Ole Miss Football: Matt Luke’s Weekly Press Conference
Ole Miss football interim head coach Matt Luke gave his weekly press conference Monday afternoon and discussed the Bama loss and this weeks upcoming SEC West contest with Auburn.
Ole Miss football fans have been none too pleased with the Rebels performance in the past two games. It’s fair to say neither has Matt Luke nor the rest of the Ole Miss coaching staff. Of course, Monday is always the day for the weekly Ole Miss coaches press conference. Naturally, we had a chance to hear more from Luke about Saturday nights loss an a look ahead at Auburn.
Luke took time to reflect on the game and give more of his thoughts on the trouble Ole Miss had with Bama. A 66-3 loss is never a pretty site and there is never enough sugar-coating which can cover it up. His press conference showed his displeasure with the team’s performance and what he believed needed to be improved upon. Luke stated, “We were beaten in all three phases of the game.”
Is Simplicity Really The Answer?
Ole Miss Rebels Football
Simple is always good. Well except we’ve been hearing simple from this staff and so far simple hasn’t worked for Ole Miss football. Luke talked more on Monday about simplifying things and getting back to playing football.
Of course, coach Luke also commented on the inability for Ole Miss to handle the blitz on 3rd down. Luke stated, “They typically sent one more guy than we were able to handle.” “It was a problem for us on 3rd down,” Luke said.
Standouts
When asked which two players jumped out to him in the game because of their efforts, Luke praised Jordan Wilkins for his hard running. “He ran hard and broke tackles,” Luke answered.
“On defense, Breeland Speaks played really really hard,” Luke answered. “He played inside, he played outside and just gave a ton of effort,” Luke continued. “Those are the guys who stood out in my mind, from start to finish,” Luke said.
When asked about offensive line play.Luke responded with, “We did get beat in a few one-on-ones but you can expect that when playing a team like Alabama.”
It was apparent he was pleased with their efforts despite the outcome of the very lopsided 66-3 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Of course, it’s good to have a few positives even in a loss. So far, we’ve failed to see very many positives within the past 6 quarters of Ole Miss football. However, there were a few.
Positives From Bama
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Amazingly there were actually a few positives from the Bama game. Number one, penalties. Ole Miss football and especially the offense improved in the ‘yellow flag’ portion of the game. Where they garnered the attention of officials 16 times in the Cal game, they were flagged only 6 times in the Bama game.
The second positive was the return of injured players from the Cal game. Sean Rawlings was the biggest return against Bama and played thru the game.
Of course, the return of AJ Brown was also a welcomed site in addition to the return of kicker Gary Wunderlich, who saved the game from the shutout status.
Talkin’ Auburn
Naturally, coach Matt Luke is looking ahead to Auburn. As a guy coaching for a job right now, Luke is trying to remain as positive as he can be. Right now, Luke just wants to compete. He believes in his staff and his team and that is good. As long as the coach has faith then we all should.
Auburn comes into this weeks match-up with a 4-1 record and are coming off a huge 48-10 win over Miss State. Of course, the Auburn Tigers have a very potent offense and exceptional defense. Their only loss came to No.2 ranked Clemson.
When asked about Tigers quarterback Jarret Stidham, Luke was quick to praise the transfer. “He’ll stand in the pocket and throw it, he’s not in a hurry to get out of there,” Luke stated. Right now, Stidham is ranked 4th in the SEC in passing yardage, however he has only thrown for 5 TDs. Another stat which jumps out is the 17 sacks he has. This could possibly play to the Rebels advantage on the D-line.
Of course, tomorrow Ole Miss football travels down on the plains to take on the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kick-off is slated for 11am CT and the game will be televised on the SEC Network. Hotty Toddy.