OLE MISS HEAD COACH HUGH FREEZE OPENING STATEMENT
“Obviously really disappointed to not get it done tonight. It thought our defense gave them cheap scores early on. It was very
frustrating. It was things we worked on and our kids had an understanding, but they didn’t. I thought our defense played well in the
second half and gave our offense a chance to take control of the game, but we didn’t do that. Whether it was a poor call, poor
protection, uncharacteristically critical drops that we struggled with in the last possession. We had chances to take control of the
game and win it. Those were critical and really hurt. It certainly stings, it hurts. Give credit to them, but we certainly leave here
thinking we let one get away.”
Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze on second half
“We felt that our tempo was giving them problems. We went empty and thought our guys could win some one on ones and they
did many times. We had a few bad throws, some drops, some poor calls. We probably should’ve stuck to running the ball a little
bit, but I’ll have to look at the film. They didn’t do anything different. Maybe played a little more man, but not much different.”
Ole Miss on Arkansas’ running success
“We’re struggling to fit gaps, it something we had issues with all year, and they create a lot of gaps for you to fit. When they were
able to win first down, it really makes it difficult on calling a defense because they can do so many things out of their sets. Whether
its run, throw play action, or throw their pass game. They were able to do that the first half, second half I thought our defense
played well against a really good offensive team. They’ve moved the ball well on everybody and scored a lot. We never took
control of it offensively.”
Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze on drops
“It was quite surprising. No one will feel worse about it than they do. I know they’ll come back to work. They happened at really,
really critical drives. We didn’t catch them.”
Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze on Chad Kelly
“He had some good throws, but he had some he wishes he had back. He was a little off on a couple of throws that give you a first
down. He was under some pressure, but he did some nice things too. No doubt he competed. I thought he had a chance to get
the first at the end. That may have been a jump start for us. We had plenty of time to go down and score. He’s feeling awful right
now because he takes it so personal.”
Ole Miss Head Coach on bouncing back from loss
“It’s always difficult to go on the road in this conference, you saw that tonight. When you’re building a program that is trying to
compete in the SEC week in and week out, which we are doing, you’ve got to see the big picture. It’s hard to right now sitting here.
It’s hard for the kids in the locker room right now, but we have had the ability to bounce back and go compete again. I expect
nothing less.”
COACH BIELEMA’S OPENING STATEMENT
“I thought our guys really rebounded well, last week at this time. I've always said with high expectations comes a high price when
you don't reach those things. Our guys responded really well.
Tuesday was a good practice, but there wasn't a lot of juice. I got on them a little bit afterwards. They came out and practiced
really well Wednesday. Thursday was another good day. Friday they had a good look in their eyes.
We talked about playing here. We talk about the fans we got coming in here week after week. We've had some good games on
the road, obviously beating Ole Miss and LSU. Took a little detour.
Yesterday, after our practice, we usually drive right to the hotel. We usually take a right; we took a left. Got kids talking all of a
sudden. I pulled up over on the side of the stadium there where they look at their stadium. I talked about your home. Everybody
comes from different homes. Everybody has a home that they called home. In that home has a lot of valuable things, but the
people in it are really what matter.
People have different homes. The home me and my wife share now is awesome, but it's not the home I have lived in my whole
life. I told those guys, whatever you have to do, let's do what we have to do to protect this house. The good news is there's going
to be 70,000, 80,000 people there tomorrow to help you do this. I thought they bought into it hook, line and sinker. Never wavered.
Needed help from the crowd. They delivered.
This is a really good performance, really good thing for our football team, but for the Razorbacks in general. All those people that
came to make this happen after that disappointment last week, I know it was hard for them as well during the course of the week.
Our guys responded the right way.
Came out of it pretty healthy, I think. Matt (Summers) and his crew to get a lot of our guys healthy. Those guys were banged up.
That Alabama game was very, very physical. Those guys responded the right way in the training room. So now we'll actually have
a moment. It's kind of nice, we have fall break. I'll give those guys a little time tomorrow to gather themselves. Won't get them back
over here until Monday afternoon, have a mini bye week before we get in our preparation, go take on a very tough Auburn team
who is playing here really tough at the end.
SEC West, no surprise, week after week is a new opportunity and a new challenge. With that I'll open it up for questions.”
Q. Your defense got you some stops. Even a 38-yard drive.
“You know, one of the things we obviously do statistically is break down your opponent. Some of the numbers that this offense
has put up, meaning Ole Miss, has been very impressive against a team like last week they put the numbers that they put up in
the first half against Alabama were unbelievable. Then obviously the games of late, maybe against Georgia and all those other
schools, kind of get daunting.
But our kids really focused on the task. We knew our three keys, one of them was obviously to align and play the call correctly for
four quarters from the snap to the whistle. I thought our guys did that. Obviously gave up a few plays. But they're good.
Our last key was to control (Chad) Kelly. We wanted to control him, maybe intimidate and rattle him a little bit. I think our guys
were having some fun out there with him, the very good competitor that he is. To have that game the way it did with the QB
scramble, I think our guy laid the wood pretty good, popped that ball out, was kind of a fun way to end it.”
Q. Rawleigh obviously had a monster game. How big was he?
“Yeah, first Rawleigh's (Williams) big opportunities came because he was preparing for this day every which way possible.
Obviously the whole recruiting story. But Kody (Walker) unfortunately didn't get injured in this game, he got injured before the year
even started. He's a kid that's been trying to play with a foot injury. When he got done with that Alabama game, he couldn't even
walk on Sunday. He is actually going to have surgery tomorrow. So that removes him for the year.
Really Rawleigh, Devwah (Whaley) and T.J. Hammonds have been preparing as the one and two guys. Rawleigh did a lot of
really good things. I think he will give a lot of credit to the guys up front. He's an exceptional football player with great focus and I
am glad he is playing with for us. Devwah came in. I don't know if Rawleigh could do that for four quarters. Devwah getting in
there and hit a couple of explosive runs is pretty good.”
Q. Your thoughts on the play of Austin. Hatcher makes a big catch there late.
“Hatch (Keon Hatcher) is one of those guys a little banged up. I knew it was going to take a lot to deny him an opportunity to go
out there today. Drew, you guys saw that shot he took on the back. Took an unbelievable amount of work for him during the
course of the week to even get out there. Another gritty performance by No. 8.
He is an incredible kid with great fight, great moxie, great perseverance, and another great indication of what he's all about.”
Q. It seemed like in this game, Austin was able to stay up. Wasn't on his back a lot in the first half. What did the offensive
line do right this time?
“Not always a lot to do with the offensive line. When the quarterback gets hit, it's not always the offensive line. There's definitely
things we did. I give a lot of credit to Kurt and our offensive staff. Dan put together a plan, certain protection things we had to do
obviously.
Our guys just keep getting better. I think Brian Wallace, in particular those guys really this week jumped up in their preparation. I
thought Jake Raulerson did as well. He kind of increased his intensity at practice. In the SEC, we call it the SEC strain. You got to
take that extra step, that extra push, that extra shove to keep our quarterback protected that much longer. A lots of them, it's that
bam, bam. You know what I mean?
Again, our guys did some really good things, not only our O-line, fullbacks, tight ends. Devwah, early in the first half, he came
across a formation, I believe their guy blitzed off the edge. He never seen that look. But he knew he had to keep his quarterback
upright. That was an unbelievable growing play for that kid.”
Q. On De'Andre's targeting ejection, did you get any clarity on what they were looking at there? Second time this season,
is there something you have to do to work with him?
“The first one, obviously was a case all by itself. This one, what we always talk about when we have an interception is you take
care -- usually the guy that is intended to catch the ball, defensive coaches, take care of the intended receiver, which means the
first guy on the team knock that guy out.
They obviously saw it and called it a targeting. I'm sure it's a great call again. So we'll take that and look at it.
I do know that the way they worded things over the loud speaker means they really couldn't go either way with it. They couldn't
overturn it, so it was inconclusive. I think that's where it stayed. That's I'm sure where it stayed. I'm sure another great call.”
Q. You had 200 rushing yards. How good was it to get the running game?
“I learned with Hayden Fry a long time ago, someone can throw for over 300 yards and you still have a chance to win. But if
somebody runs for 200 or higher, you really have a chance to win. I preached that to our guys all week. I knew we had to run the
football. I thought there were explosive plays we took advantage of.
For our formula, not everybody's formula. Last week we threw for 400 yards against Alabama. Great to talk about, scored 40
points. Not an easy task. But we can't win the game that way, you know. For us to play our formula, here at Arkansas, to have
success, we got to have them both work.”
Q. Penalties came in, became sort of a factor today. Overturned some interception plays. What is going to happen to
overcome that?
“You know, obviously penalties, we preach all the time about playing clean. We were snake bit on a couple things. I thought there
were two plays in the kicking game where we have to look and analyze why that happened. When we intercepted the ball, I
believe they called the corner off-sides. I think that was D.J (Dean). on a boundary there. We got to clean that up and make sure
we're getting ourselves aligned. Kind of one of those plays.
Then Ryan (Pulley) came back. That little spot on the field was unfortunate for us. Ryan could have had the pick-six. We talk
about CTOTTY - catch the ones they throw you. Again, we're splitting hairs. I'm going to enjoy this win. Big recruiting weekend for
us. Big stage on national TV. For us as a program to be in the SEC West, to be where we're at, and to continue to move and
advance, we'd obviously love to have those other two games back. We had an opportunity to win them both, but we didn't. You
earn everything in this world, especially in the SEC West.”
Q. In a close game, talk about Toby Baker.
“He wants to be called a punter. That was into the wind. That was a huge hit. I'm going to tell you now, it's kind of a tale. When my
coaches, you know, so we have guys that are in charge of every unit. Barry Lunney runs punt. He's really incorporated Toby into
the plan each week because we hadn't done that before. Ever since we started doing that, he even raised his performance even
higher. We say, We want this many yards, this amount of hang time, he's even exceeded it sometimes.
I give a lot credit to Toby Baker. He's a self-made man. He was a walk-on here that was behind Sammy (Irwin-Hill). He just kept
plugging ahead. Just relentless. And the pooches, too, you know that we had. I know that one bounced in the end zone, but that
could have been down on the one-yard line. Very thankful and fortunate for Toby.”
Q. Josh couldn't be more confident, more enthusiastic in his play tonight.
“Yeah, I think two things. First, Josh (Liddell) is a relentless preparing guy. He's a very quiet young man. If you interview him, get
two words out of him, you're doing good. I've spoken to him six times and I've known him for four years. Very quiet man, confident
man.
He did a nice job of bouncing back. Last week, make a lot of people look silly. You know what I mean? You can't just dwell on that
world. He knew he had to get better and he did that. Again, just a true testament.
I'll tell you what, Paul Rhoads, too. I'm very blessed to have the staff that I have. The combination of Rob and Paul and Vernon
and Rory defensively when everybody is saying all these things, to bounce back and play the way they did today was big.”
Q. In the goal line situation, there was more success today than the Texas A&M game. What was the difference?
“Well, I think we're getting better. One of the things we always struggle with here at Arkansas is just keeping this roster complete,
you know, the depth we need to go. I make reference all the time, we do a good enough job at it, if we start losing guys, we
missed some juniors that jumped out early in the draft. Glad we developed them. That kind of hurt our armor a little bit.
Now we have a lot of first- and second-year players as linemen that are trying to play in this league and it's not that easy. They're
getting better every week. We don't cut corners at practice. Kurt, those linemen are always working, always grinding.
I'll tell you what, Kurt Anderson’s development, No. 70 for us is playing at a high level and everybody else is trying to catch him. I
think the development that he's shown this year from where he was a year ago at this time is a great indication of what a great Oline coach we have.”
Q. Lost Dre. You put Dwayne Eugene in, linebackers looked solid.
“Two things. Dre is a very talented young man. I think we began to rep some guys in there the last two weeks, which ended up
being a blessing in disguise. Things always happen for a reason. Mark came up to me, funny. Here is a notebook. Somebody left
it. I saw it right away. It was Dwayne Eugene's. I didn't have to look at it. He brings that notebook into every meeting, team
meeting, punt meeting, PBR, KOC, KOR.
His mom and dad have raised an incredible kid. He came out a great program where he learned how to prepare for a game.
Never redshirted, never started. Unusual when you don't redshirt a main starter. I said this morning in the team meeting before we
left for the hotel, 35 has earned this opportunity. I know Dre got injured. But 35 has earned for this opportunity by the way he
prepared. You saw it out there today.”
Q. Keon comes up with a couple of big catches, fourth down catch. Talk about that.
“Keon is what we always say, he's a big receiver and he plays big. A lot of times guys of his size and stature play small, don't
frame it up. He's always going up big and catching the ball in his hands. Again, I think he has a good rapport with him. Really
distributed the ball pretty good.
Little ankle injury at the end. (Austin) Cantrell popped in there. I don't know how many guys caught balls, but I thought Austin
distributed the ball pretty good.:
Q. How big was that fourth down catch by Keon? You had two losses. This is your third game against a top-12 team.
How big a win is this for you guys at this stage?
“Four down calls. Going into the fourth quarter, I knew the game we were playing in, my analytics with Coach Ash, what we've
used this year. I knew we were going to be aggressive on fourth down calls in the fourth quarter because of the offense we were
facing. That put me in a position to say, ‘Go ahead and make it happen’. Then the execution to call by Dan and the staff. Dan and
the staff put together an unbelievable game plan once again and adjusted as the game went on.
The SEC and the SEC West is just like it's a whole other league, whole other world that you live in. To have three teams now, I
think everybody has been in the top 15 that we played. I don't know what happened today. I saw Alabama was up pretty good,
right? A&M had a bye week. Obviously we got Ole Miss. I'm sure Auburn is going to be ranked in the top 20 next week. It's just
kind of fun. It is what it is. It's not fun when you lose. But it's a lot of fun when you win.
You have to keep it in perspective. I told those guys on Sunday, you lost to two teams that are undefeated, might be one of the
two best teams in college football. Keep in perspective where we are, keep working, keep grinding, and someday we'll be there.”
Q. You controlled the pace of play and momentum throughout the game. Double the time of possession as Ole Miss.
How did that come into factor?
“It's got to be a part of our DNA. When we don't have that formula, we're not going to win. We'll get an occasional win; the cards
are aligned the right way. Our DNA means time of possession, moving the sticks, being methodical, process things. Big plays.
On the flipside, one of the things that really jumped out, we need to convert some of those touchdowns. Two field goals in the first
half, three opportunities in the red zone where we came away with only six points.
God bless. Go Hogs.”
Rawleigh Williams on running the ball:
“Coach Bielima and the coaching staff always preach fighting that extra second and things will open up. That’s what happened
today and things opened up like they haven’t all season.”
Rawleigh Williams on his big game against the school he originally committed to:
“I have a lot of friends on that team and they’re a great team, so for us to have success like we did today means a lot to me and
our offense.”
Rawleigh Williams on getting back on track:
“It was tough last week and we bounced back. We always say we have a good football team and nobody can take that away from
us, because we know what we have in our locker room. We had to work hard this week and it paid off for us today.”
Rawleigh Williams on the first SEC win:
“It’s huge, especially against a quality team like Ole Miss. They have a lot of athletes so we had to pull that one out today, and it
was a good win for our team.”
Rawleigh Williams on his receiving TD:
“It’s all good, helped my QB out.”
Rawleigh Williams on the previous redzone issues:
“It’s good we produced. We just have to want it more than the other team and we have to fight. Today we said we weren’t going to
be denied.”
Rawleigh Williams on the 1-2 punch with Devwah Whaley:
“So proud of that kid. He earns everything he gets. I think it’ll pay off in the long run for both of us.”
Rawleigh Williams on Kody Walker’s injury:
“I hate that for him. He’s a great person. I don’t think that’ll hurt him at all, because he’ll be successful in life in whatever he does. I
think he’ll bounce back.”
Jeremiah Ledbetter on Chad Kelly:
“We knew he was a good player just from last year. We knew we could rattle him. We got pressure on him. We focused on the
mistakes we made from last year and perfected them.”
Jeremiah Ledbetter on getting stops:
“We got stops during critical times. We knew that we could do it and we showed everybody we can do it.”
Jeremiah Ledbetter on cleaning things up:
“Tackling was one of the main things we cleaned up. Pressure was also big for us.”
Jeremiah Ledbetter on the sack at the end of the game:
“I saw the offensive line slide my way so that worked for the pressure that we came with. Taijuan and I saw daylight.”
Jeremiah Ledbetter on putting pressure on Kelly:
“I feel like we did pretty well overall with it. Just us coming in with the mindset that we can do this. We repped it over and over
during practice and overall dominating.”
Jeremiah Ledbetter on showing people the defense can stop teams:
“Knowing we can actually do it and showing people every game is the goal.”
Jeremiah Ledbetter on SEC win:
“It feels good and we’re building momentum.”
Jared Cornelius on the crowd:
“The crowd was great and we need it every time. A lot of people don’t understand how much impact a crowd has on a defense
that’s trying to get calls.”
Jared Cornelius on Reed’s game:
“We told him that if he didn’t get the job done this Saturday he was going to change back to 87. I guess he played well so he didn’t
have to change numbers. He’s a great football player and he knows how to get open. He uses his speed well and it worked
tonight.”
Jared Cornelius on Austin’s play:
“Same as always, he’s consistent. He’s a great leader and a great QB. He does what it takes to win a football game and we love
him.”
Jared Cornelius on the relief of the first conference win:
“Beating a great team like this is a great confidence booster. We have a lot of tough games left, but getting the first SEC win at
home is a good booster going into this tough schedule.”
Jared Cornelius on the game winning TD:
“The play was designed to go outside, but the OL kinda stretched and the defense all rushed outside. I put my foot in the ground
and the hole just opened up like the red sea, so it wasn’t much I did. I’m not a guy that cares a lot about stats, just as long as we
get the W.”
Austin Allen on the win:
“It was huge, not just for us, but the whole state. Throughout the week we knew what could happen if we played well, and that was
a win. We came in after Alabama on Sunday and really prepared well all week. The way the defense played this week, that will
give us opportunities to win a lot of games.”
Austin Allen on visiting stadium on Friday:
“It gave us a sense of pride. We didn’t want to lose on our home field again. A lot of people bought into the speech coach gave us.
That was to protect your house and the people in your house. We needed that speech.”
Austin Allen on the matchup with Kelly:
“He’s a heck of a player. He makes a lot of plays and I’m just glad we came out with a W.”
Austin Allen on Keon Hatcher’s conversions:
“The fourth down one he was a free option, so when the corner is off him you throw it to him. He ran a great route. The next one
he was the first option and he went up and made a play for me. Any time he’s one on one I try to work him.”