University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Coach Larry Fedora's Weekly Press Conference Transcript
9/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 8, 2008
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -
Head Coach Larry Fedora's Weekly Press Conference Transcript
September 8, 2008
HATTIESBURG, Miss.
Opening Statement:
"After looking at the tape and evaluating what we did, it was pretty much what we saw during the game, we felt like defensively we played rather well, after the first fifteen plays we played very well the rest of the game, fought all the way to the end. On offense I thought we made a lot of uncommon mistakes early in the game, for whatever reason, maybe we had too much in the game plan, don't know what it was exactly, but they were thinking too much and just made some stupid mistakes, as far as alignments and communication and all of those things. Special team wise we gave up too many big plays in the return game and didn't make enough in our return game, so we have to get better in that situation. I was pleased to see that the offense did come around in the second half and played the way that they could, unfortunately it was too little, too late. "
On the play of Shawn Nelson vs. Auburn:
"He really played well for us offensively, he was one of the few bright spots that we had, as far as a guy that played the entire game and played well. Every opportunity he had to make a play he made it. He has just as much physical talent as any of them (tight end's) I have ever had, the kid back at Oklahoma State is a bigger kid and more physical but he doesn't run near as well as Shawn (Nelson), he can run routes like a wide-receiver and catches the ball very well."
On Arkansas State:
"I have started looking at them, and I am going to tell you, they are a really good football team. This will be a very, very tough game for us; they went down to Texas A&M and upset the Aggies at their home field which is a pretty big thing to do. Texas Southern team came in and they just dismantled them the way you expected them to do it. A lot of their staff has been there the full seven years that they have been there. They have recruited well, they have recruited to their offense and defense, and their kids understand the packages, it's not like they are learning something new. So I think they are very comfortable with it, their quarterback can run the ball and he can throw it. He executes very well, I don't know if this is his second, third year to start, somewhere in that area, he has got some experience. They are playing very well as a team right now; they have got a lot confidence. It will be a very tough game for us."
On the Arkansas State offense:
"They are a spread offense that works a lot out of the gun, they also do a lot of different things formation wise, they do some unbalanced and formations into the boundary, and a lot of movement, those kinds of things, at least they have in the past."
On Arkansas State scoring 83 points:
"It was like the first three times they touched the ball they took it eighty yards, it was just a very over-matched team, but that is hard to do on errors, so you have to give them credit."
On Southern Miss defense in Auburn game:
"C.J. Bailey and Eddie Hicks both had great games, they both played really, really well. Eric Phillips played well, Rolando Barragan did well, Roshaad Byrd did a good job, Korey Williams made some really nice plays, and made some big mistakes, typical first year starter that hasn't played in two years, but he made some big plays, he was all over the field, he will get better as we go."
On Damion Fletcher in the Auburn Game:
"Well one thing is I don't know if we did a good enough job early in the game, putting him in positions where he could make enough plays. With what was going on up front we didn't match up real well in some situations and then we got kind of out of whack in the game plan and just had to start throwing it just about every down. We didn't give him the opportunity to do some of the things he usually does. But he did make several catches for us, did some nice things, had a couple of drops that weren't characteristic of him, but he will bounce back and won't have a problem with it. But we know that we need to run the ball effectively to be successful."
On Auburn's defense forcing short yard passes:
"That was just something they decided, if they sit back there and stay deep and don't come up and give you the underneath stuff, it's going to be tough to get the ball down the field. In those situations with some of the plays that are underneath, you have to turn it into a big play."
On the forced fumbles in the Auburn game:
"I think Rolando (Barragan) made the second one, the first one was Tumbo, (Tokumbo Abanikanda), and those were big. They were driving and having some success early and you force them to have a turnover, that takes a lot of life out of an offense."
On the team's response to the loss:
"They were disappointed, really disappointed. Finally in the third quarter as a team they thought we could win this thing, we just have to go out and take care of our business, so they were disappointed. They key here is learning from this experience and realizing that when you step out on that field immediately you have to all believe that you are going to win it from the get-go. Now that they have seen that hopefully every time we step out on that field it will be that way, I just didn't feel like it was when we stepped out on that field. They fought all the way to the end and I was proud of them for that."
On Calvin Wilson:
"He got dinged up, the guys knee hit him in the helmet, he didn't do much yesterday, and today the trainers will take a look at him and let me know something before practice. I don't think it is anything serious. We really came out of it pretty healthy, other than some bumps and bruises."
On offensive and defensive player of the week:
"For us on offense it was Shawn Nelson, and on defense it was both C.J. Bailey and Eddie Hicks. We didn't have anybody on the special teams. thekick off team did a nice job, we gave up some plays in the punt return, we missed a field goal. The kick off return team didn't do anything special, so we didn't feel like there was anybody. If we are going to give you a player of the game, you have to stand out do something special, and we just didn't feel like that was done in special teams."
On accomplishment from this loss:
"The good thing about it is that you realize you are not that far away, and if we just take care of the things we talk about every day, you don't turn the football over, and you take care of the little things, then we can play with anybody. It doesn't matter who it is. We have been preaching that, but a lot of guys can't see that, they think it's going to take something out of the ordinary to win the game against Auburn. We didn't need anything out of the ordinary, we just need to execute and play the game the way that we can, and again I am not taking anything away from Auburn, they are a dang good football team, but I am focusing on our team and what we need to do to get better is take care of our business and not worry about anybody else."
On solidifying Austin Davis as quarterback:
"Early on we had our problems, and it wasn't all Austin, he contributed but he settled down and did a nice job. Obviously we would like to have those two throws back, but he did a nice job and he will be our starting quarterback going into this game."
Southern Miss Defensive Back Eddie Hicks Quotes:
On Auburn game:
"Coming in I will admit they were a pretty tough team, but we just came out with a few bumps and bruises nothing major."
On Recording 13 Tackles Against Auburn:
"We went over the defensive lineman and the linebackers were calling out the plays pretty well and we just did the things we do in practice and I had certain gaps to fill and they did those things and I just did my job like coach told me."
On what team learned from Auburn:
"There is a lot of things we could have done better, could have cause more turnovers, getting off the field on third down, we can do a lot better on getting off the field and giving Austin (Davis) another chance to score."
On Arkansas State:
"They are going to remember that they played a close game last year, and with them scoring what they scored last week, I think they have a lot of confidence right now, so we have to go in there and work hard and continue doing the things we do to get another win."
Southern Miss Tight End Shawn Nelson Quotes:
On his game vs. Auburn:
"After the game against Auburn, my confidence was sky-high. I always believed in myself and I always knew I could make those plays. It also plays a big part in my life, and as a player out on the football field. It was good to see myself go out there and make those plays and get my confidence back up, and let myself know that I can go out there and make those plays."
On how well he fits into spread offense:
"Of course, I always believed I was a receiver and coming to Southern Miss they moved me to tight end. But being in this spread offense and the way they spread the ball out a lot, I believe I fit in really well with this offense, I believe it gives me a lot of opportunities to make plays and show off the ability and talent that I really have."
On running free as a tight end:
"I don't know about running free, I mean every time I caught the ball they were right there, giving me everything they could and I just took it. I had fun just going out there and making plays and trying to help my team win a football game."
On 1,000 yard goal:
"It is still my goal, same thing I talk to my coaches about and they believe in me and I believe in them, and I just want to go out there and prove that I can do it."
"I really believe I set a high standard for myself, anybody can come out here any given Saturday and have a good game, but the main key is to be consistent with that, game after game, practice after practice, day after day, week after week, and perform like that. I don't know if I will get twelve balls again in a game but I know it will be many and I know when they throw the ball the to me I am going to try my best to catch it and do the best I can with it. Opportunities like that don't come often so you want to take advantage of it."
On what coaches see him as:
"It's not we see you as a receiver or we see you as a tight end, it's more on this is what we expect you to do, we expect you to make plays, this is how we are going to use you. I sat down with Coach Fedora when he got here, the Friday before I took my name out of the NFL draft, and looked at how Carolina and Oklahoma State used their tight ends, and I bought into it, felt like I fit well with the offense. I went from there and evidently it is playing out, he is binded to his words and I'm showing up, as long as they keep throwing the ball, I will keep making plays."
On defensive attention:
"What they did to Damion Fletcher took a lot off on me, the past couple of years we have been running the ball more than we have been passing and I think it's taking a lot off. I think now after this game they will be keying in on me and putting double coverage on me, and I believe that it good for me and the team. We have another receiver in DeAndre Brown, 6'6", we can let him guard that spread offense, he can catch the ball in run with it, because when we start throwing him the ball, it puts the defense in a bind, because they don't know where it's going, put two on me, put two on him. I think that's a good asset to the team by putting the defense in a situation where they don't know if we are going to run the ball or pass the ball, because we have a talent in both abilities."
