University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Postgame Quotes Versus Kentucky
9/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss Head Coach Jay Hopson
On how big this win was for his entire coaching career ...
"It's a big win. I mean, that's the reality of it. I'm just real proud, just the fight and the determination that our players showed. They never stopped believing and we gave our best in the middle areas and the back end in the first quarter, second quarter. We gave up a ton of big plays. And they just kept digging and kept fighting. It was just a great win."
On 4th down at the ½-yard mark ...
"I felt like we had the momentum and I felt like I got a little bit of belief, you know what, (if you can't get that ½-yard) you don't deserve to score and that's the reality of it. So even if they stopped us, they're still on minus field with a long way to go. And I think at that time it was a four-point game so I thought it was a wise move."
On the touchdown right before the half ...
"That was huge. Big play by Isaiah. It was big because that gave us a spark. Coming out and getting the ball in the second half, we talked about that. I said if we get this score we're right back in this thing. And that's what they did. At the end of the day we came out second half and committed to playing southern Miss football and the guys really answered the bell."
On the halftime message to team ...
"I felt like other than some mis-execution on giving up big plays I felt like we had moved the ball on offense and I felt like defense had pretty much done a pretty good job other than five plays and those five plays were huge plays. And I thought we were just beating ourselves with missed assignments. Those guys came back and played a stellar second half."
On Nick Mullens struggling in the first half ...
"Ito and George, they played hard-nosed Southern Miss football. They were tough, they were physical and that's something that I was proud of how they played. I thought the offensive line was physical. I thought our defensive line was physical. I was just proud of how the guys played."
On the importance of George and Ito setting the tone on offense ...
"Both of those guys are physical running backs and they both played a heck of a football. They did. You know, we could sit here for an hour and I can keep saying over and over that was a great ballgame. It was fun to watch. You saw the guys eyes at half time and you could tell there was a lot of fight left in them. There was never any doubt that we're coming back. That's something that's a joy to see."
On coach Dawson's thought when they were down 35-10 ...
"We basically were saying the same thing. We talked a lot. We were actually moving the ball. We got in some minus yardage situations early in the first quarter. We got into some 2nd & 15s and that's something you can't do, especially against a SEC football team. You can't put yourself behind the sticks and I think we did that a little bit in the first half. That's one thing in the second half we didn't do."
On Dawson knowing the UK team ...
"He knows about it because he coached it, but I always felt like that was a loss because they know him too. I don't think there was any advantage there one way or another. At the end of the day you give the credit to the players and the assistant coaches. They did a great job preparing the guys and the players. They played their hearts out. It was a joy to watch."
On being down 35-10 ...
"The one thing you try to talk about is continuing the fight. And to me that's what this football program is built on. When they interviewed us at halftime I said we weren't going in to surrender, we're coming back out in second half. And I think that's something that, again, that's Southern Miss football. (Our players) fought for 60 minutes. They played physical football and, as a coach, you're just proud of that."
Southern Miss Student Athletes
#94, Dylan Bradley, DL
On having doubt that Southern Miss would come back ...
"No, we had to go inside the locker room at halftime and dig deep inside each other and decide as a team to see what we have and what we have to do to come back out and play fast and play all types of football. The first half wasn't too good for defensive wise. We gave up four big plays. We did pretty good, but the four big plays hurt us and they were up (18 points) and the second half we came out with mentality, which was what we have been preaching all fall camp and summer training and winter training. Just fight. Fight until there is no more time on the clock."
On Kentucky being bigger than Southern Miss ...
"Well, I don't think about that. I don't look at the people that we are playing against. I look at the scheme that we've got and our game plan. I go into this game with the same mentality every week. I don't care if you're SEC or ACC, whatever conference you're in, in my mind you put your clothes on just like I do. Our mentality, we talk, and that's just something we believe in. We can play anybody on the field no matter who they are."
On being the best game you ever played ...
"Yeah, I started my senior year with a bang. I helped my team win and that's the main goal. None of those stats would be even really important if it weren't for my teammates guiding me around. The back end did their job to holding them up, which freed me up to make plays."
#9, Nick Mullens, QB
On your mindset of the start and the finish of the game ...
"Honestly, I don't know if a lot changed. I just had a pretty tough stretch. Those mistakes are easily preventable so it's a matter of just focusing, relaxing out there and not turning the ball over. My mindset didn't really change. Just relax, focus, and make the next play. We never stop believing. Coach Hopson preaches fight, fight, fight, attack, attack, attack, and so that is what I did."
On how you played in the first half ...
"Terrible. Sometimes you just have to relax in the moment. Those mistakes are preventable, so that's a good thing to know moving forward. But, if we protect the ball then we will have a really good year."
On how well you work with Coach Dawson ...
"He is awesome. I love Coach Dawson. He is a great coach. We communicate a lot more with the way we get plays in and stuff, but I kind of knew going in, you just have to feel each other out and embrace the change. But, other than that I am so proud of him. He did a great job tonight. The coaches deserve a lot of credit, all the credit in the world. They put us in positions to succeed and so we are thankful for that."
#32, Xavier Thigpen, DL
On blocking the punt ...
"It was too early to determine, so when I got to the sideline everyone was congratulating me. I said, `Don't congratulate me yet. We've still got a game to play. There's still 14 minutes on the clock.'"
On communication issues and difficulties ...
" That's all [coach] was talking about all week is `communicate, communicate, communicate.' So the communication was good it's just we had a couple busts, which is normal as a defense and offense too. I mean everybody is going to bust, but overall we have great communication on our team. "
On halftime pep talk to make a comeback...
" We went back out and we said, `It's 0-0 and we're going to play the game out like it's 0-0.' We said, `We're going to get what we deserve and third and fourth quarter is ours. Let's finish them.'"
#25, Ito Smith, RB
On how it felt to have a hold on the ball so much throughout the game...
"It's something I just work on. I work on catching out of the backfield a lot. So I've been catching balls constantly, and being a running back you know you're going to catch the ball. I mean so I just practice that, and coach trusts me. That's all there is to it."
On mindset going into halftime...
"Before the game coach told us that nothing was going to be given to us. We had to earn it. At halftime, that's when adversity had struck. We knew that we needed to go back out and overcome it. We got the win and we did it."
