University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Photo by: Joe Harper
Football Coach Jay Hopson Media Conference – UAB Week
11/4/2019 2:49:00 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 key Conference USA West Division home game versus UAB (6-2, 3-1), as well as review the team's win over Rice two weekends ago.
The UAB contest takes place this Saturday, at 2:30 p.m., from Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. It can be seen on the NFL Network 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…
"We've have another tough Conference USA opponent coming up. UAB is a team that we certainly respect. They are a talented team and they are well coached. I know that I am a worn out record, but UAB is another good team that we have to prepare for."
On what the Golden Eagles focused on during the bye week…
"We started off working on our fundamentals, making sure that we get better there. We also focused on things that we haven't done as well and getting better there and then moved on and started preparing for the next opponent. Both open date weeks have been good. I like the open date schedule. That certainly is probably a plus and what we have done getting the two bye weeks. Again, it is the first time that we have ever done it but I like it."
On what he expects from UAB…
"They are a well-balanced football team. They can run the ball and they can throw the ball. Again, they are a team that is very diverse with multiple schematics. We know that they are a team that will make you work defensively. They are a balanced team that is always tough on a defense."
On the mindset of the team…
"This is the start of our third season (in 2019 after a pair of open weeks). We are now starting our third season and it is the most important part since you have to finish strong in football. November is a critical month for us and our guys understand that we have four tough challenges and we know that the only one that matters right now is the first one. UAB is a football team that beat us last year and they have our utmost respect. We know that we have to prepare hard and we have to bring our A game."
On the running back unit…
"We are getting healthy and that helps. I am hoping that one or two guys get back in the mix soon. I am hoping the open date week has helped us there. We will find out a lot today. Knock on wood, hopefully we are getting as close to full strength as you can be going into the final stretch."
Hopson on the Southern Miss Players of the Week (at Rice)
Special Teams – Terry Whittington
Defensive – Jacques Turner
Offensive – Kevin Perkins
On what Whittington did to earn Special Teams Player of the Week…
"He has been good in our coverage units. He's been good in our coverage units back-to-back week so we that to continue for sure."
On the team's performance against Rice…
"Rice is that football team in which their wins are coming. I said earlier that I thought our schedule might be the toughest in the group of five, but they (Rice) have a strong argument as well. They might not have played Alabama and Mississippi State, but Wake Forest is having a great year, Texas is Texas, and Baylor is undefeated. They faced Army and Army is a real good football team, and that was their kind of easy non-conference game. Every game that Rice has played in conference has been down to the wire. I have said it and I will say it again, Rice is a really good football team. Somebody was telling me that they (Rice) had Marshall 7-3 and then Marshall got up 17-7 and then the final score was 20-7. I did not get a chance to watch the game but it looked like that was another dog fight down there and Marshall is a team that we know the type of football team that they have. Marshall is a really good football team too."
On being able to recruit during the bye week…
"We had the chance to do some recruiting. We feel good with where we are at. We will not have as big of a class this year as we have had in the past, so we will be a little bit more selective on some things. We like where we are at."
On Southern Miss being one game away from bowl eligibility…
"Anytime you are playing game for bowl eligibility it is important, it is very important. You just have to concentrate on the next game though. We will count these poker chips up at the end, we have to handle it week to week but I think that is certainly an incentive each and every week to play for."
On Southern Miss coming off of a bye week…
"This team each and every week has plenty of confidence, we just know we have to play good football teams. This week is no exception. When you play good football teams you have to prepare well and you have to play well. I really feel that most weeks we have come out and prepared well and played well. Unfortunately, about two weeks ago we laid the ball on the ground four or five times and if you play a good football team, you are not going to win when that happens. You just cannot do that against football teams. I feel like every week, they go to work. We understand that in this conference that there are going to be a lot of winning teams in our conference and a lot of teams that are bowl eligible. We know that we have battles every week and we have to prepare hard and we have to play hard, that is our journey that is what we have to do."
The UAB contest takes place this Saturday, at 2:30 p.m., from Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. It can be seen on the NFL Network 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…
"We've have another tough Conference USA opponent coming up. UAB is a team that we certainly respect. They are a talented team and they are well coached. I know that I am a worn out record, but UAB is another good team that we have to prepare for."
On what the Golden Eagles focused on during the bye week…
"We started off working on our fundamentals, making sure that we get better there. We also focused on things that we haven't done as well and getting better there and then moved on and started preparing for the next opponent. Both open date weeks have been good. I like the open date schedule. That certainly is probably a plus and what we have done getting the two bye weeks. Again, it is the first time that we have ever done it but I like it."
On what he expects from UAB…
"They are a well-balanced football team. They can run the ball and they can throw the ball. Again, they are a team that is very diverse with multiple schematics. We know that they are a team that will make you work defensively. They are a balanced team that is always tough on a defense."
On the mindset of the team…
"This is the start of our third season (in 2019 after a pair of open weeks). We are now starting our third season and it is the most important part since you have to finish strong in football. November is a critical month for us and our guys understand that we have four tough challenges and we know that the only one that matters right now is the first one. UAB is a football team that beat us last year and they have our utmost respect. We know that we have to prepare hard and we have to bring our A game."
On the running back unit…
"We are getting healthy and that helps. I am hoping that one or two guys get back in the mix soon. I am hoping the open date week has helped us there. We will find out a lot today. Knock on wood, hopefully we are getting as close to full strength as you can be going into the final stretch."
Hopson on the Southern Miss Players of the Week (at Rice)
Special Teams – Terry Whittington
Defensive – Jacques Turner
Offensive – Kevin Perkins
On what Whittington did to earn Special Teams Player of the Week…
"He has been good in our coverage units. He's been good in our coverage units back-to-back week so we that to continue for sure."
On the team's performance against Rice…
"Rice is that football team in which their wins are coming. I said earlier that I thought our schedule might be the toughest in the group of five, but they (Rice) have a strong argument as well. They might not have played Alabama and Mississippi State, but Wake Forest is having a great year, Texas is Texas, and Baylor is undefeated. They faced Army and Army is a real good football team, and that was their kind of easy non-conference game. Every game that Rice has played in conference has been down to the wire. I have said it and I will say it again, Rice is a really good football team. Somebody was telling me that they (Rice) had Marshall 7-3 and then Marshall got up 17-7 and then the final score was 20-7. I did not get a chance to watch the game but it looked like that was another dog fight down there and Marshall is a team that we know the type of football team that they have. Marshall is a really good football team too."
On being able to recruit during the bye week…
"We had the chance to do some recruiting. We feel good with where we are at. We will not have as big of a class this year as we have had in the past, so we will be a little bit more selective on some things. We like where we are at."
On Southern Miss being one game away from bowl eligibility…
"Anytime you are playing game for bowl eligibility it is important, it is very important. You just have to concentrate on the next game though. We will count these poker chips up at the end, we have to handle it week to week but I think that is certainly an incentive each and every week to play for."
On Southern Miss coming off of a bye week…
"This team each and every week has plenty of confidence, we just know we have to play good football teams. This week is no exception. When you play good football teams you have to prepare well and you have to play well. I really feel that most weeks we have come out and prepared well and played well. Unfortunately, about two weeks ago we laid the ball on the ground four or five times and if you play a good football team, you are not going to win when that happens. You just cannot do that against football teams. I feel like every week, they go to work. We understand that in this conference that there are going to be a lot of winning teams in our conference and a lot of teams that are bowl eligible. We know that we have battles every week and we have to prepare hard and we have to play hard, that is our journey that is what we have to do."
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