Will Hall Media Availability – The Jacksonville State Game
9/17/2024 11:42:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss head football coach Will Hall speaks with members of the media following practice at the Joe P. Park Practice Facility on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Hall discussed the Golden Eagles' most recent game against South Florida and previewed the upcoming match up against Jacksonville State.
Kickoff for the first-ever meeting between Southern Miss (1-2) and Jacksonville State (0-3) on the gridiron is set for 2 p.m. at the Gamecocks' AmFirst Stadium. Fans wishing to attend the game can call the Southern Miss Ticket Office at 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.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and produced by Jacksonville State. The Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, and Lee Roberts will have a radio production as well on the Southern Miss Sports Network. Fans can tune in beginning at 12:30 p.m. for the pregame show and countdown to kickoff.
Here is what Hall said to the media:
Opening Statement…
"Great Tuesday with beautiful weather. It got a little bit back hot for us today, which is good because the sun is going to be out this weekend playing a two o'clock game, which we're pumped about. We've got a tremendous test this weekend with Jacksonville [State]. They're 0-3, we're 1-2. We're both very similar from the standpoint that we're probably a lot better football team than our record shows. We're both hungry for a win. They've lost to Coastal [Carolina] who's got a good football team. They lost on the road to a team that's been to five straight bowl games in Eastern Michigan, they lost in overtime. And they got beat by a great football team in Louisville that played for a conference title last year. So, we know we've got our work cut out for us, but we're excited about it and we're excited to continue to grow this week and keep getting better. We want to reach the standard. All these kids do. I think we got better today and I'm looking forward to coaching them again this week."
On offensive errors against South Florida…
"We moved the ball better on them that probably anybody has in their last five games. I was pleased to see the explosiveness and really really pleased at how our passing game is coming along. That was a point of emphasis the offseason. We had eight runs of seven yards or more. We had 12 runs of two yards or less. We're kind of feast or famine right now. We need more dirty runs – more three-to-six-yard runs. But, the big thing was just the self-inflicted wounds on the turnovers and in the red zone. That's where the game swung. If we don't fumble on the third drive of the game, we're fixing to go back up two scores. If we score in the red zone, we're either tied or it's a one-score game in the end. So, our deal is that we're at the point now in our program where we can play with anybody. We've shown that in our two losses. We've played two good teams. We can play with them, we've got to quit hurting ourselves and we've got to fix that and obviously that's something we're working on."
On the importance of 'staying on schedule' on first and second down…
"The big thing for us was just to score in the red zone. It just depends on how the games going. That was a game where we needed to score, so we were making explosive plays. If you're making explosive plays, you don't have to get to a lot of third downs. The deal for us was just to execute in the red zone and not fumble this past week. There's some games where we may need to be on schedule, Dima, and move the ball methodically that way, but we want to be an explosive team. That's kind of what we changed to and what we want to be, but we can't shoot ourselves in the foot. Whether that's a missed assignment that causes a negative, whether that's a fumble which is inexcusable, or it's not making it happen in the red zone."
On assessing Andrew Stein and Connor Gibbs at place kicker…
"Just compete. Put them in position to compete, which we do every day, you know that, and they did today. We kicked eight kicks today, four of them were live and they kick with [special teams coordinator] Coach [Greg] Meyer. Just practice and compete and keep doing that."
On players potentially returning from injury this week…
"[Graduate wide receiver] Dannis [Jackson] (Moss Point, Miss. / Missouri) was out there today, so that's good. We [haven't] got many people out, so that's good, but Dannis was back out there today. I expect he'll play. I expect he'll play. It depends on what our substitutions are and all that. Those other guys are playing pretty good too."
On Jacksonville State…
"The quarterback is a good player, [Tyler] Huff, really makes them go. [Head] coach [Rich] Rodriguez always has built it on a running quarterback. They won nine games last year. They won a bowl game – they beat Louisiana in a bowl game. So, a proud program with a lot of tradition and a coach that's got a lot of history and tradition. Coach [Rick] Trickett, their offensive line coach, I've known him since I was a little kid. They're a great staff and they're going to be hungry for a win so it's going to be a tremendous test for us."
On Jacksonville State's defense…
"They mix it up. Over the first three games, they've show a lot of different looks. They're either wanting to show a lot of different looks or they're trying to find themselves, one of the two. Mostly three-down front. A lot of different pressure packages. They want to make you play left handed and try and take away what you do best."
On his four-touchdown performance against Jacksonville State as a player…
"Yea, I think I was national player of the week. That got us going that year. They ended up winning their FCS conference and going to the playoffs and we beat them and of course went undefeated and had a great year. I think that's the last time I've been to that stadium. That was a fun night, though."
Kickoff for the first-ever meeting between Southern Miss (1-2) and Jacksonville State (0-3) on the gridiron is set for 2 p.m. at the Gamecocks' AmFirst Stadium. Fans wishing to attend the game can call the Southern Miss Ticket Office at 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.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and produced by Jacksonville State. The Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, and Lee Roberts will have a radio production as well on the Southern Miss Sports Network. Fans can tune in beginning at 12:30 p.m. for the pregame show and countdown to kickoff.
Here is what Hall said to the media:
Opening Statement…
"Great Tuesday with beautiful weather. It got a little bit back hot for us today, which is good because the sun is going to be out this weekend playing a two o'clock game, which we're pumped about. We've got a tremendous test this weekend with Jacksonville [State]. They're 0-3, we're 1-2. We're both very similar from the standpoint that we're probably a lot better football team than our record shows. We're both hungry for a win. They've lost to Coastal [Carolina] who's got a good football team. They lost on the road to a team that's been to five straight bowl games in Eastern Michigan, they lost in overtime. And they got beat by a great football team in Louisville that played for a conference title last year. So, we know we've got our work cut out for us, but we're excited about it and we're excited to continue to grow this week and keep getting better. We want to reach the standard. All these kids do. I think we got better today and I'm looking forward to coaching them again this week."
On offensive errors against South Florida…
"We moved the ball better on them that probably anybody has in their last five games. I was pleased to see the explosiveness and really really pleased at how our passing game is coming along. That was a point of emphasis the offseason. We had eight runs of seven yards or more. We had 12 runs of two yards or less. We're kind of feast or famine right now. We need more dirty runs – more three-to-six-yard runs. But, the big thing was just the self-inflicted wounds on the turnovers and in the red zone. That's where the game swung. If we don't fumble on the third drive of the game, we're fixing to go back up two scores. If we score in the red zone, we're either tied or it's a one-score game in the end. So, our deal is that we're at the point now in our program where we can play with anybody. We've shown that in our two losses. We've played two good teams. We can play with them, we've got to quit hurting ourselves and we've got to fix that and obviously that's something we're working on."
On the importance of 'staying on schedule' on first and second down…
"The big thing for us was just to score in the red zone. It just depends on how the games going. That was a game where we needed to score, so we were making explosive plays. If you're making explosive plays, you don't have to get to a lot of third downs. The deal for us was just to execute in the red zone and not fumble this past week. There's some games where we may need to be on schedule, Dima, and move the ball methodically that way, but we want to be an explosive team. That's kind of what we changed to and what we want to be, but we can't shoot ourselves in the foot. Whether that's a missed assignment that causes a negative, whether that's a fumble which is inexcusable, or it's not making it happen in the red zone."
On assessing Andrew Stein and Connor Gibbs at place kicker…
"Just compete. Put them in position to compete, which we do every day, you know that, and they did today. We kicked eight kicks today, four of them were live and they kick with [special teams coordinator] Coach [Greg] Meyer. Just practice and compete and keep doing that."
On players potentially returning from injury this week…
"[Graduate wide receiver] Dannis [Jackson] (Moss Point, Miss. / Missouri) was out there today, so that's good. We [haven't] got many people out, so that's good, but Dannis was back out there today. I expect he'll play. I expect he'll play. It depends on what our substitutions are and all that. Those other guys are playing pretty good too."
On Jacksonville State…
"The quarterback is a good player, [Tyler] Huff, really makes them go. [Head] coach [Rich] Rodriguez always has built it on a running quarterback. They won nine games last year. They won a bowl game – they beat Louisiana in a bowl game. So, a proud program with a lot of tradition and a coach that's got a lot of history and tradition. Coach [Rick] Trickett, their offensive line coach, I've known him since I was a little kid. They're a great staff and they're going to be hungry for a win so it's going to be a tremendous test for us."
On Jacksonville State's defense…
"They mix it up. Over the first three games, they've show a lot of different looks. They're either wanting to show a lot of different looks or they're trying to find themselves, one of the two. Mostly three-down front. A lot of different pressure packages. They want to make you play left handed and try and take away what you do best."
On his four-touchdown performance against Jacksonville State as a player…
"Yea, I think I was national player of the week. That got us going that year. They ended up winning their FCS conference and going to the playoffs and we beat them and of course went undefeated and had a great year. I think that's the last time I've been to that stadium. That was a fun night, though."
– #SMTTT –
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