University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
10/26/2026 2:44:00 PM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss football coach Blake Anderson addressed the media on Monday, Oct. 26, in the Duff Athletic Center ahead of the Golden Eagles' road Sun Belt contest this Saturday at ULM. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m., in Monroe.
Southern Miss (2-5 overall, 1-2 Sun Belt) looks to win its second-straight game when they meet the Warhawks (1-6, 1-2).
On the call for ESPN+ will be Sean Fox (Play-by-Play) and Desmund Lighten (Analyst), while the Southern Miss Sports Network's radio pregame show begins at 1 p.m. with the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, analyst Lee Roberts and sideline reporter Jason Baker on the call.
Here is what Anderson had to say to the media Monday morning:
Blake Anderson opening statement:
"Obviously, it feels better coming in here on a Monday after a win. Really proud of the guys. I said that Saturday night. Go back and watch the tape, and I'm probably most proud of how they finished. We got ourselves in position with Tulane and didn't do well in the fourth quarter. We let one slip away. It felt like we had a similar type of game going here, and when we were put in that position late, all three phases made plays when we needed to win a good, tough, hard-fought, physical game. I'm probably even more proud of how they've responded over the course of the last month. It's been really hard. It's a challenge to come to work every day and keep working on getting better, even though you're not seeing immediate results. The results we've been seeing are hard to come by. You have to really dig for them, but they've been coming, and you saw that Saturday night. It was the most complete game we've played, still far from perfect. There's a ton to fix. We still have a long way to go to grow up and be the team we need to be, but it was good to get a win in that process. It was a hard-fought win against a good team in a tough circumstance; with adversity, we had to fight through. I'm hoping it'll be a catalyst for growth and give us some energy to keep fighting, pushing forward, working and growing up. I'd like to think it puts us in a position to get some more (wins) down the stretch. This would be a great week to do that, with a tough road game. I'm beyond proud. Thank you to everybody who came out. You can feel the energy in the crowd. I know if we keep playing and play better and better, it'll fill up. But I appreciate the folks who came and the support we've been getting. It is felt. It is needed. You could hear it and feel it, especially in the fourth quarter, from everybody who stayed. Hopefully they'll come back.
Q: We talked in the summer about all the newness out there. You hoped that in November the routine would look considerably different than it might have in September or October. You're kind of starting to see some of that come to fruition.
"Yeah, I think so. We're growing up. It's hard to see at times. We still make a lot of mistakes. There's no expiration date on growing up immature, inexperienced guys. We made a few less this week than we made in previous weeks. We got all three phases working together in complementary fashion, maybe for only the second time all year. We did it a little bit against Tulane, but couldn't finish. We weren't ready to finish. We're growing up one mistake at a time—truly, one opportunity at a time. I hope this speeds up, and I hope we see evidence of this week in and week out as we finish. There's still a lot of ball left to be played. I hope we're a much better team another month from now than we are now. That's the goal. We talk about "one degree better" all the time. Just continue to improve. I think the guys are trying to do that at a high level; it's just hard. It's difficult to get experience quickly. It takes one opportunity, one mistake at a time. That's a slow and very frustrating process for everybody: fans, players, coaches, everybody involved."
Q: Coach, according to (Pro Football Network), your offensive line had the top grade in week 8 out of any other unit. Can you talk about their development to this point?
"Yeah, it's been slow and steady. The cool thing about Saturday is that we had basically two starters out, and guys were thrown into starting roles who hadn't been before. To be able to rush for almost 300 yards against a defense that's been really hard to run the ball against—you can see it took everybody: offensive line, tight ends, running backs, good scheme. It took everybody. As I said, there are still a lot of gaps and holes that need to be fixed. But we finished physically. We played violently. We moved the front at times better than we have at any point. I'm super proud of what they did because they made it difficult to throw, with how they were playing coverage-wise. It was not a great day throwing and catching, but we picked up the slack. Anytime you run the ball like that, you have a chance to win. We didn't turn it over, and we ran the ball well. That's a recipe to be in games and have chances to win. I'm super proud of those guys, and hopefully we'll get someone back, too."
Q: Watching Coach Dez's interview after the game, he talked about coming off that huge victory over Troy. Can you talk about being in a similar situation now? How do you defend against a letdown following a big win?
"Yeah, you've got to fight complacency. You've got to fight comfort. You've got to fight celebration. We want to celebrate it, but we're done celebrating. It's over. The reality is, as you watch the tape, there are multiple mistakes—plenty of mistakes significant enough to lose that game. We found a way to win, and that's a discipline we have to learn, too. We have to learn how to find a way to win. But there's still so much to fix that we cannot be comfortable at all. One win: don't be satisfied, don't settle, don't be complacent. We've got to go right back to work, and that's the message today when I meet with them. They had yesterday to enjoy it, and it's time to get back to work. Hopefully, we learn from it. I felt like we came out of Tulane thinking, "Hey, man, we're starting to play okay," and then we reverted right back to a ton of mistakes. We've been here before. Hopefully, we learn from it and go play a better game Saturday. We're going to need to."
Q: To Landry (Lyddy), looking back at his last two game tapes, for an older guy, maybe throwing into some looks an older guy shouldn't throw into. Can you speak to that?
"Yeah, I don't think— I felt like he forced the ball against Arkansas State. We talked about it a good bit this week. It wasn't so much about forcing the ball. I thought he was a little anxious in the pocket. He protected the ball. We didn't turn it over. He was conservative, probably a little more conservative in a couple areas than he needed to be, but I don't want him playing afraid to make a mistake. I want him playing with confidence. I think he'll tell you that these last two weeks he just hasn't been as confident as he had been earlier. We need to help get him back to that point schematically, with the game plan and preparation, and hopefully get him to a place where he can play with confidence, sit in the pocket, buy us a little more time, and deliver the ball. I felt like he did that at a really high level against Tulane. I felt like he did it at a really high level, with the exception of maybe two plays, against Troy. It hasn't been as obvious the last two weeks. He's been a little off in that area, and we've got to try to get him through it for us to play at the level we want to play offensively. Luckily, this week we were able to run the ball well enough that it took a lot of pressure off. That's a great recipe for the future, too. If we can run the ball well, it makes everybody's job easier, including his."
Q: To that point, it looks like the guys are starting to form an identity—you (feel like you) can hang your hat on the run game?
"Well, it's a big focus in the offseason and a big focus in recruiting. When you go back and tear down the offense from last year, that was an area I never felt comfortable with. We had to fix it. Give credit to everybody: who we recruited, what the guys have done schematically, our commitment to it and how the running backs are playing within the system. All things considered, I feel good about where we're at. But it's only good for a week until you go back out this week. They obviously made it really tough for Troy to move the ball, so we're going to have our hands full again this weekend. Every week, everybody can play. Hopefully, it's something we can do consistently. It'll take a lot of pressure off the offense and the quarterback. It should create opportunities in the passing game that we haven't seen when you have to start adding the extra guy to the box. It does create space downfield."
Q: Are you curious to see if other teams will start to defend the run game more?
"Yeah, we'll see. They started adding guys to the box late. We did a good job of breaking some tackles, and obviously they didn't fit exactly where they wanted to, either. As you watch, it does start creating opportunities in the passing game that we haven't seen. We've seen a lot of coverage lately, and when you start stepping down and squeezing the box, it starts creating some opportunities."
Q: Can you speak to the overall health—particularly on the o-line going into this week?
"Yeah, we're hoping to get Greg and Luke back to the offensive line. I don't know yet where we're at. I know it's kind of day-to-day. I think the only guy we lost for a significant amount of time is Jeremiah Dillon. He's having surgery today on his wrist. He dislocated his wrist and broke some bones in there, so he'll have a long recovery. Everything else from the game is bumps and bruises. Guys should be able to play through them. Braden Kane played through most of them. They're all beat up, but they've got things they can play through. Jeremiah's the only one we'll lose snaps from, and we might get a guy or two back, depending on how the week goes."
Q: Coach, obviously it's not something where you want to take your foot off the gas so to speak, but coming off a losing streak like that and to finally build and get over the hump, does it give you a little relief?
"Well, the food tastes better, and the bed's a little bit softer. But like I said, that's over. We cannot let ourselves even think that way. We've got so much work left to do. We're not even close to being where we want to be. It's a great win, and we needed it desperately. I'm glad everybody got it on Homecoming weekend and everything. But if you sit back and watch the tape, it's scary how much we still have to fix and how much better we can be. Get over the celebration. Let's move on to work. We've got a lot of work to do, and we can't be satisfied with one win at all. Am I happy about it? Yes. Did it come at a great time? Yes. Go to work. It's that simple."
Q: This week you find yourself playing a team that's been in a similar situation to you. Can you talk about what you have seen from ULM?
"Yeah. Bryant Vincent is a good friend of mine. We've known each other forever. We actually became friends when I was here with Larry and he was coaching high school ball in Mobile. I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for him. I think he's always found a way to do more with less. When you look at all the different stops he's been at, the thing that stands out to me is how hard those dudes are playing. Even though they hadn't won a game, you don't beat Troy unless guys are still fighting, and they fight for him. I think he builds a great culture. It's a tough road trip. We know there are going to be very few people there. You're going to have to bring your own energy, and they are fighting. I think it's a huge test for us: to find out how we respond to a little bit of good, how we respond to a road trip, and how we respond to a road trip where you're not going to have a ton of energy in the building. You're going to have to bring your own juice and want to play because you want to play. I'm going to make it very clear to our guys what to expect. I know this: they'll play hard, and he'll be ready. He and Troy Reffett will be ready, and we've got to play. We're going to play much better ball every week, all the way through. It gets harder and harder to win every week, in my opinion. The more tendencies you have, the more sore and beat up you are, and the more people have seen you, it gets harder and harder to win every week in this league. This is no different.
Q: Have you been able to watch any of that film from last week when they played Troy? Can you speak on their identity and how they pulled that off?
"I think their identity is old-school, hard-nosed, "hit you in the mouth" football. That's who he is. It's very similar to what we saw with Mike. I'd say he's more run-the-clock, probably not as spread out as Mike offensively. A little more tight end, two tight ends, downhill, stretch, bootleg. He's a little different offensively, but it still comes back to the same thing: a physical, blue-collar personality, "hit you in the mouth." That's what you're going to have to be ready to face in an environment that's difficult to face it in."
Q: When you turn on the tape and still see mistakes you want to correct, what are some of the things you're looking for?
"The list is too long—I mean seriously, mostly just technical. We didn't have as many assignment errors, but it's the technique in which we're doing things or not doing things well. At times, we're our own worst enemy. We really are. I don't know that we're different from anybody else. I'm sure Mike's saying the same thing when he's watching the tape. I think the mistakes they made are the nature of growing up with a bunch of new dudes in a new offense and a new defense, one game at a time. We tackled better, but there's fitting and shedding blocks, combo blocks with the offensive line, hand placement, eyes—you name it. There's something on every play. Luckily, we always talk about "sucking less than the opponent." We've got to suck less. Literally, we've got to make a few less mistakes than they do and keep chasing and pursuing. It's this relentless pursuit of perfection, knowing you're never going to get there. We just have to keep closing that gap. There has to be an acceptable amount of wrong, and hopefully our list is less than the opponent's. We didn't turn the ball over, we tackled better, we had fewer assignment errors, and we won in spite of some bad technique along the way. We were more violent and more physical, and we had more gas in the tank in the fourth quarter. Lean on what you can lean on, and keep working on so many different things. There's a list at every position—literally, at every position. There's plenty to work on.
Southern Miss (2-5 overall, 1-2 Sun Belt) looks to win its second-straight game when they meet the Warhawks (1-6, 1-2).
On the call for ESPN+ will be Sean Fox (Play-by-Play) and Desmund Lighten (Analyst), while the Southern Miss Sports Network's radio pregame show begins at 1 p.m. with the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, analyst Lee Roberts and sideline reporter Jason Baker on the call.
Here is what Anderson had to say to the media Monday morning:
Blake Anderson opening statement:
"Obviously, it feels better coming in here on a Monday after a win. Really proud of the guys. I said that Saturday night. Go back and watch the tape, and I'm probably most proud of how they finished. We got ourselves in position with Tulane and didn't do well in the fourth quarter. We let one slip away. It felt like we had a similar type of game going here, and when we were put in that position late, all three phases made plays when we needed to win a good, tough, hard-fought, physical game. I'm probably even more proud of how they've responded over the course of the last month. It's been really hard. It's a challenge to come to work every day and keep working on getting better, even though you're not seeing immediate results. The results we've been seeing are hard to come by. You have to really dig for them, but they've been coming, and you saw that Saturday night. It was the most complete game we've played, still far from perfect. There's a ton to fix. We still have a long way to go to grow up and be the team we need to be, but it was good to get a win in that process. It was a hard-fought win against a good team in a tough circumstance; with adversity, we had to fight through. I'm hoping it'll be a catalyst for growth and give us some energy to keep fighting, pushing forward, working and growing up. I'd like to think it puts us in a position to get some more (wins) down the stretch. This would be a great week to do that, with a tough road game. I'm beyond proud. Thank you to everybody who came out. You can feel the energy in the crowd. I know if we keep playing and play better and better, it'll fill up. But I appreciate the folks who came and the support we've been getting. It is felt. It is needed. You could hear it and feel it, especially in the fourth quarter, from everybody who stayed. Hopefully they'll come back.
Q: We talked in the summer about all the newness out there. You hoped that in November the routine would look considerably different than it might have in September or October. You're kind of starting to see some of that come to fruition.
"Yeah, I think so. We're growing up. It's hard to see at times. We still make a lot of mistakes. There's no expiration date on growing up immature, inexperienced guys. We made a few less this week than we made in previous weeks. We got all three phases working together in complementary fashion, maybe for only the second time all year. We did it a little bit against Tulane, but couldn't finish. We weren't ready to finish. We're growing up one mistake at a time—truly, one opportunity at a time. I hope this speeds up, and I hope we see evidence of this week in and week out as we finish. There's still a lot of ball left to be played. I hope we're a much better team another month from now than we are now. That's the goal. We talk about "one degree better" all the time. Just continue to improve. I think the guys are trying to do that at a high level; it's just hard. It's difficult to get experience quickly. It takes one opportunity, one mistake at a time. That's a slow and very frustrating process for everybody: fans, players, coaches, everybody involved."
Q: Coach, according to (Pro Football Network), your offensive line had the top grade in week 8 out of any other unit. Can you talk about their development to this point?
"Yeah, it's been slow and steady. The cool thing about Saturday is that we had basically two starters out, and guys were thrown into starting roles who hadn't been before. To be able to rush for almost 300 yards against a defense that's been really hard to run the ball against—you can see it took everybody: offensive line, tight ends, running backs, good scheme. It took everybody. As I said, there are still a lot of gaps and holes that need to be fixed. But we finished physically. We played violently. We moved the front at times better than we have at any point. I'm super proud of what they did because they made it difficult to throw, with how they were playing coverage-wise. It was not a great day throwing and catching, but we picked up the slack. Anytime you run the ball like that, you have a chance to win. We didn't turn it over, and we ran the ball well. That's a recipe to be in games and have chances to win. I'm super proud of those guys, and hopefully we'll get someone back, too."
Q: Watching Coach Dez's interview after the game, he talked about coming off that huge victory over Troy. Can you talk about being in a similar situation now? How do you defend against a letdown following a big win?
"Yeah, you've got to fight complacency. You've got to fight comfort. You've got to fight celebration. We want to celebrate it, but we're done celebrating. It's over. The reality is, as you watch the tape, there are multiple mistakes—plenty of mistakes significant enough to lose that game. We found a way to win, and that's a discipline we have to learn, too. We have to learn how to find a way to win. But there's still so much to fix that we cannot be comfortable at all. One win: don't be satisfied, don't settle, don't be complacent. We've got to go right back to work, and that's the message today when I meet with them. They had yesterday to enjoy it, and it's time to get back to work. Hopefully, we learn from it. I felt like we came out of Tulane thinking, "Hey, man, we're starting to play okay," and then we reverted right back to a ton of mistakes. We've been here before. Hopefully, we learn from it and go play a better game Saturday. We're going to need to."
Q: To Landry (Lyddy), looking back at his last two game tapes, for an older guy, maybe throwing into some looks an older guy shouldn't throw into. Can you speak to that?
"Yeah, I don't think— I felt like he forced the ball against Arkansas State. We talked about it a good bit this week. It wasn't so much about forcing the ball. I thought he was a little anxious in the pocket. He protected the ball. We didn't turn it over. He was conservative, probably a little more conservative in a couple areas than he needed to be, but I don't want him playing afraid to make a mistake. I want him playing with confidence. I think he'll tell you that these last two weeks he just hasn't been as confident as he had been earlier. We need to help get him back to that point schematically, with the game plan and preparation, and hopefully get him to a place where he can play with confidence, sit in the pocket, buy us a little more time, and deliver the ball. I felt like he did that at a really high level against Tulane. I felt like he did it at a really high level, with the exception of maybe two plays, against Troy. It hasn't been as obvious the last two weeks. He's been a little off in that area, and we've got to try to get him through it for us to play at the level we want to play offensively. Luckily, this week we were able to run the ball well enough that it took a lot of pressure off. That's a great recipe for the future, too. If we can run the ball well, it makes everybody's job easier, including his."
Q: To that point, it looks like the guys are starting to form an identity—you (feel like you) can hang your hat on the run game?
"Well, it's a big focus in the offseason and a big focus in recruiting. When you go back and tear down the offense from last year, that was an area I never felt comfortable with. We had to fix it. Give credit to everybody: who we recruited, what the guys have done schematically, our commitment to it and how the running backs are playing within the system. All things considered, I feel good about where we're at. But it's only good for a week until you go back out this week. They obviously made it really tough for Troy to move the ball, so we're going to have our hands full again this weekend. Every week, everybody can play. Hopefully, it's something we can do consistently. It'll take a lot of pressure off the offense and the quarterback. It should create opportunities in the passing game that we haven't seen when you have to start adding the extra guy to the box. It does create space downfield."
Q: Are you curious to see if other teams will start to defend the run game more?
"Yeah, we'll see. They started adding guys to the box late. We did a good job of breaking some tackles, and obviously they didn't fit exactly where they wanted to, either. As you watch, it does start creating opportunities in the passing game that we haven't seen. We've seen a lot of coverage lately, and when you start stepping down and squeezing the box, it starts creating some opportunities."
Q: Can you speak to the overall health—particularly on the o-line going into this week?
"Yeah, we're hoping to get Greg and Luke back to the offensive line. I don't know yet where we're at. I know it's kind of day-to-day. I think the only guy we lost for a significant amount of time is Jeremiah Dillon. He's having surgery today on his wrist. He dislocated his wrist and broke some bones in there, so he'll have a long recovery. Everything else from the game is bumps and bruises. Guys should be able to play through them. Braden Kane played through most of them. They're all beat up, but they've got things they can play through. Jeremiah's the only one we'll lose snaps from, and we might get a guy or two back, depending on how the week goes."
Q: Coach, obviously it's not something where you want to take your foot off the gas so to speak, but coming off a losing streak like that and to finally build and get over the hump, does it give you a little relief?
"Well, the food tastes better, and the bed's a little bit softer. But like I said, that's over. We cannot let ourselves even think that way. We've got so much work left to do. We're not even close to being where we want to be. It's a great win, and we needed it desperately. I'm glad everybody got it on Homecoming weekend and everything. But if you sit back and watch the tape, it's scary how much we still have to fix and how much better we can be. Get over the celebration. Let's move on to work. We've got a lot of work to do, and we can't be satisfied with one win at all. Am I happy about it? Yes. Did it come at a great time? Yes. Go to work. It's that simple."
Q: This week you find yourself playing a team that's been in a similar situation to you. Can you talk about what you have seen from ULM?
"Yeah. Bryant Vincent is a good friend of mine. We've known each other forever. We actually became friends when I was here with Larry and he was coaching high school ball in Mobile. I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for him. I think he's always found a way to do more with less. When you look at all the different stops he's been at, the thing that stands out to me is how hard those dudes are playing. Even though they hadn't won a game, you don't beat Troy unless guys are still fighting, and they fight for him. I think he builds a great culture. It's a tough road trip. We know there are going to be very few people there. You're going to have to bring your own energy, and they are fighting. I think it's a huge test for us: to find out how we respond to a little bit of good, how we respond to a road trip, and how we respond to a road trip where you're not going to have a ton of energy in the building. You're going to have to bring your own juice and want to play because you want to play. I'm going to make it very clear to our guys what to expect. I know this: they'll play hard, and he'll be ready. He and Troy Reffett will be ready, and we've got to play. We're going to play much better ball every week, all the way through. It gets harder and harder to win every week, in my opinion. The more tendencies you have, the more sore and beat up you are, and the more people have seen you, it gets harder and harder to win every week in this league. This is no different.
Q: Have you been able to watch any of that film from last week when they played Troy? Can you speak on their identity and how they pulled that off?
"I think their identity is old-school, hard-nosed, "hit you in the mouth" football. That's who he is. It's very similar to what we saw with Mike. I'd say he's more run-the-clock, probably not as spread out as Mike offensively. A little more tight end, two tight ends, downhill, stretch, bootleg. He's a little different offensively, but it still comes back to the same thing: a physical, blue-collar personality, "hit you in the mouth." That's what you're going to have to be ready to face in an environment that's difficult to face it in."
Q: When you turn on the tape and still see mistakes you want to correct, what are some of the things you're looking for?
"The list is too long—I mean seriously, mostly just technical. We didn't have as many assignment errors, but it's the technique in which we're doing things or not doing things well. At times, we're our own worst enemy. We really are. I don't know that we're different from anybody else. I'm sure Mike's saying the same thing when he's watching the tape. I think the mistakes they made are the nature of growing up with a bunch of new dudes in a new offense and a new defense, one game at a time. We tackled better, but there's fitting and shedding blocks, combo blocks with the offensive line, hand placement, eyes—you name it. There's something on every play. Luckily, we always talk about "sucking less than the opponent." We've got to suck less. Literally, we've got to make a few less mistakes than they do and keep chasing and pursuing. It's this relentless pursuit of perfection, knowing you're never going to get there. We just have to keep closing that gap. There has to be an acceptable amount of wrong, and hopefully our list is less than the opponent's. We didn't turn the ball over, we tackled better, we had fewer assignment errors, and we won in spite of some bad technique along the way. We were more violent and more physical, and we had more gas in the tank in the fourth quarter. Lean on what you can lean on, and keep working on so many different things. There's a list at every position—literally, at every position. There's plenty to work on.
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