Jimbo Fisher and select players met with the media on Monday for the Mississippi State game week press conference inside the Kyle Field Media Center.
Video of the interviews and a transcript of Coach Fisher's comments are posted below.
After looking at the film, very proud of our team in that game. Kids persevered, did what they had to do in a road game to come out on top, finding ways to make plays, and make critical plays, at critical moments in the game. Still a lot of room for improvement, we've got to keep getting better, but at the same time when you're pulling things out and you've still got room for improving, that's a good thing. You can still grow in your capabilities. We're nowhere close to the way we can play, but our ability to compete, handle moments, momentum swings, ups and downs of the game with a lot of young guys—things can get very frustrating for them at times. But at the same time they showed a lot of maturity in those situations, going on and making the plays in which they had to make at the end of the game.
Defense, I thought we played well at times. Did a great job in some different scenarios. Played the run pretty well, some quarterback runs, but then we gave up a couple big plays. In the beginning of the second half they opened up with a big drive. They got the next drive down there, but we came in with a blitz and got a strip sack and a score, which was huge in the game. Got points on defense. You get non-offensive points, which was really big in the game and ended up being the difference in the game. Then they drive back down and moved the ball again really well, but we got a blocked field goal. Then we really settled down and kept them in check and they didn't get to move the football much until the last drive, which we had a couple plays there we need to get. We need to get off the field on fourth down. Guys played really good, they completed one ball and we had another guy in our grasp that just broke a tackle. So there's still a lot of room for improvement there, but we did some really good things in the game. I thought Madubuike was really, really good in the game. You felt him and saw him in the run game, in the pass game, and he made guys around him better with how he flushed guys out. I thought Buddy was really good in the game. Had a score, made some really nice plays, played pretty consistently throughout the game in what he did. We played a lot of young guys on defense. There was a chance for a lot of young guys to play on defense and we did that.
Special teams, I thought we did a much better job covering our kicks for sure on our punts and kickoffs. Did a great job, didn't bring but one out on kickoffs, but we got him inside of the 25. Punts, we did a great job of getting him on the ground, hitting them where we're supposed to hit them. Got a big break one time when we got a good bounce on one that held on the 2-yard line, which I thought was a huge play in the game. But he was a weapon in the game in that regard. I thought the punt return game was good, we made some yards there, get some room for Ainias there. We got a blocked field goal in the game, which was really huge. Unfortunately we missed two kicks, I know Seth that's the first one he's missed under 40. Was a big kick there that he'll work back and he's been very consistent. Missed another kick that's very makeable for him. His range goes well beyond that. It's a very comfortable kick. But those are two big ones that we've got to get ironed out.
Offensively, we moved the ball well at times, especially early in the game. Didn't off the bat, but then the second drive we had a huge drive down there. We got a field goal, wished we could have gotten a touchdown there, execute there a little bit better on some things. I thought we ran the ball better. Thought we had another great 2-minute drive before the half, which is a big momentum swing. Wish we could have gotten a touchdown out of that. Came out second half, had a nice run, got a penalty, got behind the sticks and had a three and out. Then had a huge drive, took it all the way down, 10 or 12 plays. Unfortunately had an opportunity on the 20 there that we got pressure on Kellen. We had a nice double move, had a touchdown throw, but got pressured and got hit. Didn't get that in. Then we missed that field goal. But that ate a lot of clock. Then come right back, missed a third down. The next drive had a huge drive and ran the football down. Kellen made some big third downs. We got some nice throws. Isaiah really played well on that drive, had a nice big run to seal the game up and put us up 10 points. I thought 85 (Wydermyer) and 28 (Spiller), for freshman, you can see them getting better and better each and every week and both played very critical roles in the game, in how we ran the ball there and the tight end getting him incorporated in the passing game. He's doing much better job in the running game. Got Renick in there, his first action at tight end, and looking at the film he blocked really, really well. Did a really good job in a supporting cast role. He was actually pulling on those plays and did some nice things. Again, we could have finished with a few more points, the two turnovers were disappointing. One was where we had a little play back. The tight end would have had a really nice play in that situation. The defensive end just was rushing, just stopped, and fell back into coverage. Never seen that happen. But at the same time, you've got to see that. You've got to put air on that ball and see him. We had a little pressure, but we've got to make that play. That could've been a really nice play for us to get out and have some more points. The other one, it's a good ball. We throw it, they get their fingertip on it, hits us in the pads and goes straight up. The decision was right, but still it's two turnovers. You can't have that. We don't need that. defense did a good job in sudden change on that also, but a lot of room for improvement.
That's a really good win on the road. They were battling and scratching and we were too. Keep growing, there's a lot of little things that we can see as coaches that we're getting better at. Hopefully we'll consistently grow in all three ares as we go. Kids had a great attitude, though, a great demeanor and relentless effort to compete in the game. They did a good job.
Now we go play Mississippi State here. They're coming off a very tough game with LSU, who's playing extremely well right now. Defensively, Mississippi State's very talented. The guys up front all played against us last year. Big, heavy, strong guys that can explode and change the line of scrimmage. Linebackers, very talented. 40 (Erroll Thompson) is as good as anybody in the league. Can run and play. (Willie) Gay and (Leo) Lewis and those guys, the other two linebackers, are very gifted. The corner, (Cameron) Dantzler, is one of the best corners we'll play all year long. Athletic. The other young corners are playing very well for them. Safeties, they get involved. Tons of pressures, tons of blitzes, different looks, different things up front. Will be very challenging. We've got to make sure we're dotting Is and crossing Ts and understand what we're going into it with. They're a very good defensive football team with their looks and what they do. Offensively, Joe's done a great job with the offense. Always has been an offensive mind. They run the football lot with RPOs and quarterback runs. Quarterback's an athletic, big, strong guy that can make plays. Offensive line's a big, physical group. Mississippi State's always had skill guys at receiver. Punter can hit it long. Hit some 55-yard punts. They've always got good return guys. So we've got our hands full. Need to have a good week of practice, play one week at a time, do the things we have to do to be successful this week, keep a great demeanor and compete very well in the game.
Jimbo in what areas on the offensive line are you really pleased with how they're growing?
Assignments and communication-wise. A lot of the mistakes now, we're not turning guys loose or we're going with the wrong communication on the calls. If we get beat, it's getting beat physically, which you know is technique or things you can keep working on. Offensive line, one of the big areas when you get new guys, new centers and all that is communication. The young freshman in their who's doing really good, Kenyon's gonna be a really, really good player and is doing really good things. So you always worry about communication back to your tight ends and make sure everybody's on the same page with protections and all those things and we're getting better there. I think in the run game we've gotten more movement. We had a lot more positive runs in this game, a lot more consistent runs. Broke out with a couple big runs, whether the quarterback run or the big counter at the end. A couple nice runs by Isaiah inside, we're more physical inside, so we're learning to communicate better there. In pass protection, we're always trying to grow. Kellen was under some pressure. If you get beat physically it's one thing. But communication and getting the right guys doing the right things is much better.
Of the 250 rushing yards that y'all gave up, I think 175 of those came on five plays. Is that encouraging or discouraging?
Yes. (laughing) That's why I keep talking about big plays, you know what I'm saying? You've got to stop them. Like the one run on the first play of the half. We've got two guys perfectly there to make the play. We just fit it wrong. I mean, one gap over. Literally. Is it easily fixed? Yes. It's like the difference of me being right here to right here, and the angle which you come at it with. So that's the technique. I mean, that's just ball. That's the guy. That's the gap. They slip through, make a big run. We have it accounted for and perfect, but we make a critical mistake. But then come back and play very well. And then, you say, well, one mistake, the guy only made one mistake. Okay? But how big was that mistake? Like on offense, we had the other day where we had a double move, got it protected well, but just got walked back into the quarterback. Just physically. Caught us under our pad, and we were rubbing off from bang to bang where sometimes when you do it, you're up a little high. Got caught, got knocked back into Kellen. He's making a throw. It's going to be, whether or not we catch it, but it's going to have a chance to have a really open touchdown. But that is the mistake that you made and then you play well the rest of game. That one mistake might have cost you seven points. That happened once in the Auburn game this year on a situation with a guy, and that's what I say it's when they happen and how they happen. A lot of times you don't notice those things, but then other times you do because of the result of the play or the type of game it is. And it's that simple. Is it very fixable? Yes. Just got to limit those things and not have those four or five mental breakdowns on leverage and fits. And that's what you can't have. Or sometimes that's where superhuman effort by a great player sometimes can cover up. You say they make plays, and everybody thinks everything's good, where as a coach behind the scenes we're going, listen. That guy there made up for three guys. We've got to get that fixed. So those things are encouraging in that the rest of those plays you played, how many did we play, 68, 69 something of that nature? You played very well in those situations except for only four or five. That's a low percentage. But the results of those four or five are something that we can't live with. So we have to learn to eliminate those and also, as I say, minimize the damage when you do make a mistake. We don't need them to be tragic. We need to be ok, they made an 8- or 10- or 12-yard run. You get him on the ground, you move on. Or vice versa on offense. That's the thing sometimes right now.
Anthony (Hines) mentioned that you've asked him to take a little bit more of a leadership role on special teams. How much was the improvement on special teams, putting a couple more first string guys in?
We had first string guys in all different things. We always do. I've always been a starter guy. Starters play. If you don't play special teams you ain't playing offense or defense. That's always been my rule ever since I started coaching. And any coach I've been around that was really significant. At LSU back in the day, at Florida State, you go look at it. All our starters are on that, and it was a role in which (Anthony) had to be on and we wanted him to be there and do that. And the techniques were better. And we kicked the ball where we're supposed to kick it. Unfortunately we had the one coming out the second half. That was just a complete slip. I mean, you see his foot. He's kicking, we had a little dew and he slipped. So it's a combination of doing all those things right. You go back and you keep re-emphasizing. It's just like, stove's hot. Stove's hot. Stove's hot. Stove's hot. Okay, then you touch it, you get burnt. You say oh, it really is hot. It wakes you up. Kids, they've got to understand how important every part of the game is.
And I noticed Connor Blumrick getting some reps on different parts…
We're doing different things with Connor on offense. You'll see him in the backfield. You'll see him split out. He can run. He can throw. Connor's a very talented guy. He's a big-body guy that can run. He's got athleticism. We've got him on special teams. He's 6-5, 210/215. And I mean, can really run. Athletic. We want to use him as much as we can. We went to him and he came to us and he has had a great attitude about it and I think he's got a chance to really be a good player in the future, I really do.
Buddy Johnson obviously had a great game, SEC Defensive Player of the Week, another double-digit tackle game. What has he meant so far this season for for this team on defense, and how important is he going forward?
Well, he's filled a significant role, where we were light in depth and light in experience and guys, and actually moved him positions inside from outside. That's a different animal now. People say play linebacker. Well inside linebacker and outside linebacker are totally, totally different deals. I've seen some guys in the Hall of Fame, All-Americans in college, that couldn't play inside. That's hard. It's a whole different animal. It's like certain guys on the offensive line. Centers and guards sometimes, a guy can be a phenomenal tackle, but he can't play inside. And vice versa. So his ability to adapt and handle that has been huge for our team. His leadership for our team gets better and better each week. And his role keeps growing. The guys see the way he's playing, and he's been a big contributing factor for us on defense.
How about an update on some players that didn't play? Clemons, Oliver, Carper, Pryor, Wright, Elam, and Tucker?
Oliver was out. We'll see this week. We don't know if he'll return this week. Possibly could, possibly not. Clemons the same way. They were all injured. Beal the same way. Carper. I'm hoping some of these guys will be back. We're expecting some back. I can't say all or not. It will be how things go during the week. Pryor is no longer with us. He's no longer with us. Elam's unavailable. Tucker is red shirting.
Ainias Smith. He's been kind of in and out of the starting lineup. What's his role?
Different things, what we're asking, what we did in the game. And we've got to get Ainias playing. But we've got him under punt returns, and this game got tight in some situations so we went with some experience there, but Ainias is gonna be in the mix. He'llbe getting playing time and getting back in, I promise you.
And I think without him, you still had six true freshmen in the starting line up this week.
Oh, yeah, we do. We started seven. There's been an abundance. We're a young football team. But these young guys are gonna be really good players, and we like them. Their development is really good. Trust me, I know. It's exciting, but as a coach, it's never…I don't want to say nerve racking…but it's interesting because of how you have to approach those things. Making sure you know what they're capable of and making sure you put them in positions to be successful early in their career so you don't destroy their confidence in things that happen. You have to make sure how you handle those guys. But those guys are showing a lot of maturity in the way they're handling things and have played some significant minutes and made some significant plays.
When you looked at the film, why did you have more trouble on third downs maybe this game than other games and why weren't you able to take advantage of passing against them when other teams had passed a lot against them?
You know, we had some nice passes in the game. We got behind the chains on the first one, threw it away, got pressured inside. Second, got pressure. I can think of three right now we had pressure that we had to come out of, where we had guys open that we gave up pressure. A dropped ball or two. We had the third down to hit that got tipped on the deal there. We had one bad throw. But the first half, we were on track to throw for, we were at 218, 220 at the half. Third quarter, we didn't have the ball, remember? They went down and scored, then we had a nice run, but we got a penalty. We had two penalties and we didn't get a first down. And they drove, and we got the strip for a touchdown, so they got the ball back, and they drove again for a long period of time, moved the ball. IN the third quarter, we only had the ball one possession. And then we had two long drives and got in rhythm. Wish we could have thrown it more. Just gotta keep throwing it and going. But we have been throwing the ball very well, but like I said got out of rhythm there in the second. First half, we got things going to end the half and threw the ball really well and made some plays. And hit some nice play actions to the tight end. Going into halftime felt very comfortable with where we were, I really did. Gotta show more consistency.
On the surface, Jimbo, there's some similarities between this team coming in with a freshman quarterback and the freshman running back combo that can beat you in terms of Ole Miss…But how does Mississippi State try to attack you differently despite having some similarity in personnel?
They're spread, but probably more physical packages inside. Not as much empty. They'll go empty and do the things, but not as much empty from that regard with the two quarterbacks. And I mean using a two-quarterback system in more of a true spread. This is a quarterback run that can spread, but can also be conventional and run conventional power plays, and things of that nature.
How big was Isaiah Spiller's game on Saturday for him building confidence?
Big confidence gain. I mean, just he keeps getting better. And I'll tell you somewhere else where he did a real nice job if you watch that film. He did a really nice job in pass protection. His pass protection keeps growing, how he's learning to use his tackles inside and his guards, where he fits and how he does things. He's doing a really good job in there in that regard. Then his confidence in his running, to get that big run at the end, and there's a couple runs there that he hit up inside the tackles and really made good bursts and runs. He's learning to catch the ball--not learning, but getting more comfortable--catching the ball. Because he always has had good hands, has very natural hands. I think his confidence overall is growing and you see the consistency and how he's playing. He played big in that game. He and 85 (Wydermyer) were huge in that game for us. Two true freshmen on offense.
From looking at the team's perspective and Buddy being able to recover that fumble on defense, I know you guys were always stressing ball-hawking and getting the ball, but do you feel like that can get something going on defense?
Oh, no doubt. I mean, it's like anything. Somebody tells you something all time. It can happen. It can happen. You say yeah, and it never happens or it doesn't happen enough. Now all of sudden, it starts to happen. Then you just naturally, that flow of things, just naturally happens. That's kind of how your confidence grows and your perspective on things of just keep playing plays. That's why I was so happy with this team in that game, when things weren't going as well. Looked good in certain situations, but just kept playing on the road. You've got a lot of young guys, sometimes they can get frustrated, and all of a sudden that strip sack that comes, you get a big score. Now you say, you know, the things that we're saying as a coaching staff, in this organization, are happening. And we're making them happen. I can do this. That's all part of the confidence growing, the team growing and our unity growing and belief in what we're doing.
Video of the interviews and a transcript of Coach Fisher's comments are posted below.
After looking at the film, very proud of our team in that game. Kids persevered, did what they had to do in a road game to come out on top, finding ways to make plays, and make critical plays, at critical moments in the game. Still a lot of room for improvement, we've got to keep getting better, but at the same time when you're pulling things out and you've still got room for improving, that's a good thing. You can still grow in your capabilities. We're nowhere close to the way we can play, but our ability to compete, handle moments, momentum swings, ups and downs of the game with a lot of young guys—things can get very frustrating for them at times. But at the same time they showed a lot of maturity in those situations, going on and making the plays in which they had to make at the end of the game.
Defense, I thought we played well at times. Did a great job in some different scenarios. Played the run pretty well, some quarterback runs, but then we gave up a couple big plays. In the beginning of the second half they opened up with a big drive. They got the next drive down there, but we came in with a blitz and got a strip sack and a score, which was huge in the game. Got points on defense. You get non-offensive points, which was really big in the game and ended up being the difference in the game. Then they drive back down and moved the ball again really well, but we got a blocked field goal. Then we really settled down and kept them in check and they didn't get to move the football much until the last drive, which we had a couple plays there we need to get. We need to get off the field on fourth down. Guys played really good, they completed one ball and we had another guy in our grasp that just broke a tackle. So there's still a lot of room for improvement there, but we did some really good things in the game. I thought Madubuike was really, really good in the game. You felt him and saw him in the run game, in the pass game, and he made guys around him better with how he flushed guys out. I thought Buddy was really good in the game. Had a score, made some really nice plays, played pretty consistently throughout the game in what he did. We played a lot of young guys on defense. There was a chance for a lot of young guys to play on defense and we did that.
Special teams, I thought we did a much better job covering our kicks for sure on our punts and kickoffs. Did a great job, didn't bring but one out on kickoffs, but we got him inside of the 25. Punts, we did a great job of getting him on the ground, hitting them where we're supposed to hit them. Got a big break one time when we got a good bounce on one that held on the 2-yard line, which I thought was a huge play in the game. But he was a weapon in the game in that regard. I thought the punt return game was good, we made some yards there, get some room for Ainias there. We got a blocked field goal in the game, which was really huge. Unfortunately we missed two kicks, I know Seth that's the first one he's missed under 40. Was a big kick there that he'll work back and he's been very consistent. Missed another kick that's very makeable for him. His range goes well beyond that. It's a very comfortable kick. But those are two big ones that we've got to get ironed out.
Offensively, we moved the ball well at times, especially early in the game. Didn't off the bat, but then the second drive we had a huge drive down there. We got a field goal, wished we could have gotten a touchdown there, execute there a little bit better on some things. I thought we ran the ball better. Thought we had another great 2-minute drive before the half, which is a big momentum swing. Wish we could have gotten a touchdown out of that. Came out second half, had a nice run, got a penalty, got behind the sticks and had a three and out. Then had a huge drive, took it all the way down, 10 or 12 plays. Unfortunately had an opportunity on the 20 there that we got pressure on Kellen. We had a nice double move, had a touchdown throw, but got pressured and got hit. Didn't get that in. Then we missed that field goal. But that ate a lot of clock. Then come right back, missed a third down. The next drive had a huge drive and ran the football down. Kellen made some big third downs. We got some nice throws. Isaiah really played well on that drive, had a nice big run to seal the game up and put us up 10 points. I thought 85 (Wydermyer) and 28 (Spiller), for freshman, you can see them getting better and better each and every week and both played very critical roles in the game, in how we ran the ball there and the tight end getting him incorporated in the passing game. He's doing much better job in the running game. Got Renick in there, his first action at tight end, and looking at the film he blocked really, really well. Did a really good job in a supporting cast role. He was actually pulling on those plays and did some nice things. Again, we could have finished with a few more points, the two turnovers were disappointing. One was where we had a little play back. The tight end would have had a really nice play in that situation. The defensive end just was rushing, just stopped, and fell back into coverage. Never seen that happen. But at the same time, you've got to see that. You've got to put air on that ball and see him. We had a little pressure, but we've got to make that play. That could've been a really nice play for us to get out and have some more points. The other one, it's a good ball. We throw it, they get their fingertip on it, hits us in the pads and goes straight up. The decision was right, but still it's two turnovers. You can't have that. We don't need that. defense did a good job in sudden change on that also, but a lot of room for improvement.
That's a really good win on the road. They were battling and scratching and we were too. Keep growing, there's a lot of little things that we can see as coaches that we're getting better at. Hopefully we'll consistently grow in all three ares as we go. Kids had a great attitude, though, a great demeanor and relentless effort to compete in the game. They did a good job.
Now we go play Mississippi State here. They're coming off a very tough game with LSU, who's playing extremely well right now. Defensively, Mississippi State's very talented. The guys up front all played against us last year. Big, heavy, strong guys that can explode and change the line of scrimmage. Linebackers, very talented. 40 (Erroll Thompson) is as good as anybody in the league. Can run and play. (Willie) Gay and (Leo) Lewis and those guys, the other two linebackers, are very gifted. The corner, (Cameron) Dantzler, is one of the best corners we'll play all year long. Athletic. The other young corners are playing very well for them. Safeties, they get involved. Tons of pressures, tons of blitzes, different looks, different things up front. Will be very challenging. We've got to make sure we're dotting Is and crossing Ts and understand what we're going into it with. They're a very good defensive football team with their looks and what they do. Offensively, Joe's done a great job with the offense. Always has been an offensive mind. They run the football lot with RPOs and quarterback runs. Quarterback's an athletic, big, strong guy that can make plays. Offensive line's a big, physical group. Mississippi State's always had skill guys at receiver. Punter can hit it long. Hit some 55-yard punts. They've always got good return guys. So we've got our hands full. Need to have a good week of practice, play one week at a time, do the things we have to do to be successful this week, keep a great demeanor and compete very well in the game.
Jimbo in what areas on the offensive line are you really pleased with how they're growing?
Assignments and communication-wise. A lot of the mistakes now, we're not turning guys loose or we're going with the wrong communication on the calls. If we get beat, it's getting beat physically, which you know is technique or things you can keep working on. Offensive line, one of the big areas when you get new guys, new centers and all that is communication. The young freshman in their who's doing really good, Kenyon's gonna be a really, really good player and is doing really good things. So you always worry about communication back to your tight ends and make sure everybody's on the same page with protections and all those things and we're getting better there. I think in the run game we've gotten more movement. We had a lot more positive runs in this game, a lot more consistent runs. Broke out with a couple big runs, whether the quarterback run or the big counter at the end. A couple nice runs by Isaiah inside, we're more physical inside, so we're learning to communicate better there. In pass protection, we're always trying to grow. Kellen was under some pressure. If you get beat physically it's one thing. But communication and getting the right guys doing the right things is much better.
Of the 250 rushing yards that y'all gave up, I think 175 of those came on five plays. Is that encouraging or discouraging?
Yes. (laughing) That's why I keep talking about big plays, you know what I'm saying? You've got to stop them. Like the one run on the first play of the half. We've got two guys perfectly there to make the play. We just fit it wrong. I mean, one gap over. Literally. Is it easily fixed? Yes. It's like the difference of me being right here to right here, and the angle which you come at it with. So that's the technique. I mean, that's just ball. That's the guy. That's the gap. They slip through, make a big run. We have it accounted for and perfect, but we make a critical mistake. But then come back and play very well. And then, you say, well, one mistake, the guy only made one mistake. Okay? But how big was that mistake? Like on offense, we had the other day where we had a double move, got it protected well, but just got walked back into the quarterback. Just physically. Caught us under our pad, and we were rubbing off from bang to bang where sometimes when you do it, you're up a little high. Got caught, got knocked back into Kellen. He's making a throw. It's going to be, whether or not we catch it, but it's going to have a chance to have a really open touchdown. But that is the mistake that you made and then you play well the rest of game. That one mistake might have cost you seven points. That happened once in the Auburn game this year on a situation with a guy, and that's what I say it's when they happen and how they happen. A lot of times you don't notice those things, but then other times you do because of the result of the play or the type of game it is. And it's that simple. Is it very fixable? Yes. Just got to limit those things and not have those four or five mental breakdowns on leverage and fits. And that's what you can't have. Or sometimes that's where superhuman effort by a great player sometimes can cover up. You say they make plays, and everybody thinks everything's good, where as a coach behind the scenes we're going, listen. That guy there made up for three guys. We've got to get that fixed. So those things are encouraging in that the rest of those plays you played, how many did we play, 68, 69 something of that nature? You played very well in those situations except for only four or five. That's a low percentage. But the results of those four or five are something that we can't live with. So we have to learn to eliminate those and also, as I say, minimize the damage when you do make a mistake. We don't need them to be tragic. We need to be ok, they made an 8- or 10- or 12-yard run. You get him on the ground, you move on. Or vice versa on offense. That's the thing sometimes right now.
Anthony (Hines) mentioned that you've asked him to take a little bit more of a leadership role on special teams. How much was the improvement on special teams, putting a couple more first string guys in?
We had first string guys in all different things. We always do. I've always been a starter guy. Starters play. If you don't play special teams you ain't playing offense or defense. That's always been my rule ever since I started coaching. And any coach I've been around that was really significant. At LSU back in the day, at Florida State, you go look at it. All our starters are on that, and it was a role in which (Anthony) had to be on and we wanted him to be there and do that. And the techniques were better. And we kicked the ball where we're supposed to kick it. Unfortunately we had the one coming out the second half. That was just a complete slip. I mean, you see his foot. He's kicking, we had a little dew and he slipped. So it's a combination of doing all those things right. You go back and you keep re-emphasizing. It's just like, stove's hot. Stove's hot. Stove's hot. Stove's hot. Okay, then you touch it, you get burnt. You say oh, it really is hot. It wakes you up. Kids, they've got to understand how important every part of the game is.
And I noticed Connor Blumrick getting some reps on different parts…
We're doing different things with Connor on offense. You'll see him in the backfield. You'll see him split out. He can run. He can throw. Connor's a very talented guy. He's a big-body guy that can run. He's got athleticism. We've got him on special teams. He's 6-5, 210/215. And I mean, can really run. Athletic. We want to use him as much as we can. We went to him and he came to us and he has had a great attitude about it and I think he's got a chance to really be a good player in the future, I really do.
Buddy Johnson obviously had a great game, SEC Defensive Player of the Week, another double-digit tackle game. What has he meant so far this season for for this team on defense, and how important is he going forward?
Well, he's filled a significant role, where we were light in depth and light in experience and guys, and actually moved him positions inside from outside. That's a different animal now. People say play linebacker. Well inside linebacker and outside linebacker are totally, totally different deals. I've seen some guys in the Hall of Fame, All-Americans in college, that couldn't play inside. That's hard. It's a whole different animal. It's like certain guys on the offensive line. Centers and guards sometimes, a guy can be a phenomenal tackle, but he can't play inside. And vice versa. So his ability to adapt and handle that has been huge for our team. His leadership for our team gets better and better each week. And his role keeps growing. The guys see the way he's playing, and he's been a big contributing factor for us on defense.
How about an update on some players that didn't play? Clemons, Oliver, Carper, Pryor, Wright, Elam, and Tucker?
Oliver was out. We'll see this week. We don't know if he'll return this week. Possibly could, possibly not. Clemons the same way. They were all injured. Beal the same way. Carper. I'm hoping some of these guys will be back. We're expecting some back. I can't say all or not. It will be how things go during the week. Pryor is no longer with us. He's no longer with us. Elam's unavailable. Tucker is red shirting.
Ainias Smith. He's been kind of in and out of the starting lineup. What's his role?
Different things, what we're asking, what we did in the game. And we've got to get Ainias playing. But we've got him under punt returns, and this game got tight in some situations so we went with some experience there, but Ainias is gonna be in the mix. He'llbe getting playing time and getting back in, I promise you.
And I think without him, you still had six true freshmen in the starting line up this week.
Oh, yeah, we do. We started seven. There's been an abundance. We're a young football team. But these young guys are gonna be really good players, and we like them. Their development is really good. Trust me, I know. It's exciting, but as a coach, it's never…I don't want to say nerve racking…but it's interesting because of how you have to approach those things. Making sure you know what they're capable of and making sure you put them in positions to be successful early in their career so you don't destroy their confidence in things that happen. You have to make sure how you handle those guys. But those guys are showing a lot of maturity in the way they're handling things and have played some significant minutes and made some significant plays.
When you looked at the film, why did you have more trouble on third downs maybe this game than other games and why weren't you able to take advantage of passing against them when other teams had passed a lot against them?
You know, we had some nice passes in the game. We got behind the chains on the first one, threw it away, got pressured inside. Second, got pressure. I can think of three right now we had pressure that we had to come out of, where we had guys open that we gave up pressure. A dropped ball or two. We had the third down to hit that got tipped on the deal there. We had one bad throw. But the first half, we were on track to throw for, we were at 218, 220 at the half. Third quarter, we didn't have the ball, remember? They went down and scored, then we had a nice run, but we got a penalty. We had two penalties and we didn't get a first down. And they drove, and we got the strip for a touchdown, so they got the ball back, and they drove again for a long period of time, moved the ball. IN the third quarter, we only had the ball one possession. And then we had two long drives and got in rhythm. Wish we could have thrown it more. Just gotta keep throwing it and going. But we have been throwing the ball very well, but like I said got out of rhythm there in the second. First half, we got things going to end the half and threw the ball really well and made some plays. And hit some nice play actions to the tight end. Going into halftime felt very comfortable with where we were, I really did. Gotta show more consistency.
On the surface, Jimbo, there's some similarities between this team coming in with a freshman quarterback and the freshman running back combo that can beat you in terms of Ole Miss…But how does Mississippi State try to attack you differently despite having some similarity in personnel?
They're spread, but probably more physical packages inside. Not as much empty. They'll go empty and do the things, but not as much empty from that regard with the two quarterbacks. And I mean using a two-quarterback system in more of a true spread. This is a quarterback run that can spread, but can also be conventional and run conventional power plays, and things of that nature.
How big was Isaiah Spiller's game on Saturday for him building confidence?
Big confidence gain. I mean, just he keeps getting better. And I'll tell you somewhere else where he did a real nice job if you watch that film. He did a really nice job in pass protection. His pass protection keeps growing, how he's learning to use his tackles inside and his guards, where he fits and how he does things. He's doing a really good job in there in that regard. Then his confidence in his running, to get that big run at the end, and there's a couple runs there that he hit up inside the tackles and really made good bursts and runs. He's learning to catch the ball--not learning, but getting more comfortable--catching the ball. Because he always has had good hands, has very natural hands. I think his confidence overall is growing and you see the consistency and how he's playing. He played big in that game. He and 85 (Wydermyer) were huge in that game for us. Two true freshmen on offense.
From looking at the team's perspective and Buddy being able to recover that fumble on defense, I know you guys were always stressing ball-hawking and getting the ball, but do you feel like that can get something going on defense?
Oh, no doubt. I mean, it's like anything. Somebody tells you something all time. It can happen. It can happen. You say yeah, and it never happens or it doesn't happen enough. Now all of sudden, it starts to happen. Then you just naturally, that flow of things, just naturally happens. That's kind of how your confidence grows and your perspective on things of just keep playing plays. That's why I was so happy with this team in that game, when things weren't going as well. Looked good in certain situations, but just kept playing on the road. You've got a lot of young guys, sometimes they can get frustrated, and all of a sudden that strip sack that comes, you get a big score. Now you say, you know, the things that we're saying as a coaching staff, in this organization, are happening. And we're making them happen. I can do this. That's all part of the confidence growing, the team growing and our unity growing and belief in what we're doing.