University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Photo by: Joe Harper
Jay Hopson Media Conference – Rice Week
10/21/2019 2:17:00 PM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss football coach Jay Hopson met with the media Monday morning in the Duff Athletic Center to discuss this week's Conference USA West Division road game at Rice (0-7, 0-3), as well as review the team's loss at Louisiana Tech last Saturday.
This Rice game takes place this Saturday, at 12 p.m., from Houston. It can be seen on ESPN+ as well as be heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.
Here is some of what Hopson said to the media on Monday:
Opening statement…
"Tough loss (last Saturday). Like I said in the postgame interview, give Louisiana Tech credit. We had our chances. We knew it would be a 60-minute game and it was, we just had too many missed executions. We have to hold onto the football and we have to play assignment football, offensively, defensively and special teams wise. You cannot have missed executions against a good football team and be successful. Those are things that we have to correct. I thought we had a lot of fight and that the guys played hard. We just have to clean up some execution deals."
On the momentum swing that Louisiana Tech benefited from by scoring right before halftime…
"Let me tell you something, the score was 21-17, and we have the ball on about the 10 or 15 yard-line and they hold us there. Give them credit, we kicked the field goal, then we get the ball right back on a turnover on the 15 again and we get another field goal. If we are able to stick it in the end zone a couple of times there, now instead of 27-17, it's 35-17, then we have them third and 10 on the minus six, thinking that we might get the ball back at midfield with about 1:50 to go and third and 10. We had about a two or three minute window in the second quarter where if we had been able to score a couple of touchdowns and get the ball back on the plus side of the field, we could have been looking at a 42-17 or 38-17 halftime advantage. Instead, it was 27-24, but again, you have to give Louisiana Tech credit because they made the plays, and at times, we did not make the plays down in the compete zone. That three-minute stretch right before halftime was a critical stretch where we just did not take advantage of the opportunities that we had."
On the offensive line…
"We'll be OK. We're getting healthier and healthier, so we just have to keep chopping wood. We know we have a big game this week and we know Rice is another tough Conference USA opponent. It's an extremely well-coached football team. They took Louisiana Tech to overtime two weeks ago and had a nail biter last week. We understand who we're playing against. Up front, we're OK health-wise."
On Rice's offensive personnel groupings…
"They give you numerous personnel groupings. They run 21, 22, 10, and 11. They're a diverse football team. They give you a lot to prepare for."
On Rice…
"They've had a tough schedule and a tough non-conference schedule. Again, we understand we're playing a good football team. They just took the team we got beat by to overtime. Trust me, Rice has our complete and total respect."
On Jack Abraham's mentality against LA Tech…
" It's a team effort, not one guy making a mistake. Sometimes it's up front, sometimes it's receivers, sometimes it is the quarterback, but as a head coach, it's my mistake. At the end of the day, we had some missed executions offensively. We got it down there and they ran one back for a touchdown. Then we got down in the end zone and we threw [an interception]. I'll always say, and I said it last week and everybody probably thought it was coaching cliché, but we have to execute. Saturday, those were things we didn't do. We have to be sharper this week."
This Rice game takes place this Saturday, at 12 p.m., from Houston. It can be seen on ESPN+ as well as be heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.
Here is some of what Hopson said to the media on Monday:
Opening statement…
"Tough loss (last Saturday). Like I said in the postgame interview, give Louisiana Tech credit. We had our chances. We knew it would be a 60-minute game and it was, we just had too many missed executions. We have to hold onto the football and we have to play assignment football, offensively, defensively and special teams wise. You cannot have missed executions against a good football team and be successful. Those are things that we have to correct. I thought we had a lot of fight and that the guys played hard. We just have to clean up some execution deals."
On the momentum swing that Louisiana Tech benefited from by scoring right before halftime…
"Let me tell you something, the score was 21-17, and we have the ball on about the 10 or 15 yard-line and they hold us there. Give them credit, we kicked the field goal, then we get the ball right back on a turnover on the 15 again and we get another field goal. If we are able to stick it in the end zone a couple of times there, now instead of 27-17, it's 35-17, then we have them third and 10 on the minus six, thinking that we might get the ball back at midfield with about 1:50 to go and third and 10. We had about a two or three minute window in the second quarter where if we had been able to score a couple of touchdowns and get the ball back on the plus side of the field, we could have been looking at a 42-17 or 38-17 halftime advantage. Instead, it was 27-24, but again, you have to give Louisiana Tech credit because they made the plays, and at times, we did not make the plays down in the compete zone. That three-minute stretch right before halftime was a critical stretch where we just did not take advantage of the opportunities that we had."
On the offensive line…
"We'll be OK. We're getting healthier and healthier, so we just have to keep chopping wood. We know we have a big game this week and we know Rice is another tough Conference USA opponent. It's an extremely well-coached football team. They took Louisiana Tech to overtime two weeks ago and had a nail biter last week. We understand who we're playing against. Up front, we're OK health-wise."
On Rice's offensive personnel groupings…
"They give you numerous personnel groupings. They run 21, 22, 10, and 11. They're a diverse football team. They give you a lot to prepare for."
On Rice…
"They've had a tough schedule and a tough non-conference schedule. Again, we understand we're playing a good football team. They just took the team we got beat by to overtime. Trust me, Rice has our complete and total respect."
On Jack Abraham's mentality against LA Tech…
" It's a team effort, not one guy making a mistake. Sometimes it's up front, sometimes it's receivers, sometimes it is the quarterback, but as a head coach, it's my mistake. At the end of the day, we had some missed executions offensively. We got it down there and they ran one back for a touchdown. Then we got down in the end zone and we threw [an interception]. I'll always say, and I said it last week and everybody probably thought it was coaching cliché, but we have to execute. Saturday, those were things we didn't do. We have to be sharper this week."
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