Ole Miss Football: Coach Matt Luke Talks Arky, Defense And Auburn
Ole Miss football coach Matt Luke took the podium Monday to discuss the Arkansas win, defense and the upcoming match-up with Auburn.
Ole Miss football picked up its first SEC win this past Saturday night with a big road win in Little Rock. Monday head coach Matt Luke kicked off Auburn week with his weekly press conference. Of course, after the Rebels Saturday night win coach Matt Luke had plenty to discuss concerning the win, defense and the Auburn Tigers.
Luke began with his comments on the Rebels SEC road win. Luke commented on the players being gutsy, not giving up and fighting back from 17 points down to get the win. Luke stated, “It’s in the rain and you’re on the road and down 17 and they just kept fighting and kept competing. I’m just proud. A gutsy win that will give us some momentum going forward.”
Luke addressed momentum more when he said, “You get some momentum and the crowd fired up about coming and playing another big game in Oxford. I think that’s your momentum going forward. And these kids laying it all on the line get something back. They get to be happy and enjoy it together.”
Luke Talks Defense
Ole Miss Rebels
Naturally we all watched the same game Matt Luke did and we saw how the defense played in the first half. Also like Luke we saw the defense play very well in the second half to help allow the Rebels to come back and get the win. Luke seemed very happy with the defensive effort in the second half.
Per Ben Garret of OMSpirit Luke stated, “In the first half, we didn’t do a very good job of stopping the run. A lot of credit to them in the second half coming back and making adjustments and holding those guys to two field goals. That kind of gets left out in the whole thing.”
Luke went on to compliment a number of players including junior Willie Hibbler who made a game-saving stop for the Rebels to help get the win. Luke also mentioned the play of freshman Tylan Knight, junior Myles Hartsfield and junior Armani Linton.
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Injury Update
Of course the injury situation has been a rough one for Ole Miss football this season. While the Rebels have lucky on the offensive side of the ball Saturday Ole Miss lost DK Metcalf for the duration of the season due to a neck injury which requires surgery.
The defense felt the injury bug against the Hogs too. It was also announced Markel Winters would be out ‘for about 4 weeks’ due to a sprained knee. Jalen Julius who suffered a shoulder injury Saturday night is expected to be available against Auburn this weekend.
The season is now over half way over and there have been a number of players who have suffered season ending injuries. OHT wishes a speedy recovery to all of our wounded Rebels.
Luke Talks Auburn
With Ole Miss hosting the Auburn Tigers this Saturday there are plenty of Rebels looking forward to this game. Monday coach Matt Luke was ready for the challenge which the Tigers will be bringing to the Vaught.
"“It’s big. You have an open date after this. It’s very, very important that we do battle through all the injuries, everybody steps up, we close ranks and just keep marching forward and finding a way to be 1-0 this week going into the open date.” ~Coach Matt Luke"
Matt Luke knows the importance of this game and what it would mean for the rest of the season. Most of us have this game marked out on the schedule as the game last season the Rebels made a strong turn. The Rebels finished 2017 with a 6-6 record winning 4 of their last 7 games after the Auburn loss.
"“Moving forward to Auburn, just excited to be back at home 5-2 with some momentum going. I know our crowd will be great playing against a very good Auburn team, one of the best front sevens in the country. They’re very good up front, long in the secondary.” ~Coach Matt Luke"
You can watch the entire press conference here.
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Ole Miss football will back in action this Saturday in the Vaught as they take on the Auburn Tigers. Please be sure to follow us throughout the week for more Rebels news and updates and be watching for our Auburn preview. Be sure to visit and like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for more from OHT. Hotty Toddy!