Southern Miss head coach Jay Hopson
Opening statement
“That was a hard-fought win. We knew it would be. Louisiana Tech has our utmost respect. Our kids kept battling, and I couldn't be prouder of these young men. They just kept clawing and scratching. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter, and we did. These kind of games are fun to win, but tough to lose.”
On the overall execution of the team
“Those two teams battled hard. I thought our guys did a good job. Tate and Jack both did well, and Neil had a huge play on his touchdown reception. We bent but didn't break a little on defense, playing aggressive and tackled well.”
On Senior Day
“We have a bunch of outstanding young guys. They keep battling. They show up and fight. They're great kids. The underclassmen and coaches wanted to send the seniors out right in The Rock. That was certainly a great sendoff. You never forget your last game, and it's something you don't quite recognize till 2-3 years down the road. We're gonna get back at it tomorrow to face another tough conference team on the road in UTEP.”
On the timeline of knowing if Jack Abraham would be ready to start at QB
We felt good on Monday. Sunday, we still didn't know. We knew we would play both of them, since they both have earned the right to play. He and Tate both did a good job.
On bouncing back from the overtime loss at UAB
“I said it last week after the UAB game that this team would come out fighting. Give these seniors and young men a lot of credit.”
On the defense’s performance
“I thought we were up and down a little bit. We tightened some things up in the second half because our coverage was a little loose. We locked down and two talented corners that can run with anyone. I certainly thought we played better in the second half.”
On Ernest Gunn’s crucial third-down pass breakup on a fourth-quarter deep ball
“I thought it might be big. Ernest is a guy that's played a lot of football here. He's tall, fast and old, so you have a guy like that you can go to. It's not just a true freshman out there. He did a good job. It was a team win, we had to make some moves.”
On running back Steven Anderson’s performance
“Steven runs hard. He's a guy that is turning into a really good running back. It takes some time, but he's getting better and better. He's running lower, and he was a big part of that last drive that sealed the win for us.”
Sophomore quarterback Jack Abraham
On his 12-yard, first-down completion to Tim Jones that kept the final drive alive
“That play was one of ours this week, where we had to have it. We felt safe calling it, I had a lot of trust in Tim making that catch.”
On Neil McLaurin's TD catch
“You put the ball in his hands and let him make the play. That's my job. He put that guy on the turf, and it was awesome to see him score.”
On earning the win over the first college he attended
It's a huge game for us going into UTEP as we try for that bowl game. It's a good win over a rival. It felt good to go out there and get the win. I was just trying to treat it like any other game. I know a lot of those guys and still talk to them. I tried to come into this one with the same motivation as any other week. It was fun playing against them for sure and talking back and forth with them.”
On in-game discussions with the Bulldogs
“It wasn't usual trash talk, just some back-and-forth. It was fun for sure. I was playing against guys I used to practice against. Going into the fourth quarter, we started feeling confident that we would come out with the win.”
On how he and the offense performed
“They have a good defense. I thought our offensive line played awesome. They gave me a good 4-5 seconds to throw most of the time, and when you're going up against a good player like Jaylon Ferguson, he will get to you at some point. They played their tails off and played the game to the best of their ability, and I'm proud of them.”
On the in-game switching between him and QB Tate Whatley
“I'm all for it. He's done a good job these last few weeks and can get some good QB runs and some nice throws. I'm proud of him and our team.”
LA Tech Head Football Coach Skip Holtz
Opening statement
“We moved the ball against a team that is one of the better defenses in our league. I thought that we moved the ball with a little bit of success. I thought the passing game contributed some good things but the negative in the passing game was the lack of the big play. We had a number of opportunities down the field but we just couldn’t take advantage of them. I thought our offense, defense and special teams all competed hard it’s just unfortunate that we came up a point short. We lost this game in double overtime a year ago and it was hard. Officiating calls went against us. It’s hard to lose when you have a team that competes as hard as our guys do but unfortunately we weren’t able to get it done tonight. I thought a lot of guys played their tails off though.”
On Adrian Hardy being tackled in the end zone
“The official said that he thought it was two players jockeying. I’m not allowed to really comment about officiating under league rules but like I said, there were definitely some calls that we will have to look at on film because I felt like there were a number of questionable calls out there. They call the game the way that they see it. I don’t always say that I agree with it but they call the game the way they see it.”
On LA Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith
“J’Mar was dialed in. I thought he played a really good football game.”
On his thoughts of his team’s performance
“When we came in we wanted to have balance and we wanted to be able to run the ball but unfortunately we were unable to do it. We had first and six and we had second and four on our opening drive and gained a yard each time. I thought we pass protected very well but from a run blocking standpoint, it certainly wasn’t our best. They (Southern Miss) do a good job with their run defense and kind of put us a little but more in the passing game. Like I said, we couldn’t take advantage of our deep ball opportunities. We had some guys wide open and we just couldn’t take advantage of it. It’s hard to lose but I am proud of the way that this team competed. I am proud of the way that they have fought all year and I am proud of the leadership on this team. It’s hard to win on the road, you get some calls that go against you and it gets frustrating at times but you have to keep playing the next play. Like I said, I as a head coach have to look at what we have to do to give our players a chance and I felt like we did for a large extent. There were some calls that went against us and some things that we could have done better but we had our other opportunities in this game as well. We had some other opportunities, we just couldn’t capitalize on them.”
Opening statement
“That was a hard-fought win. We knew it would be. Louisiana Tech has our utmost respect. Our kids kept battling, and I couldn't be prouder of these young men. They just kept clawing and scratching. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter, and we did. These kind of games are fun to win, but tough to lose.”
On the overall execution of the team
“Those two teams battled hard. I thought our guys did a good job. Tate and Jack both did well, and Neil had a huge play on his touchdown reception. We bent but didn't break a little on defense, playing aggressive and tackled well.”
On Senior Day
“We have a bunch of outstanding young guys. They keep battling. They show up and fight. They're great kids. The underclassmen and coaches wanted to send the seniors out right in The Rock. That was certainly a great sendoff. You never forget your last game, and it's something you don't quite recognize till 2-3 years down the road. We're gonna get back at it tomorrow to face another tough conference team on the road in UTEP.”
On the timeline of knowing if Jack Abraham would be ready to start at QB
We felt good on Monday. Sunday, we still didn't know. We knew we would play both of them, since they both have earned the right to play. He and Tate both did a good job.
On bouncing back from the overtime loss at UAB
“I said it last week after the UAB game that this team would come out fighting. Give these seniors and young men a lot of credit.”
On the defense’s performance
“I thought we were up and down a little bit. We tightened some things up in the second half because our coverage was a little loose. We locked down and two talented corners that can run with anyone. I certainly thought we played better in the second half.”
On Ernest Gunn’s crucial third-down pass breakup on a fourth-quarter deep ball
“I thought it might be big. Ernest is a guy that's played a lot of football here. He's tall, fast and old, so you have a guy like that you can go to. It's not just a true freshman out there. He did a good job. It was a team win, we had to make some moves.”
On running back Steven Anderson’s performance
“Steven runs hard. He's a guy that is turning into a really good running back. It takes some time, but he's getting better and better. He's running lower, and he was a big part of that last drive that sealed the win for us.”
Sophomore quarterback Jack Abraham
On his 12-yard, first-down completion to Tim Jones that kept the final drive alive
“That play was one of ours this week, where we had to have it. We felt safe calling it, I had a lot of trust in Tim making that catch.”
On Neil McLaurin's TD catch
“You put the ball in his hands and let him make the play. That's my job. He put that guy on the turf, and it was awesome to see him score.”
On earning the win over the first college he attended
It's a huge game for us going into UTEP as we try for that bowl game. It's a good win over a rival. It felt good to go out there and get the win. I was just trying to treat it like any other game. I know a lot of those guys and still talk to them. I tried to come into this one with the same motivation as any other week. It was fun playing against them for sure and talking back and forth with them.”
On in-game discussions with the Bulldogs
“It wasn't usual trash talk, just some back-and-forth. It was fun for sure. I was playing against guys I used to practice against. Going into the fourth quarter, we started feeling confident that we would come out with the win.”
On how he and the offense performed
“They have a good defense. I thought our offensive line played awesome. They gave me a good 4-5 seconds to throw most of the time, and when you're going up against a good player like Jaylon Ferguson, he will get to you at some point. They played their tails off and played the game to the best of their ability, and I'm proud of them.”
On the in-game switching between him and QB Tate Whatley
“I'm all for it. He's done a good job these last few weeks and can get some good QB runs and some nice throws. I'm proud of him and our team.”
LA Tech Head Football Coach Skip Holtz
Opening statement
“We moved the ball against a team that is one of the better defenses in our league. I thought that we moved the ball with a little bit of success. I thought the passing game contributed some good things but the negative in the passing game was the lack of the big play. We had a number of opportunities down the field but we just couldn’t take advantage of them. I thought our offense, defense and special teams all competed hard it’s just unfortunate that we came up a point short. We lost this game in double overtime a year ago and it was hard. Officiating calls went against us. It’s hard to lose when you have a team that competes as hard as our guys do but unfortunately we weren’t able to get it done tonight. I thought a lot of guys played their tails off though.”
On Adrian Hardy being tackled in the end zone
“The official said that he thought it was two players jockeying. I’m not allowed to really comment about officiating under league rules but like I said, there were definitely some calls that we will have to look at on film because I felt like there were a number of questionable calls out there. They call the game the way that they see it. I don’t always say that I agree with it but they call the game the way they see it.”
On LA Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith
“J’Mar was dialed in. I thought he played a really good football game.”
On his thoughts of his team’s performance
“When we came in we wanted to have balance and we wanted to be able to run the ball but unfortunately we were unable to do it. We had first and six and we had second and four on our opening drive and gained a yard each time. I thought we pass protected very well but from a run blocking standpoint, it certainly wasn’t our best. They (Southern Miss) do a good job with their run defense and kind of put us a little but more in the passing game. Like I said, we couldn’t take advantage of our deep ball opportunities. We had some guys wide open and we just couldn’t take advantage of it. It’s hard to lose but I am proud of the way that this team competed. I am proud of the way that they have fought all year and I am proud of the leadership on this team. It’s hard to win on the road, you get some calls that go against you and it gets frustrating at times but you have to keep playing the next play. Like I said, I as a head coach have to look at what we have to do to give our players a chance and I felt like we did for a large extent. There were some calls that went against us and some things that we could have done better but we had our other opportunities in this game as well. We had some other opportunities, we just couldn’t capitalize on them.”
