University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Will Hall Media Availability – The Alcorn State Game
8/29/2023 11:39:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Third-year Southern Miss head football coach Will Hall met with members of the media following Tuesday's practice to discuss the upcoming home opener against Alcorn State game and other developments in the Golden Eagle program.
The Golden Eagles take on the Braves at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, at 6 p.m. at M.M. Roberts Stadium at Carlisle-Faulkner Field.
Season and single game tickets are available for purchase at SouthernMissTickets.com, by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or by visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office on campus.
Here is what Hall said to the media:
Opening Statement…
Beautiful day, man. I really thank the Good Lord for the rain over the last night and the past few days. This area needed it, everybody needed it. [It was] a little bit cooler today, but we appreciate the sunshine for practice. Great competition Tuesday. We reduced it a little bit because we've been game planning a long time for Alcorn, not too much, probably about 25 minutes. Great day, great competition. I thought our quarterbacks were particularly sharp today. That was good to see. We've got some young guys that continue to progress. I really like the growth of our young offensive lineman and our young tight ends. Defensively, I'm excited to watch those corners play this week. That's been a group that's been questioned and maligned all offseason, but they've got a lot of talent, and it's going to be interesting to watch them roll it out there against somebody else and play. Connor Gibbs (Place Kicker / Metairie, La. / Metairie Park Country Day School) was incredible with kickoffs today, we've got to keep that carrying throughout the week. Bryce [Lofton] (Place Kicker/Punter / Sand Hill, Miss. / Copiah-Lincoln CC) punted well and [Andrew] Stein (Place Kicker / Slidell, La. / Northshore HS) did good on extra point/field goals as well as the other kickers. It was all-in-all, a good day to be the head coach at Southern Miss. I can't think of anything bad. Everybody stayed healthy."
On how Alcorn State will play…
"They're going to be really fired up to play us. I know Coach [Fred] McNair well, I know their D-coordinator really well, Coach [Cedric] "Cat" Thomas, me and him go way back through the Mississippi JUCOs. I've just got a good friendship with him, a lot of trust built through recruiting through the years. They're going to be fired up to play here and play us. Their players are going to spill it—they play so hard on defense, they win with defense. They hit hard, they run to the ball. It's a deal where we feel like in the kicking game, we've got to really make some plays, but we know they're going to spill it. We think it's going to be a great atmosphere. I'm hoping The Rock is packed. We need get new pictures of The Rock being packed, and this is a great opportunity for us with an in-state rivalry right here. I think they're going to win their league, I really do, I think they're going to win the SWAC. They've won the SWAC several times over the last few years, they haven't in the past two, but I think with this team they have coming back, they're going to have a really good football team."
On Alcorn State Quarterback Tyler Macon…
"A dual-threat guy, that was highly recruited out of, I think East Saint Louis, Mo., that was at Missouri and you know is there. He presents a lot of problems. You've got to be able to tackle and get him down. You can't just throw hits on him, you've got to squeeze him and get him down, because he can really make plays with his feet, which is scary. They've got receivers that can really get behind you and make plays. They've got some other transfers there, like we talked out earlier in the week, that can get behind you. They take shots. They try to get it over your head. That's been a point of emphasis for us this offseason—is to minimize that. So, that's going to be a good matchup for the fans and everybody to look at is can they get behind us and can we keep them from getting behind us."
On game planning against a quarterback without a lot of tape… 2:54
"Our defensive staff knows his skill set, we've got friends at Missouri, you know what I mean, so we kind of know where he's from and what he did while he was there. Obviously, he was a big-time recruit. When you sign in the SEC, usually you've got something to you. We're prepared for what we think his skill set is based off his high school film and what we've heard."
On expectations for offense on Saturday… 3:27
"I want to see us be able to take what they give us. If they come in here and take the run away, I want to see us be highly efficient in the passing game. If they're going to play back and make us run it, I want to make sure we can hat it up and run the football. I think we're at the point in the program where we'd like to think that we can do whatever the other team wants us or allows us to do, we can take advantage of that. We certainly hope that we've got the ability to do that in game one."
On Davis Dalton's return to practice… 3:54
"Yea, he looked good didn't he? He [Davis Dalton] (Wide Receiver / Madison, Miss. / Madison-Ridgeland Academy) actually was back yesterday and ran around some in a light practice and was doing a little bit towards the end of last week, but he looked good today. I'm excited to have him back. He is a talented kid that played at a great high school program for Herbert Davis, who if y'all have been keeping up with has been battling illness. Herbert, we've been praying for you dude and we're fired up you're back rolling and back coaching and impacting people like you do. It's good to have Davis back, I think he's got a bright future for us."
On defensive backs' inexperience… 4:39
"They were all really talented and they were all highly-recruited kids, and generally, from a percentage perspective, highly-recruited kids become […] good players than not highly-recruited kids. It's not always that way. Ques McNeal (Ackerman, Miss. / Copiah-Lincoln CC) was a great player at Co-Lin. He was a great player at Choctaw County. The way he works, we think he's going to be a great player here. MJ Daniels (Lucedale, Miss. / Ole Miss) was a great player at George County. Played as a true freshman at Ole Miss. Played as a true sophomore. The way he's worked, I think he's going to be really good here. Then, [Brendan] Toles (Oxford, Miss. / Lafayette HS) and [Michael] Caraway (Bassfield, Miss. / Pearl River CC) were also highly-recruited kids. Toles was committed in the SEC for a long time. Caraway had SEC offers. They made good plays for us last year, so yes, we're inexperienced from a Sun Belt perspective, but it's good to have inexperienced guys that were highly [recruited] and have been in our program and are working really hard and are our type of kids. I don't think we could be in a better situation with an inexperienced crew than we are with them. Like I said, we're going to roll it out there and see how they compete. I know they're pushing each other and it's going to be fun to watch."
The Golden Eagles take on the Braves at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, at 6 p.m. at M.M. Roberts Stadium at Carlisle-Faulkner Field.
Season and single game tickets are available for purchase at SouthernMissTickets.com, by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or by visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office on campus.
Here is what Hall said to the media:
Opening Statement…
Beautiful day, man. I really thank the Good Lord for the rain over the last night and the past few days. This area needed it, everybody needed it. [It was] a little bit cooler today, but we appreciate the sunshine for practice. Great competition Tuesday. We reduced it a little bit because we've been game planning a long time for Alcorn, not too much, probably about 25 minutes. Great day, great competition. I thought our quarterbacks were particularly sharp today. That was good to see. We've got some young guys that continue to progress. I really like the growth of our young offensive lineman and our young tight ends. Defensively, I'm excited to watch those corners play this week. That's been a group that's been questioned and maligned all offseason, but they've got a lot of talent, and it's going to be interesting to watch them roll it out there against somebody else and play. Connor Gibbs (Place Kicker / Metairie, La. / Metairie Park Country Day School) was incredible with kickoffs today, we've got to keep that carrying throughout the week. Bryce [Lofton] (Place Kicker/Punter / Sand Hill, Miss. / Copiah-Lincoln CC) punted well and [Andrew] Stein (Place Kicker / Slidell, La. / Northshore HS) did good on extra point/field goals as well as the other kickers. It was all-in-all, a good day to be the head coach at Southern Miss. I can't think of anything bad. Everybody stayed healthy."
On how Alcorn State will play…
"They're going to be really fired up to play us. I know Coach [Fred] McNair well, I know their D-coordinator really well, Coach [Cedric] "Cat" Thomas, me and him go way back through the Mississippi JUCOs. I've just got a good friendship with him, a lot of trust built through recruiting through the years. They're going to be fired up to play here and play us. Their players are going to spill it—they play so hard on defense, they win with defense. They hit hard, they run to the ball. It's a deal where we feel like in the kicking game, we've got to really make some plays, but we know they're going to spill it. We think it's going to be a great atmosphere. I'm hoping The Rock is packed. We need get new pictures of The Rock being packed, and this is a great opportunity for us with an in-state rivalry right here. I think they're going to win their league, I really do, I think they're going to win the SWAC. They've won the SWAC several times over the last few years, they haven't in the past two, but I think with this team they have coming back, they're going to have a really good football team."
On Alcorn State Quarterback Tyler Macon…
"A dual-threat guy, that was highly recruited out of, I think East Saint Louis, Mo., that was at Missouri and you know is there. He presents a lot of problems. You've got to be able to tackle and get him down. You can't just throw hits on him, you've got to squeeze him and get him down, because he can really make plays with his feet, which is scary. They've got receivers that can really get behind you and make plays. They've got some other transfers there, like we talked out earlier in the week, that can get behind you. They take shots. They try to get it over your head. That's been a point of emphasis for us this offseason—is to minimize that. So, that's going to be a good matchup for the fans and everybody to look at is can they get behind us and can we keep them from getting behind us."
On game planning against a quarterback without a lot of tape… 2:54
"Our defensive staff knows his skill set, we've got friends at Missouri, you know what I mean, so we kind of know where he's from and what he did while he was there. Obviously, he was a big-time recruit. When you sign in the SEC, usually you've got something to you. We're prepared for what we think his skill set is based off his high school film and what we've heard."
On expectations for offense on Saturday… 3:27
"I want to see us be able to take what they give us. If they come in here and take the run away, I want to see us be highly efficient in the passing game. If they're going to play back and make us run it, I want to make sure we can hat it up and run the football. I think we're at the point in the program where we'd like to think that we can do whatever the other team wants us or allows us to do, we can take advantage of that. We certainly hope that we've got the ability to do that in game one."
On Davis Dalton's return to practice… 3:54
"Yea, he looked good didn't he? He [Davis Dalton] (Wide Receiver / Madison, Miss. / Madison-Ridgeland Academy) actually was back yesterday and ran around some in a light practice and was doing a little bit towards the end of last week, but he looked good today. I'm excited to have him back. He is a talented kid that played at a great high school program for Herbert Davis, who if y'all have been keeping up with has been battling illness. Herbert, we've been praying for you dude and we're fired up you're back rolling and back coaching and impacting people like you do. It's good to have Davis back, I think he's got a bright future for us."
On defensive backs' inexperience… 4:39
"They were all really talented and they were all highly-recruited kids, and generally, from a percentage perspective, highly-recruited kids become […] good players than not highly-recruited kids. It's not always that way. Ques McNeal (Ackerman, Miss. / Copiah-Lincoln CC) was a great player at Co-Lin. He was a great player at Choctaw County. The way he works, we think he's going to be a great player here. MJ Daniels (Lucedale, Miss. / Ole Miss) was a great player at George County. Played as a true freshman at Ole Miss. Played as a true sophomore. The way he's worked, I think he's going to be really good here. Then, [Brendan] Toles (Oxford, Miss. / Lafayette HS) and [Michael] Caraway (Bassfield, Miss. / Pearl River CC) were also highly-recruited kids. Toles was committed in the SEC for a long time. Caraway had SEC offers. They made good plays for us last year, so yes, we're inexperienced from a Sun Belt perspective, but it's good to have inexperienced guys that were highly [recruited] and have been in our program and are working really hard and are our type of kids. I don't think we could be in a better situation with an inexperienced crew than we are with them. Like I said, we're going to roll it out there and see how they compete. I know they're pushing each other and it's going to be fun to watch."
– @SouthernMissFB | @USMGoldenEagles –
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