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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Charlotte
9/12/2026 | Football
OLE MISS HEAD COACH PETE GOLDING
Opening Statement:
"It was good to get back out there. Obviously, a pretty tough week on them. We're pretty hard on them and wanted to see a little more consistent and cleaner football. I thought we did it in spurts. I thought the first half offense did because we scored on five of our first six drives. Obviously, we want those to finish as touchdowns but we only had one punt. On defense, Kam Franklin and Jehiem Otis blocked a field goal, and [we] held them to a goose egg in the first half. I was really disappointed in how we came out in the third quarter. Something we emphasized at halftime, was there was an opportunity last week in the fourth quarter when we were up two scores to finish the thing and we didn't. It was something we focused on all week and spoke about that at halftime. Then they came out and got points on the first drive and we went three and out. So that was very disappointing. There were also some critical penalties that extended drives and right now we aren't good enough on defense to do that. There was some eye control stuff we focused on a lot this week and we have to clean it up before the next game. I'm proud of their effort and think a lot of guys had different opportunities getting in the game and made a difference. They created some confidence for themselves and it was good to see some other guys get in."
On if there was any defensive improvements:
"Yeah, I think at times we did. I think holding people scoreless in the first half, I don't care who you're playing, is tough. So, eliminating the explosive plays, they had 12 explosive plays for 340 yards last week. It's hard to beat anyone that way, let alone a top-25 team. You're flirting with things that way. I thought we minimized them a little bit. I was very disappointed that they kept hitting on the same play. It's the attention to detail, the eye control, and it being multiple people is the problem. We have to learn from our mistakes. I've mentioned this several times that everybody doesn't get a "my bad" moment. When we see it on tape, we have to correct it. We are going to continue to rotate guys and continue to find the five in the back that do stuff right, because right now we don't have five."
On if tackling improved this week:
"I think at the point of attack, it improved a little bit. There are still some angle issues that were the same as last week. A couple of those explosive runs are people overrunning the football and not having gap control. I think to the naked eye, it was better at the point of contact. I think we got more guys to the ball. Still there is an angle issue that we have to clean up. Look, the guy with the ball was different. Some players are harder to tackle. We really need to work on angles but there was some improvement from guys that put some bad stuff on tape last week that I thought showed up and made an effort to improve."
On Trinidad Chambliss' control of the offense:
"He's got everyone's attention in there. We want the ball in his hands. He makes really good decisions and understands the offense. John David Baker and Joe Judge do a great job with him. My plan going into the second half, was until it got to three possessions, to let Deuce start the second half. He came to me pissed off saying "Coach, I got to play. I need to play." He's got that competitive character that we always talk about. But as we've always talked about, we got a shot as long as 6 has the ball in his hands."
On Ole Miss' distribution to nine different receivers:
"Yeah, that's the biggest thing. You can have a plan for guys you want to target and all that, but it really is based on what the opposing defense is doing on the other side of the ball. I think we are doing a good job of taking what people are giving us, and still dialing up some plays too. I thought we had to get Deuce Alexander going, and he got going, and it's great to see him with the ball. You know, Caleb Cunningham is big and strong, he's got great long speed and he's a really physical presence. If guys are playing soft coverage on him, that hitch can go 60 yards because he can break tackles. It was really good to get Cunningham in the game and the flow of things because I think he will be a big piece of the offense. It was great to see Johntay Cook score and have a little juice. Horatio Fields has been Mr. Consistent. He shows up every week. I think we missed Caleb Odom a bit tonight, so getting him back healthy next week is a priority. I think we have to distribute the football based on how defenses are playing us, and Chambliss did a good job of that tonight."
OLE MISS S NICK CULL
On what he saw and how his interception felt:
"It was a man-to-man, me and the free safety we were in a push alert, where we iso the two and three receiver. I just saw the ball in the air, when I caught it, I was just running and trying to go score. I was trying to outrun him and think I did. That's when I stepped out. I tried to cut, [Suntarine] Perkins had made a great block on the quarterback. I tried to go score but [I was] out of bounds."
On head coach Pete Golding saying he was tough in practice this week and what that looked like:
"He was challenging us to have no free runners at all. Communication and us all being on the same page, even on the wrong call if we're all on the same call it can't be the wrong call."
On how he felt the team did tonight compared to last week:
"I feel like we made improvement from last week, but I feel like we still have a ton of work to go over, a lot of film to watch, and really buckle down this week."
On the atmosphere of today's game:
"The atmosphere was great. First home game, fans showed up tremendously and we appreciate it. It was great."
OLE MISS WR HORATIO FIELDS
On his overall thoughts on the offense's performance today:
"The offense performed pretty well. I think we just have to find our identity, and that's what we did, we came out fast. We talk about just coming out swinging and swinging the whole game and finishing. I felt like we played pretty good."
On the smoke on the field when he caught the touchdown:
"I didn't even notice it until I saw the video, it really felt like everything was clear as day. I could see Trinidad, the ball, I could see everything. I was locked in so I didn't even notice it."
On the passing game getting off to a better start than against Louisville:
"I feel like we did better. Defense will try to scheme us, we just have to attack whatever they give us. We can't show too much but we did what was necessary for our passing game."
On how the offense feels going into SEC play next week:
"Very confident, we're excited. It's what we want, what we're itching for."
On Deuce Knight's hurdle:
"He's been telling us all week that he was going to hurdle somebody, and we believed him too. It was very exciting to see him do that. I was with him at Auburn last year, and seeing him do that again, seeing how he balls."
OLE MISS QB TRINIDAD CHAMBLISS
On how the offense played:
"Yeah, I feel like we had a good start to the game, which we didn't have last week against Louisville. So, that was key for us going into this game. I feel like we played solid as a whole, but I feel there was a lot that we can improve on, and you know, some drives that we punted the ball or turned over the ball, but yeah, but overall, was a solid day, but definitely room for improvement."
On what they struggled with this game:
"Yeah, I mean, just a slow start. Like I said, we got to execute better, have better out detail, and I got to have better pocket presence. There's just a lot that we got to work on right now as an offense, and I know it's still early on in the season, so hopefully we get those figured out, you know, sooner rather than later."
On Deuce Knight's performance:
"It's sweet, you know, he's a freak athlete. He's a huge guy. When I first met him, and I didn't realize how big he was, and he was a big, tall guy. His vert's insane, as you saw today from the hurdle. He probably has like a 40 inch vert. So yeah, it's cool. He was talking about that all week that if he has a chance to, I guess, hurdle somebody, he'll do it. It's awesome."
On next weekend:
"It's going to be a crazy weekend in Oxford, but it's just another game, though. Everything that's going on outside of, you know, football really doesn't matter to us. We're just worried about football."
CHARLOTTE HEAD COACH TIM ALBIN
Opening Statement:
"Tough game for us in a really tough environment to be honest with you that we can't duplicate in practice. It was challenging. With the speaker system and the crowd noise it was tough to operate. We handled it a little better in the second half I thought. Proud of the effort from our guys, again disappointed with the score of course. Took us a little bit to settle in, just the size and speed of it, you can't duplicate that in practice. We got some things done, we got 0 points. We were defensive, but didn't get anything to show for it. That was the big focus in the second half. Hurt us with some RPO things and boundaries and number 1's of a first day draft guy. I thought offensively in the second half, we had some identity as far as the run game goes. We played with a lot of guys. I don't know the number but we played more guys tonight then we did last week. I think that was a positive and the goal by the end of this game and we were able to get it done."
On Cole Gonzales and the pros and cons of the offense:
"On the one pick, that was a mistake. We had the press and a guy baring down and didn't want to take a sack in field goal range. The guy made a nice play. Again, it's hard for me to go through every play with them. He did some good things in a tough environment with the volume of running the offense. He's got some guys around him and everyone can see that. He's getting the ball disputed like a point guard in basketball, that's his job. He's more comfortable this week than he was last week."
On Conner Harrell:
"I was almost in tears, that kid has battled from the injury he had. He has worked his tail off like nobody's business. I am very happy for him to get to this point. There was a point in early spring that they thought it might be mid-October, it's mid-September and it's a month ahead of schedule. I could not be happier for him. He's got some game experience, so let's see how it goes as we move forward. I'm just happy for him and all his hard work and his team around him to get him to this point."
On game decisions in the second half:
"We were in range and we are breaking in a new kicker who has not kicked. He kicked extra points the first game with no field prize. I wanted to get his feet wet."
On the defense going into the second half:
"The heaviness of the guys were trying to block a field goal and the guy just ran right through us. It's tough and that's what it is. We got after it in the running game and we got to get touchdowns and everybody knows that. I'm happy with the guys offensively, but we let too much be done on the ground."
CHARLOTTE WR DERRICK ELEY
On a deep ball play from Connor Harrell:
"It was great seeing Connor [Harrell] just knowing all the work that he put in. It was great catching a pass from him for sure."
On both offensive and defensive issues:
"I felt like we played fast and physical which was the motto coming in for the week. We moved the ball well but in the endzone, you have to score touchdowns. Instead of kicking field goals, we need to score touchdowns. It was a great jump this week and can build on it next week."
On plan going in to game:
"I felt like we executed great. We knew they were going to be aggressive, they are an aggressive defense. We did a lot of pumpings, and felt like we executed those plays well. We didn't execute in the red zone, but in the middle field and coming down, we executed very well."
CHARLOTTE LB GAVIN WILLIS
On defensive issues:
"Defensively, we were trying to play fast and play up to their tempo. We did a good job of it at some times and we need to work on those things and finishing tackles while playing with that speed. It was a big step from week one."
On the jump from week one to week two and improvements on defense:
"We were really focused on tackling this week especially in the second half since we didn't do a great job of that last week. That was something we really emphasized on. I think we did make a great jump in this game but we still need to eliminate those missed tackles. There was still too much left on the field in my opinion, but we will go to work this week and keep getting better."
On Vaught Hemingway Stadium's atmosphere:
"As soon as you get out there on the field, once the ball snapped, I feel like it all zones out and you're focused on your job. Getting the calls is hard in a loud environment, but once the ball snaps, you're going."
