play-to-play finish is the part I'm most disappointed in."
On defensive struggles:
"I thought they did a really good job of finishing plays, and we didn't. It's not that there is guys running wide open or anything like that. We get to the point of attack and aren't making plays. We have to figure that out from a coaching standpoint."
On costly penalties:
"The part that is inexcusable is not being onside with the tackle. That is coaching in every way. The back-to-back holdings, the pass interference, those are playing penalties that happen. Bang bang plays happen every now and then. You can live with hard playing penalties, but when it's presnap penalties on us, that kind of stuff will kill you."
On his message to the team at 4th-and-4:
"If you think you worked hard, you have to work harder. If you think you aren't pulling your weight, you gotta work harder. I'll challenge our coaches in the same breath, we have to play the dudes that we feel like are going to go and finish."
On the offensive line play:
"I thought from a pass protection standpoint, for the most part, they did a really solid job. Again, I think when you can stay ahead of the chains a little and play in rhythm, it's a bit easier. From a pass protection perspective, they did a good job."
AUBURN QB BYRUM BROWN
On offensive struggle on early downs:
"It's difficult. You have to be efficient on first and second down and get it to third and short, which is more manageable. We have to look back to the film, but the execution on first down, leads into the second down execution, and third down as well."
On struggles in October:
"When we are clicking on offense, we're as good as any team we've played, and good enough to beat all of them. We have to get back to work tomorrow, have a good week of practice and be ready for Arkansas."
On execution in critical moments:
"It's huge. We have to be better in those moments. I think you can say that for every game that we've lost. Just knowing when those plays are, all 11 of us executing, and going to work."
On keeping the team together:
"This is the point in the season where everyone's going to try and divide this team. We are a connected group and have to stay connected. We've still got everything that we want in front of us."
AUBURN OL STANTON RAMIL
On the biggest trouble on offense:
"We have to be able to establish the run game throughout the whole game. It helps get us out of bad situations, keeps us out of third and long. We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties. We just have to keep ourselves in manageable positions."
On struggles in establishing the run:
"We need consistency across the board. We can't be on one play and then off the next, and that goes for the entire offensive line. It just goes back to practice. As an older guy, I have to be a leader and take accountability for getting that right as best I can, and just keep moving forward."
On how to address not fighting till the end of the game:
"The effort you give in practice, every single practice rep is a game rep, and that has to be the mindset the entire time. When you get to the game, no situation is new because you're built for it."
On what the mindset is going forward:
"We have a lot of opportunities left, one play at a time, one game at a time. We have until Monday to digest this one, make improvements and get into the next game."
AUBURN DL DALLAS WALKER
On the second half defensively:
"We just have to get better at finishing. In the first half, we were very attentive to details and we were playing very hard. After the third quarter, we started missing minor details that turned into big things. It's just about everyone doing their one of 11 and just coming together and playing well as a team."
On the quarterback running in the second half:
"I don't really think it was just what they showed us. I think it was on our part, going back to those minor details, little fits here and there. We all play as 11, so if one person's not in the right spot, they can gash it. I think it just goes back to handling the tempo, getting your cleats in the dirt, getting your play called, getting lined up and paying attention to detail."
On what it takes to get better on defense:
"Going back to work every day, leaders have to step up and young guys have to follow. It's going to take all of us to come together, starting on Sunday and going through Saturday. It's going to take us coming together and honing in on our keys and details, and meeting and listening to each other."
On frustration on allowing completed third downs:
"It's definitely frustrating, especially when you shoot yourself in the foot as a team, when you go back and look at the film and you know certain players know what they're supposed to do, or I know what I'm supposed to do and I might not be in the right spot. When you look at how we play with the details sometimes, it's frustrating."
