University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Will Hall Media Availability – The USF Game
9/10/2024 11:48:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Golden Eagle football coach Will Hall spoke with members of the media following practice on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at the Joe P. Park Practice Field. Hall discussed Southern Miss' win over Southeastern and the upcoming game against USF.
Southern Miss (1-1) hosts USF (1-1) for the first meeting between the two programs since 2004. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 14, at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. Fans can take in the broadcast on ESPN+ with Jason Baker and Austin Davis providing commentary or tune in to Rock 104.5 FM, Southern Miss' Flagship Station, to hear the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, and Lee Roberts on the Southern Miss Sports Network radio broadcast.
Fans wishing to attend Saturday's game can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425), by visiting SouthernMissTickets.com or by stopping by the Ticket Office in the Pat Ferlise Center on the corner of West 4th Street and Golden Eagle Avenue.
Here is what Hall said to the media:
Opening Statement
"[It was an] awesome day with good cloud cover. Lot of energy, lot of juice. We got a lot better at a lot of things. [We have] a big challenge this week. Everybody's counting us out, but I'll tell you what, we had a really good day today improving on some things we've got to improve on. I saw a lot of growth and a lot of character. I'm excited about playing this game this weekend at The Rock. It's going to be a big one. I hope our fans are excited, I know our players are. We're looking forward to it."
On which spots were open during today's competition Tuesday…
"Probably a lot of them, you know what I mean Glyn. Right tackle, some of the other O-line spots. We had some young guys play well in that game when they came in. Tight end, running back and then defensively we've got a lot of guys playing well right now but that generates competition too. It's good. Our kickoff cover team was really good, that's great to see and was a point of emphasis all offseason. It's good to see [graduate punter] Bryce Lofton (Sand Hill, Miss. / Copiah-Lincoln CC) – a lot of people don't know this but Bryce Lofton had the flu on Friday. That was his Michael Jordan flu game. He came back and played really well and I'm proud of him."
On team's practice plans for the rest of the week as Hurricane Francine makes landfall…
"We'll see. Before I came out here today it looked like Thursday morning we might be okay. Tomorrow, we have to go to the Payne Center if we can't go outside. Hopefully by Friday it's cleared up, but we'll adjust and move it around accordingly. We've had to do that a lot in the past, so we'll adjust and move to whatever we've got to do."
On USF's defense…
"It's their second year. They've really improved from year one to year two with their personnel. I think they had the number one recruiting class in the group of five. They've got a lot of size on the D-line. Middle linebacker plays extremely hard, they play really really hard and physical. A lot like we do. They get after it, so it's going to be a tremendous challenge for our offense. For us offensively, we're focusing on us. We've just got to do our job and keep growing with each other and getting that chemistry and that synergy. We were really a good offense in fall camp, versus a really good defense. We just hadn't played up to our level these first two weeks consistently – you see signs, like the touchdown to [junior tight end] Kyirin Heath (Mansfield, Texas / Ole Miss) and the long pass to [sophomore tight end] Justyn Reid (Newnan, Ga. / Newnan HS) and [redshirt sophomore wide receiver] Larry [Simmons] (Moss Point, Miss. / Ole Miss), the long run [with redshirt sophomore running back Kenyon Clay (Union, Miss. / Union HS). You see the explosive ability, we've just got to consistently do it over time and that's something we're working to do."
On junior USF quarterback Byrum Brown…
"Really good player. Has a lot straight line speed. If he gets out in the open he can take it to the house, but he's a big guy that's thick. He was the primary ball carrier 24 times last week against Alabama. Everything runs through him. For our fans, it'll remind them maybe of Tim Tebow at Florida where everything runs through him. He's a bigger guy, 230-plus pounds. He can make you miss, but he's more a downhill, thick, physical runner that if he gets out in the open, he can run away from you. I've got a lot of respect for him because of his toughness. You can tell their team feeds off of that. They really protect him. He took a lot of hits last week at [Alabama] and kept playing. He's one of the better players that we've played since we've been here."
On the run game's outside zone plays against Southeastern…
"Outside zone is something that is newer for us this year. It's not something we've majored in in the past, we're majoring in it now. We were reaching the defensive end, a lot, which hasn't happened to us much in live reps. We don't reach our ends very much, we didn't reach Kentucky much, then all of a sudden we're reaching those ends which means the back should hit it outside. The back was still cutting it back inside even though the tackle was reaching him, so a lot of those runs that looked so bad were on the back. There were times when we could block better. There were times our tight end let us down. We've just got to shore all that up and we can. We're young and new at tight end, but that's not an excuse. We've played really well through fall camp versus a good defense and these backs are experienced and they can play. They take that to heart. They know they left a lot of yards out there. We had some spots on the O-line where we played good. We didn't play good at right tackle, that's something that those kids will take pride in and are working hard to play better this week. I expect us to play much cleaner this week."
On injury status of redshirt sophomore safety Elijah Sabbatini (Biloxi, Miss. / Ole Miss) and graduate wide receiver Dannis Jackson (Moss Point, Miss. / Missouri)…
"They're coming along. They look good. They'll be back soon, soon might be this week, it might not. I'm not going to give that away just because I don't want to hurt or help us or whatever against South Florida, but Southern Miss fans can expect to see them soon."
Southern Miss (1-1) hosts USF (1-1) for the first meeting between the two programs since 2004. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 14, at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. Fans can take in the broadcast on ESPN+ with Jason Baker and Austin Davis providing commentary or tune in to Rock 104.5 FM, Southern Miss' Flagship Station, to hear the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, and Lee Roberts on the Southern Miss Sports Network radio broadcast.
Fans wishing to attend Saturday's game can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425), by visiting SouthernMissTickets.com or by stopping by the Ticket Office in the Pat Ferlise Center on the corner of West 4th Street and Golden Eagle Avenue.
Here is what Hall said to the media:
Opening Statement
"[It was an] awesome day with good cloud cover. Lot of energy, lot of juice. We got a lot better at a lot of things. [We have] a big challenge this week. Everybody's counting us out, but I'll tell you what, we had a really good day today improving on some things we've got to improve on. I saw a lot of growth and a lot of character. I'm excited about playing this game this weekend at The Rock. It's going to be a big one. I hope our fans are excited, I know our players are. We're looking forward to it."
On which spots were open during today's competition Tuesday…
"Probably a lot of them, you know what I mean Glyn. Right tackle, some of the other O-line spots. We had some young guys play well in that game when they came in. Tight end, running back and then defensively we've got a lot of guys playing well right now but that generates competition too. It's good. Our kickoff cover team was really good, that's great to see and was a point of emphasis all offseason. It's good to see [graduate punter] Bryce Lofton (Sand Hill, Miss. / Copiah-Lincoln CC) – a lot of people don't know this but Bryce Lofton had the flu on Friday. That was his Michael Jordan flu game. He came back and played really well and I'm proud of him."
On team's practice plans for the rest of the week as Hurricane Francine makes landfall…
"We'll see. Before I came out here today it looked like Thursday morning we might be okay. Tomorrow, we have to go to the Payne Center if we can't go outside. Hopefully by Friday it's cleared up, but we'll adjust and move it around accordingly. We've had to do that a lot in the past, so we'll adjust and move to whatever we've got to do."
On USF's defense…
"It's their second year. They've really improved from year one to year two with their personnel. I think they had the number one recruiting class in the group of five. They've got a lot of size on the D-line. Middle linebacker plays extremely hard, they play really really hard and physical. A lot like we do. They get after it, so it's going to be a tremendous challenge for our offense. For us offensively, we're focusing on us. We've just got to do our job and keep growing with each other and getting that chemistry and that synergy. We were really a good offense in fall camp, versus a really good defense. We just hadn't played up to our level these first two weeks consistently – you see signs, like the touchdown to [junior tight end] Kyirin Heath (Mansfield, Texas / Ole Miss) and the long pass to [sophomore tight end] Justyn Reid (Newnan, Ga. / Newnan HS) and [redshirt sophomore wide receiver] Larry [Simmons] (Moss Point, Miss. / Ole Miss), the long run [with redshirt sophomore running back Kenyon Clay (Union, Miss. / Union HS). You see the explosive ability, we've just got to consistently do it over time and that's something we're working to do."
On junior USF quarterback Byrum Brown…
"Really good player. Has a lot straight line speed. If he gets out in the open he can take it to the house, but he's a big guy that's thick. He was the primary ball carrier 24 times last week against Alabama. Everything runs through him. For our fans, it'll remind them maybe of Tim Tebow at Florida where everything runs through him. He's a bigger guy, 230-plus pounds. He can make you miss, but he's more a downhill, thick, physical runner that if he gets out in the open, he can run away from you. I've got a lot of respect for him because of his toughness. You can tell their team feeds off of that. They really protect him. He took a lot of hits last week at [Alabama] and kept playing. He's one of the better players that we've played since we've been here."
On the run game's outside zone plays against Southeastern…
"Outside zone is something that is newer for us this year. It's not something we've majored in in the past, we're majoring in it now. We were reaching the defensive end, a lot, which hasn't happened to us much in live reps. We don't reach our ends very much, we didn't reach Kentucky much, then all of a sudden we're reaching those ends which means the back should hit it outside. The back was still cutting it back inside even though the tackle was reaching him, so a lot of those runs that looked so bad were on the back. There were times when we could block better. There were times our tight end let us down. We've just got to shore all that up and we can. We're young and new at tight end, but that's not an excuse. We've played really well through fall camp versus a good defense and these backs are experienced and they can play. They take that to heart. They know they left a lot of yards out there. We had some spots on the O-line where we played good. We didn't play good at right tackle, that's something that those kids will take pride in and are working hard to play better this week. I expect us to play much cleaner this week."
On injury status of redshirt sophomore safety Elijah Sabbatini (Biloxi, Miss. / Ole Miss) and graduate wide receiver Dannis Jackson (Moss Point, Miss. / Missouri)…
"They're coming along. They look good. They'll be back soon, soon might be this week, it might not. I'm not going to give that away just because I don't want to hurt or help us or whatever against South Florida, but Southern Miss fans can expect to see them soon."
– #SMTTT –
Players Mentioned
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