University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Jay Hopson Weekly Media Conference Transcript (Oct. 15, 2018)
10/15/2018 1:47:00 PM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss football coach Jay Hopson held his weekly news conference at the Duff Athletic Center, Monday, as the Golden Eagles get ready for homecoming this Saturday against UTSA.
The Golden Eagles and Roadrunners play at 6 p.m. CT at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ as well as be heard on one of the affiliates of the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network.
Here are some of things Hopson said during his news conference:
Opening Statement
"It was a tough loss. Certainly wasn't a fun day, but I thought there were times in the game and opportunities in the game where we had an opportunity, but didn't take advantage of those. It's football and we've got to go to work. It's another tough team coming in this week."
Â
On the Play of the Offensive Line and Running Game
"One thing we have to do, and it's a team effort -- I'm really careful in picking out a group or a guy -- but one thing we have to do better is establish the run. That's something we've been able to do the previous two years. We've got to do that and everybody has a piece of that action. We have to make sure we do a good job of giving ourselves a chance and an opportunity to run the football better. That's something we're going to concentrate heavily on (moving forward). In football you've always got to take what the defense gives you, but at times we're not executing and taking what they're giving us, so we have got to do a better job there."
Â
On Defensive Play Against North Texas
"Give [Mason] Fine credit. He's a really good little player and he makes plays, but I felt the first half we had the one busted coverage. North Texas has a good offense and a good quarterback, but I came in at halftime and thought we really were playing pretty well. I was really pleased. The score is 10-7, and it was kind of a crazy game because it's 10-7 and we take the ball in the third quarter to start. We take it down and shoot ourselves in the foot and then we miss a field goal. We stop them, get the ball back and take it down to first and goal at the eight. Then we turn the ball over and stop them again. Then we drive right back down the plus-side of the field and don't get any points again. That's when they made a play and we had a critical third-down error, which opened up a window there. You go through the game and it's a game with a lot of missed opportunities. It was a hard fought game till the end and we have to capitalize when we have those opportunities to make plays. We've got to put that dagger in at the end."
Â
On Playing Kwadra Griggs
"Kwadra has been through a lot. Before we played, just so you know, his mother passed away Saturday morning and that's tough on a young man. I wanted to give the young man an opportunity to get in and play. He's been battling and I'm praying daily for him, but he's a young man that went in there and he competed hard. Right now Jack [Abraham] is our starting quarterback, as of today and as of that game, but I felt like I wanted to give him an opportunity to get in there. I felt like he deserved that opportunity and it's been a tough week. It's a double tough day for Kwadra Griggs on Saturday. A lot of times kids have to battle through a lot of things, but that's the great thing about football and that's what it teaches us -- to keep battling and keep pressing on. Again, it'd been a tough road for him, so we just wanted to see if he could give us that spark."
Â
On Players of the Week
"Players of the week: defensively we had Sherrod Ruff, offensively was Jordan Mitchell and special teams we had Jacques Turner."
Â
On UTSAÂ
"They have our utmost respect and we know it's always a battle. When you play Conference USA football, every weekend's a war. That's just the way it is. They're a talented football team and they're a well-coached football team."
Â
More on UTSA
"They're pretty versatile. They have a lot of personnel groupings offensively, a lot of different formations defensively and they're very aggressive. It's a football team that makes you work."Â
Â
On Trivenskey MosleyÂ
"We like Trivenskey. A matter of fact, we had him in camp and we kind of fell in love with him the summer before his senior year. He's a young man that was explosive in high school and on tape. When you see him it's hard to believe he's a true freshman, but you see the potential that he has. He's got good vision, he's strong, he's a powerful back and he's got what you're looking for. I think he is going to be a really good football player and I'm excited about him."
Â
On Growth of Passing Game
"Jack's a very smart quarterback. He's very cerebral and throws the ball extremely well. Jack will be the first to admit when he makes his mistakes. He knows some things he's got to get better at, but Jack is developing at a great rate. You're seeing it every week that he's coming out better, but there are certainly a lot of things we've got to correct from Saturday. We need Jack to continue on that progression and he's throwing the ball really well. North Texas is one of the best defenses in the league and we're moving the ball up and down the field, but the object of football is to score."
Â
On Quez WatkinsÂ
"Quez has to be the big play guy. He has that ability. Quez is a talented guy that our offense needs to make big plays. We have a lot of receivers that can do things."Â
Â
The Golden Eagles and Roadrunners play at 6 p.m. CT at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ as well as be heard on one of the affiliates of the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network.
Here are some of things Hopson said during his news conference:
Opening Statement
"It was a tough loss. Certainly wasn't a fun day, but I thought there were times in the game and opportunities in the game where we had an opportunity, but didn't take advantage of those. It's football and we've got to go to work. It's another tough team coming in this week."
Â
On the Play of the Offensive Line and Running Game
"One thing we have to do, and it's a team effort -- I'm really careful in picking out a group or a guy -- but one thing we have to do better is establish the run. That's something we've been able to do the previous two years. We've got to do that and everybody has a piece of that action. We have to make sure we do a good job of giving ourselves a chance and an opportunity to run the football better. That's something we're going to concentrate heavily on (moving forward). In football you've always got to take what the defense gives you, but at times we're not executing and taking what they're giving us, so we have got to do a better job there."
Â
On Defensive Play Against North Texas
"Give [Mason] Fine credit. He's a really good little player and he makes plays, but I felt the first half we had the one busted coverage. North Texas has a good offense and a good quarterback, but I came in at halftime and thought we really were playing pretty well. I was really pleased. The score is 10-7, and it was kind of a crazy game because it's 10-7 and we take the ball in the third quarter to start. We take it down and shoot ourselves in the foot and then we miss a field goal. We stop them, get the ball back and take it down to first and goal at the eight. Then we turn the ball over and stop them again. Then we drive right back down the plus-side of the field and don't get any points again. That's when they made a play and we had a critical third-down error, which opened up a window there. You go through the game and it's a game with a lot of missed opportunities. It was a hard fought game till the end and we have to capitalize when we have those opportunities to make plays. We've got to put that dagger in at the end."
Â
On Playing Kwadra Griggs
"Kwadra has been through a lot. Before we played, just so you know, his mother passed away Saturday morning and that's tough on a young man. I wanted to give the young man an opportunity to get in and play. He's been battling and I'm praying daily for him, but he's a young man that went in there and he competed hard. Right now Jack [Abraham] is our starting quarterback, as of today and as of that game, but I felt like I wanted to give him an opportunity to get in there. I felt like he deserved that opportunity and it's been a tough week. It's a double tough day for Kwadra Griggs on Saturday. A lot of times kids have to battle through a lot of things, but that's the great thing about football and that's what it teaches us -- to keep battling and keep pressing on. Again, it'd been a tough road for him, so we just wanted to see if he could give us that spark."
Â
On Players of the Week
"Players of the week: defensively we had Sherrod Ruff, offensively was Jordan Mitchell and special teams we had Jacques Turner."
Â
On UTSAÂ
"They have our utmost respect and we know it's always a battle. When you play Conference USA football, every weekend's a war. That's just the way it is. They're a talented football team and they're a well-coached football team."
Â
More on UTSA
"They're pretty versatile. They have a lot of personnel groupings offensively, a lot of different formations defensively and they're very aggressive. It's a football team that makes you work."Â
Â
On Trivenskey MosleyÂ
"We like Trivenskey. A matter of fact, we had him in camp and we kind of fell in love with him the summer before his senior year. He's a young man that was explosive in high school and on tape. When you see him it's hard to believe he's a true freshman, but you see the potential that he has. He's got good vision, he's strong, he's a powerful back and he's got what you're looking for. I think he is going to be a really good football player and I'm excited about him."
Â
On Growth of Passing Game
"Jack's a very smart quarterback. He's very cerebral and throws the ball extremely well. Jack will be the first to admit when he makes his mistakes. He knows some things he's got to get better at, but Jack is developing at a great rate. You're seeing it every week that he's coming out better, but there are certainly a lot of things we've got to correct from Saturday. We need Jack to continue on that progression and he's throwing the ball really well. North Texas is one of the best defenses in the league and we're moving the ball up and down the field, but the object of football is to score."
Â
On Quez WatkinsÂ
"Quez has to be the big play guy. He has that ability. Quez is a talented guy that our offense needs to make big plays. We have a lot of receivers that can do things."Â
Â
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
WR
/ Football2026 National Signing Day Press Conference with Blake Anderson
Wednesday, February 04
Southern Miss 2026 National Signing Day
Wednesday, February 04
Christian Ostrander Preseason Press Conference
Monday, January 19
Blake Anderson Introductory Press Conference
Monday, December 15