University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Quotes
9/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Southern Miss vs. Rice
Quotes from Todd Monken
Sept. 27, 2014
Faulkner Field at M.M Roberts Stadium; Hattiesburg, Miss.
FINAL SCORE: Southern Miss 23, Rice 41 (Three Overtimes)
Opening Statement...
- First off, you have to congratulate Rice. I thought they played a good football game. They didn't make the mistakes that we made. The bottom line is, we have to look at this in a number of areas. It wasn't one area that we played well enough to win in a very winnable game - coaching, special teams, offense, defense. We just didn't. That game was right there for the taking. We weren't mature enough in a lot of areas to take advantage of it. Give them credit. They made the plays when they needed to make the plays. From field goal to PAT to kickoff to turnovers on our own end to some of the big third downs they got, some of the foolish penalties we had. The good news is they are correctable. They have to be corrected. It isn't a matter of talent. A lot of those things have nothing to do with talent. That has to do with discipline and playing good football. Good football still wins. You can see glimpses of that at times on both sides of the ball. Putting it together over 60 minutes is something we are going to continue to strive for. It is the only way to do it. We are going to go back to work tomorrow. We have to go up to Middle Tennessee, a good football team. We will look at it tomorrow, make the corrections and move forward.
Was it not establishing the ground game? Mental errors? What was it tonight?
- All of the above. Early on we get a play to start the game. We run a little tempo play. We don't hit him. Have a chance to start fast and hit a post and we don't do it. Immediately after that, we kind of bogged down in different areas. That has kind of been our M.O. How do we piece together enough plays to sustain a drive. We had plenty of opportunities down the field. Whether it was protection, the throw, whatever it was. We had plenty of opportunities to make plays, which is what Old Dominion did last week (versus Rice). They didn't run the ball particularly great last week. They ran the ball better than we did, but they made plays down the field. We just didn't do that well enough tonight when we had the opportunities early in the game. We got ourselves back into it, giving ourselves a chance. We just couldn't sustain it. We couldn't get off the field. We couldn't pin them down with our special teams. Again, there is plenty to go around for how we do it better. That is a good football team, but we are not as far away as we think we are. We are actually a lot closer. I really believe that. I see it every week. I see us improving, but it has to show up on Saturdays.
On some of the miscues...
- It is silly. It is bad football. I don't know about immaturity. You have a junior player who has played four years. You have a junior college player who has played a lot of football. The horse collar, I don't know who that was on, but at the end of the day it is bad football. That has not been our M.O. Our M.O. has been not making penalties and not making those mistakes that are hard to overcome. We had a big run by George (Payne) and instead of moving forward we take 15 yards back off it. Those are the things you can't do. That along with a mixed extra point or a bobbled snap; things that are uncharacteristic of good football teams. Bottom line is we have to do it better. People get tired of hearing that, but that is a fact. I don't see those things in practice. I don't. We practice as hard as anywhere I have been. Obviously, it is not good football. That is just the way it is.
On Nick Mullens wearing Ray Guy's #44...
- He excited to wear it as any player I think would be. I think at certain point you forget you even have it on. I thought it was great for Ray to allow us to wear it and represent him as one of the all-time greats, not only at our University, but in the history of this sport. He did a great job talking to our team on Thursday night. I think Nick wore that proudly and no one will be more disappointed than he is that he didn't play as well wearing that jersey.
Southern Miss vs. Rice
Quotes from David Bailiff
Sept. 27, 2014
Faulkner Field at M.M Roberts Stadium; Hattiesburg, Miss.
FINAL SCORE: Southern Miss 23, Rice 41 (Three Overtimes)
Opening Comments:
- "I'm really proud of this football team, the way we've hung together since the opening football game at Notre Dame. We've just continued to work, continued to improve. Even though we weren't winning, we were getting better. To come into Hattiesburg and Southern Miss, (M.M. Roberts Stadium) is a tough place to win, it's legendary, iconic in football. I'm proud of the way we received the football and drove."
On third-quarter touchdown pass from Driphus Jackson to Mario Hull Davis:
- "The touchdown pass from Driphus to (Hull) gave us the momentum. From that point on we settled in offensively. Defensively we made plays."
On defense forcing three key turnovers as well as three turnovers on downs.
- "They were (also) 0-for-3 on fourth down. Those are turnovers on downs. Those were all game-changing, field-position-changing plays."
On success running the ball:
- "They gave us a 4-1 box. When you've got five guys in the box, you're supposed to be able to run the ball. They're very athletic, very fast. I thought the offensive staff did a great job of mixing it up and spreading the field. That's a big win. First win in conference. We've got Hawaii coming to town so we'll enjoy this one on the flight home and hopefully get that winning streak going back at home again."
Southern Miss vs. Rice
Quotes from Rice Players
Sept. 27, 2014
Faulkner Field at M.M Roberts Stadium; Hattiesburg, Miss.
FINAL SCORE: Southern Miss 23, Rice 41 (Three Overtimes)
Rice Quarterback Driphus Jackson
- We needed the win as a program. I think that a lot of guys needed this just for the confidence, including myself. I started off slow, I felt like we could have played a little bit better on offense, and I had a few bad throws. We made plays when we needed them and we took advantage of our opportunities. And I'm excited for the win.
We needed those two big plays with Mario. He came through. At that end of the day, that is what we expect of him. Obviously he is a great receiver for us, we just have to be able to capitalize off of all of the opportunities because we not be able to have those opportunities again. Me and Mario bump heads all of the time because we're so competitive, but we're always on the same page as wanting to get that win.
I finally have a win as a starter and this is something I get to take home. We can't relax because we have this win. We have a game next week and we're looking forward to putting up more points.
Rice Safety Jaylon Finner
- We emphasized turnovers this entire week in practice and that's just it. We practice it. Turnovers are crucial. We give our offense the ball to put up points. It was crucial. It really helped us win the game tonight.
On last week's game...
We knew last week that we didn't perform our best against Old Dominion, so we put it on ourselves to practice hard this week to perform. We work hard to show out on Saturday.
Coach always tells us that we won't ever have an injury-free season. So if someone goes down, we just have to step up. That's what coach continues to tell us. If someone goes down, we just have to come in and make plays.
It feels perfect now to have this W. It wasn't feeling good to have zero wins under our belt.
Southern Miss vs. Rice
Quotes from Southern Miss Players
Sept. 27, 2014
Faulkner Field at M.M Roberts Stadium; Hattiesburg, Miss.
FINAL SCORE: Southern Miss 23, Rice 41 (Three Overtimes)
Sophomore QB Nick Mullens
On coming up short against Rice...
- "If you see the drives that we score (on), we are very smooth, execute well and are mentally sharp. We have to work to get that mental consistency throughout the game. The only way you can do that is to put in extra work with your teammates. There is no way to get around it really. You just have to find a way to get it done and that requires extra work."
- "Going into the game I was really excited about it. Mr. Guy talked to us after practice on Thursday. I wouldn't say pressure. It was a great opportunity, great experience and I will be able to look back on it to say that I got the privilege to wear it. I have a tremendous amount for Mr. Guy, who is a great speaker, and he definitely did a lot for the University. I have all the respect in the world that he let me wear his number. That is a real honor."
On the Passing Game...
- "It was poor execution. We were locked in, but not focused enough to make the plays that we needed to make to keep sustained drives."
On what Rice did on defense...
- "There was nothing different that they showed us (from previous weeks). It was poor execution. They made plays and we didn't execute it well enough like we are supposed to and that hurt us."