I'm working on What He Said...
But in case you're interested, this is the unedited, raw Sam Pittman transcript from today. He's very complimentary of Ole Miss.
Sam Pittman (10-2-23)
OL, RB, TE can't block. Why?
"We're going to look at some different scenarios up front and see if we can't... You know, sometimes... There's a difference in panic and really reviewing what we're trying to do and who is trying to do it. So, we may shake up the offensive line a little bit. You have to practice it and see if what you think might work works in practice. I think that would be one way. We've got to make some guys miss at running back. Our quarterback has to play consistent, and we've got to be able to get open. If you look at it offensively, I think a lot of it has been maybe tagged on the offensive line, and there's certainly problems there. But there's a lot of areas that we can get better at. We're going to open completely up our tight end situation and see who can play in there because we've been a little bit of musical chairs there with the exception of Luke (Hasz). But we've got to do a better job coaching. We have to do a better job with the details. We found a positive in the penalties. We cut that down, which I think hurt us with some results in winning and losing. So, that was one positive, but we all have to play better. And we have to get some explosive plays. Obviously, we were unfortunate we could have tied the game up there. I think our team... I'll have a better feel for them this afternoon but I've talked to a lot of the kids today. We lost three in a row two years ago and bounced back pretty good. I think we will again, but I don't know that we can continue to do the same thing and say we're just going to get better at them. I think we've got to shuffle some things up to maybe ignite a spark into us a little bit because I do think we've got good players. We've just got to play better and coach better."
Dom to TE? Kutas to C? Limmer to G? Latham to T? Those the moves?
"Exactly. I think you hit most of them. It's exactly what we're doing. I think lost in this a little bit is I've been fairly pleased with our defense. Three turnovers and things of that nature. But offensively I think you hit on some of the moves we're going to look at."
KUTAS/MANUEL/CHAMBLEE SPECIFICALLY, SPEED UP OR SLOW DOWN
Yeah, you’re right on the second half of that, it’s got to slow down somehow for them. A lot of times that’s just playing, experience. Obviously you’re going to make a few more mistakes, technique wise, when you’re younger. But I think we have the guys, the five best. I don’t know that we have them in the correct position. We may. But I think we’re going to look at some of that changing to maybe help them. Maybe simplify it. Maybe put them by an older guy that can help them, communicate with them, things of that nature. Obviously in the first five games we thought we had them exactly where … fall camp, spring ball, combination would be. What happened a little bit with Dev was he didn’t practice basically for three or four weeks and he got behind mentally. So he’s got to catch up and the only way I know how to do that is he’s got to rep that. We can’t move him. He’s behind mentally so we have to keep him in that spot - to me. But some of the other guys, with some veterans around them I think will help them. But to answer your question, I don’t know how you speed that up without practice and playing. It’s hard to become a sophomore when you’re still a freshman. I think it’s just experience. And they’ve got to do something well and I think any confidence then that helps them do something again well.
ON GUMMS/WHAT INHIBITED HIS P.T. THERE OTHER THAN LUKE
Yeah, his film was good and he’s a good player. The physicality part of it. Again, his ability to make plays. He has it, he just has to make them. A lot of his, to be honest with you, a lot of his non-playing was because of Luke. Because they were very similar in blocking, but route running, and as far as their assets were. I think you’ll see a good player from him. I do. Just one that wasn’t able to get on the field quite as much because Luke was ahead of him.
WHAT U C FROM OLE MISS OFFENSE, ATTACKS EVERYWHERE
Oh man. Well Dart’s really good. I mean really good. Those two running backs, I think they’re as good as anybody has. Both of them. They’re good. Judkins is really special. The transfer from SMU, 24, is really good, and he’s a kickoff returner as well. Their line, you know they’ve got three veterans, center over right, and they went in the transfer portal and got a couple good players on the offensive line. But you know, I think coach, he runs the ball quite a little bit. I would too if I had them running backs, like we’re trying to do. But you see a lot of explosives. For us to win, we’re going to have to cut those explosive plays out. And that’s 4 going up the middle of the field as well.
For us to win we’re going to have to cut those explosive plays out. That’s 4 going up the middle of the field as well. But they basically run four running plays, basically is what it is. Off of that they have either RPO or read from the quarterback. And Dart’s a lot faster than I want him to be (smiles). But they’ve got playmakers everywhere. I think they’ve got three receivers over 300 yards catching. Just really scary. I mean, they’re explosive. I think we’ll have a good game plan as always. And their tight end’s a good player. I don’t think he played maybe week two and three, but he’s back now and he’s a good player.
(Looking at this as a fan, series has been wild, lot of fun games. What do you think of when you’re getting ready to play Ole Miss?)
I think the first thing you think is offense, you know. We’ve got to score a lot of points to stay in the game. You think of Lane Kiffin, and what a … I don’’t know, the world ‘mastermind’ or whatever. He’s as good a play-caller as there is in the game. So you think of those two things.
Pete Golding has done a great job with their defense. I know obviously they have up some points Saturday night. I guess that’s why people like college football, because of games like that. It was incredible. They are much better up front than they have been on defense, and now they’re knocking the hell out of you from the back end.
But when you think of the series, it’s been a fun series. We’ve had some success in the series since I’ve been here. Obviously we got bowl eligible last year playing Ole Miss. I have a lot respect for them playing over there … The last time we went over there it was a morning game, if I’m correct. But I think it’s going to be one of hell of a game for the fans to watch, and we’re excited to go over there.
But you think about the offense and all the points and all the playmakers they have.
(What have the defensive coordinators done well?)
They’re getting them to play sound football and hard football. We’re giving less and less explosives. We’re where we’re supposed to be.
I think our guys are really taking to the fellas and believe in them, and things of that nature. I just think they’re playing hard, and they’re playing sound football. We have a few more players depth-wise than we had last year that are allowing us to do that, I think.
(Given your background, how much of a hands-on approach do you take with that unit?)
On the field, not a tremendous amount on the field. Off the field … We’ve got a great offensive line coach. The same one that we had when we led the Power 5 in rushing two years ago and the same one that everybody tries to get when the season’s over with. Off the field, I have a lot of, aw, what’s the word, input? Not input. It’s not counseling either. Off the field I have several questions about what we’re doing.and how we’re doing it, and this, that and the other. I want to be conscious that I didn’t overstep anybody’s boundary as the offensive line coach. Because we’ve got a really good one. He’ll get it fixed as good as anybody can. But to answer your question, not a whole lot on the field.
(How close was Rocket to 100%? How has he bounced back the last couple of days?)
I don’t think he was 100%. It’d be hard for me to think you’d be out for three games and then be able to come in there and just… I do think he brought a spark to the team as far as being back and all those type things. But I think if you watched the game, I don’t think that you would think that he was at 100%. Still got a little fluid there, but he’ll obviously be better this week than he was last week. He went out there and played hard and all those things, but I don’t think he was the old Rocket yet. But I think he will certainly get there.
(Updates on McGlothern, Morgan, Jashaud Stewart)
Stew’s got a groin issue, so I don’t know if he’ll be back or not. Nudie, there’s a possibility, but I don’t think he’ll practice today. And you said somebody else?
(John Morgan)
John. That’s the great news. John, talked to him Saturday night when we got back. He was in great spirits. He had another test this afternoon that I haven’t heard the results of that yet. Or is having one this afternoon. He hasn’t had the test, so how could you get the results? But he’s in great spirits. Honestly, I think he got hit right here (MOTIONS A PUNCH TO THE JAW), like a punch. But I would think that he would have an opportunity to play this week.
(Dart is known as a passer, but he hurdled a dude, not sure if you saw that… Also, Isaiah Sategna is a hurdler - thoughts on his play?)
Well, Dart, like I said before, he’s fast. Ole Miss, it looks like they’re having fun, and he’s jumping over people. And to answer your question, I’ve seen every play they’ve had this year — offense, defense and special teams — so I’ve seen them. That’s why I look a little tired. (Laughs) But yeah. The thing about him is he’s a great passer, but he’s just fast and athletic.
Isaiah’s, iffa (YES, THAT’S WHAT HE SAID), woulda, coulda, shoulda, he lands on his feet, he just lands on his feet without the ball. His knee actually knocked the ball out of his hand. If he has the ball in his hand, he may still be running. I really like what he’s brought to us. I know that he had a little bit of a ball (security) issue on Saturday, but we’re not going to give up on him. I think he brings a lot to us and I really like his athleticism. And he’s one of those guys that wants to do that. You’ve got to five a guy that really wants to do that, like Smith at A&M.
(Differences in Ole Miss from Alabama game to LSU game)
I think schematically [there were differences] as well. Schematically, I think there was two different schemes ran, two different coverages, things of that nature. Alabama’s front four, their two ends, had put quite a little bit of pressure, and they couldn’t run the ball quite as well as they did against LSU. [Against] LSU, they had success. It’s hard to stop somebody if they’re having success both in the run and in the pass. You’ve got to make them one dimensional. I think Alabama maybe had an opportunity to do that a little bit more. Here’s the bottom line: they missed some plays against Alabama or that game could have been different, too. They had some guys [open], and things they hit against LSU, they just missed against Alabama. But Alabama, they’ve been playing that defense for a long time, and they’ve got big, physical guys. I just think the different was they weren’t able to run the ball quite as well as they did against LSU. They didn’t quite hold up as well against Alabama’s front four as they did against LSU, which allowed Dart opportunities to make some plays.
(Tight end reps, how ya determining those)
I think what we’re going to do is we’re going to play two of them with the first group and two of them with the second group and we’re going to let them battle it out and figure out who it is on Saturday. To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t think there’s any of them that have really excelled over the other guy or anything like that. You have two different types of guys. You have Washington and Gumms, then you have Bax and Francis. They’re kind of over here and they’re kind of over here. We’re just going to let them battle it out this week and get them all the equal amount of reps and see who we’re going to throw out there first.
(Tight end group as a whole)
You look at Gumms and Tyrus, those guys are Luke Hasz type-ish if you go that direction. One of those two guys, I believe that they can [help]. Obviously Luke was a first-team guy, so we felt like he was the best tight end that we had. I do think our depth is better than what it was a year ago and we’ll certainly find out Saturday. But I feel confident in the group.
How has KJ been behind the scenes?
He’s been great. You know KJ has been here before. I don’t think he’ll mind me sharing, it was after the LSU game and I was just talking about we got to stay together. We got to get better. When I got through, he said coach, we’ve been here before. That made me feel good, like, we’ve lost two games in a row before and we’ve come back and he said it in front of the team. Our team, I think is resilient. I believe they are, and we’ll find out as the weeks keep going but we’ve got a lot of football left. To be honest with you, we need one. We need to get one and that’ll help us into something else, but we need to find a win. Obviously, we’ll try like hell on Saturday.
Mix on schematics and physicality on offensive push?
I think physicality is something that we certainly have to and have been addressing. Schematics, I think you can stay with your base run package, but you’ve got to have something that when you call it, that you think you can get a touchdown. You can get 20. You can get something off maybe a similar look that comes off of it. A little bit more LSUish. We tried to do some things there. Obviously, we’re still running stretch and we ran it well for you know, three years in a row. Sometimes we are, sometimes we’re not. I went back and looked at last year’s game and in that game, sometimes we did and sometimes we didn’t. But when we did, we went 50. We went 30. We went. For whatever reason, whether we’re not straining hard enough, not getting to the second level, whatever, we’re not having those plays. AJ I think did it against BYU, but other than that we’re not doing it. It’s got to be the strain, the physicality or the position the kids are playing, so we’re going to move it around a little bit.
TeSlaa separation an issue?
I’ll be honest with you, you know guys, a couple things, let me answer the question and tell you a couple things. One, if your quarterback doesn’t have time to throw it, that’s going to affect all your numbers as your receivers. Whether you got Treylon Burks out there or whether you don’t. If you’re nervous, or if you’re having to do too much in the pocket, you’re not going to be able to get the ball to Burks, you know what I mean? We have had that conversation about TeSlaa because we moved him to slot and my question was did that hurt his production? Then I go back and I look at it and I don’t think so. More what’s hurting those guys is just time to get the ball to him because I think he’s still getting open, it’s just, you should throw that, well that’s easy to say unless you’ve got five 300-pounders coming, getting close to you.
Oh, another thing I was going to say too is, you know when we go in after a game and we — don’t be nervous (towards Kyle I assume) — when we go in after a game, I want you to know something that I’m trying to answer your questions. But, I don’t see it. In other words, I don’t have the replay of it. I see it one time. And I’m on the field so I’m looking way over — sometimes I don’t see it. You know they say the ole coach speak, I think that came because you don’t want to seem like a dummy and say ‘Well, I didn’t see it.’ But you make up something, you know what I mean? So sometimes when we come in after a game, it’s hard to answer all the questions because some of it I just don’t know. And maybe I just say, ‘I don’t know. I didn’t see it.’ But, y’all get a chance to see it on replay. You know what I’m saying. I don’t know why I said that, but I did.
Talk about Max Fletcher’s punts and the balance between punting it far and the coverage team getting back faster.
Pittman: Another good conversation that we had and we have had. Now, it didn’t hurt us until the other night. He (Max Fletcher) boom boomed it. Two (Ainias Smith) is a really good punt returner and we knew it. First of all, we thought that we could win at the gunners and be close. Now, not five yards, not two yards close. We knew we would have 10 yards cushion. We felt comfortable that we could get him on the ground. I think there’s twofold, you tell Max to kick it out of bounds, or you tell him to take something off. We’ve all seen taking something off don’t work. That’s not his deal. So, I went back and just said ‘Hey, Max, kick the damn thing as far as you can kick it. We’ll cover it. Put it in the zone, don’t put it in the middle of the field.’ Things of that nature. And it stung us, you know, the other night. We are going to look into, if we feel like we’ve got a dangerous guy back there looking to kick it out of bounds. But then you have that problem of taking something off of it and kicking it out of bounds. So, we’ve got to really work on that and see if we can get consistent with — because we’re just now getting consistent punting it. And doing a really good job. So, there’s a little bit of that going on.
Talk on KJ breaking the total touchdown record.
Pittman: Well, probably not. That’s not — you know, things have changed of that nature because of social media because all the kids know it. If they’re on any type of (social media), they already know it. That was Saturday, and now it’s Monday. I’m really weird about rewards and records and all that kind of stuff. I would have — if we would have won or something like that, then in the locker room that would’ve been a really special moment. But I forgot all about it to be honest with you. But it’s really a great — you’ve got to stay healthy for a long time and you’ve got to be a great player to set any kind of record. I’m real happy for him and I hope he puts it so far out there that the next guy has a way to go to catch it. But I’m really happy for him.
You said the defense can stop explosive plays, Can you though given that Dart just blew through LSU?
Yes, I am against a really good offensive team and that may be limiting it to 5, might be limiting it to 3. They’re going to get some. You know it, I know it; everybody knows it. You know what I mean? It can’t be 10, can't be 12,. Can't let them get behind us, LSU obviously did. To answer your question, yes. I am confident in our defense, and I think they are making huge strides as the season’s gone on.
Lane’s good at coaching and social media… Take?
He’s great at it. I look at coach Kiffin in that as he just doesn't care. I don't know; I can't speak for the man, but I mean if somebody says something, he’ll come right back on. I bet it don't bother him an ounce. If he wants to make a joke on there about something. He’s special. He has a special gift there that I don't think it bothers him. It might, I don't want to speak for him. (Pause.) Mike Leach, he had a special gift, of after the game whether he won or lost he was like “Well, we prepared we did the best we could and dadgummit Sam we missed a field goal, and I'm going to go on social media and say it's open tryouts.“ You know what I mean, he just had a gift ,and I would watch him when I watched TV and coming off after losses, he would be so nice. I mean we’re all nice, but you know what I mean, Like genuine, happy for you, we’ve got to play better, whatever it might be. To me, Lane’s got that same ability with social media, instead of fighting it, he just goes with it. Obviously, I wish I had that same ability. I don’t. I respect how he handles all that. He takes some jabs and things of that nature, but I think it's all in good nature though.
Tom says that Sam has the ability with the media
Thank you
Game mean more to KJ in Oxford?
I’m sure it does. I think everybody in life needs a little bit of motivation to get to whatever you need to get. I think it's obviously a big deal going back. Last time we were down there we didn't quite get it done, but it sure wasn't because of him. If I look back at my going on four now, In my four years, there are a couple of games that stick out. One was Missouri his very first time, and we lost. The next one was Ole Miss, and we lost that one too, but it wasn't because of KJ. He was outstanding. We’ll get rolling. I believe in this team and believe in our coaching staff, and I’m really excited to get over to Ole Miss and see what happens Saturday Night.
But in case you're interested, this is the unedited, raw Sam Pittman transcript from today. He's very complimentary of Ole Miss.
Sam Pittman (10-2-23)
OL, RB, TE can't block. Why?
"We're going to look at some different scenarios up front and see if we can't... You know, sometimes... There's a difference in panic and really reviewing what we're trying to do and who is trying to do it. So, we may shake up the offensive line a little bit. You have to practice it and see if what you think might work works in practice. I think that would be one way. We've got to make some guys miss at running back. Our quarterback has to play consistent, and we've got to be able to get open. If you look at it offensively, I think a lot of it has been maybe tagged on the offensive line, and there's certainly problems there. But there's a lot of areas that we can get better at. We're going to open completely up our tight end situation and see who can play in there because we've been a little bit of musical chairs there with the exception of Luke (Hasz). But we've got to do a better job coaching. We have to do a better job with the details. We found a positive in the penalties. We cut that down, which I think hurt us with some results in winning and losing. So, that was one positive, but we all have to play better. And we have to get some explosive plays. Obviously, we were unfortunate we could have tied the game up there. I think our team... I'll have a better feel for them this afternoon but I've talked to a lot of the kids today. We lost three in a row two years ago and bounced back pretty good. I think we will again, but I don't know that we can continue to do the same thing and say we're just going to get better at them. I think we've got to shuffle some things up to maybe ignite a spark into us a little bit because I do think we've got good players. We've just got to play better and coach better."
Dom to TE? Kutas to C? Limmer to G? Latham to T? Those the moves?
"Exactly. I think you hit most of them. It's exactly what we're doing. I think lost in this a little bit is I've been fairly pleased with our defense. Three turnovers and things of that nature. But offensively I think you hit on some of the moves we're going to look at."
KUTAS/MANUEL/CHAMBLEE SPECIFICALLY, SPEED UP OR SLOW DOWN
Yeah, you’re right on the second half of that, it’s got to slow down somehow for them. A lot of times that’s just playing, experience. Obviously you’re going to make a few more mistakes, technique wise, when you’re younger. But I think we have the guys, the five best. I don’t know that we have them in the correct position. We may. But I think we’re going to look at some of that changing to maybe help them. Maybe simplify it. Maybe put them by an older guy that can help them, communicate with them, things of that nature. Obviously in the first five games we thought we had them exactly where … fall camp, spring ball, combination would be. What happened a little bit with Dev was he didn’t practice basically for three or four weeks and he got behind mentally. So he’s got to catch up and the only way I know how to do that is he’s got to rep that. We can’t move him. He’s behind mentally so we have to keep him in that spot - to me. But some of the other guys, with some veterans around them I think will help them. But to answer your question, I don’t know how you speed that up without practice and playing. It’s hard to become a sophomore when you’re still a freshman. I think it’s just experience. And they’ve got to do something well and I think any confidence then that helps them do something again well.
ON GUMMS/WHAT INHIBITED HIS P.T. THERE OTHER THAN LUKE
Yeah, his film was good and he’s a good player. The physicality part of it. Again, his ability to make plays. He has it, he just has to make them. A lot of his, to be honest with you, a lot of his non-playing was because of Luke. Because they were very similar in blocking, but route running, and as far as their assets were. I think you’ll see a good player from him. I do. Just one that wasn’t able to get on the field quite as much because Luke was ahead of him.
WHAT U C FROM OLE MISS OFFENSE, ATTACKS EVERYWHERE
Oh man. Well Dart’s really good. I mean really good. Those two running backs, I think they’re as good as anybody has. Both of them. They’re good. Judkins is really special. The transfer from SMU, 24, is really good, and he’s a kickoff returner as well. Their line, you know they’ve got three veterans, center over right, and they went in the transfer portal and got a couple good players on the offensive line. But you know, I think coach, he runs the ball quite a little bit. I would too if I had them running backs, like we’re trying to do. But you see a lot of explosives. For us to win, we’re going to have to cut those explosive plays out. And that’s 4 going up the middle of the field as well.
For us to win we’re going to have to cut those explosive plays out. That’s 4 going up the middle of the field as well. But they basically run four running plays, basically is what it is. Off of that they have either RPO or read from the quarterback. And Dart’s a lot faster than I want him to be (smiles). But they’ve got playmakers everywhere. I think they’ve got three receivers over 300 yards catching. Just really scary. I mean, they’re explosive. I think we’ll have a good game plan as always. And their tight end’s a good player. I don’t think he played maybe week two and three, but he’s back now and he’s a good player.
(Looking at this as a fan, series has been wild, lot of fun games. What do you think of when you’re getting ready to play Ole Miss?)
I think the first thing you think is offense, you know. We’ve got to score a lot of points to stay in the game. You think of Lane Kiffin, and what a … I don’’t know, the world ‘mastermind’ or whatever. He’s as good a play-caller as there is in the game. So you think of those two things.
Pete Golding has done a great job with their defense. I know obviously they have up some points Saturday night. I guess that’s why people like college football, because of games like that. It was incredible. They are much better up front than they have been on defense, and now they’re knocking the hell out of you from the back end.
But when you think of the series, it’s been a fun series. We’ve had some success in the series since I’ve been here. Obviously we got bowl eligible last year playing Ole Miss. I have a lot respect for them playing over there … The last time we went over there it was a morning game, if I’m correct. But I think it’s going to be one of hell of a game for the fans to watch, and we’re excited to go over there.
But you think about the offense and all the points and all the playmakers they have.
(What have the defensive coordinators done well?)
They’re getting them to play sound football and hard football. We’re giving less and less explosives. We’re where we’re supposed to be.
I think our guys are really taking to the fellas and believe in them, and things of that nature. I just think they’re playing hard, and they’re playing sound football. We have a few more players depth-wise than we had last year that are allowing us to do that, I think.
(Given your background, how much of a hands-on approach do you take with that unit?)
On the field, not a tremendous amount on the field. Off the field … We’ve got a great offensive line coach. The same one that we had when we led the Power 5 in rushing two years ago and the same one that everybody tries to get when the season’s over with. Off the field, I have a lot of, aw, what’s the word, input? Not input. It’s not counseling either. Off the field I have several questions about what we’re doing.and how we’re doing it, and this, that and the other. I want to be conscious that I didn’t overstep anybody’s boundary as the offensive line coach. Because we’ve got a really good one. He’ll get it fixed as good as anybody can. But to answer your question, not a whole lot on the field.
(How close was Rocket to 100%? How has he bounced back the last couple of days?)
I don’t think he was 100%. It’d be hard for me to think you’d be out for three games and then be able to come in there and just… I do think he brought a spark to the team as far as being back and all those type things. But I think if you watched the game, I don’t think that you would think that he was at 100%. Still got a little fluid there, but he’ll obviously be better this week than he was last week. He went out there and played hard and all those things, but I don’t think he was the old Rocket yet. But I think he will certainly get there.
(Updates on McGlothern, Morgan, Jashaud Stewart)
Stew’s got a groin issue, so I don’t know if he’ll be back or not. Nudie, there’s a possibility, but I don’t think he’ll practice today. And you said somebody else?
(John Morgan)
John. That’s the great news. John, talked to him Saturday night when we got back. He was in great spirits. He had another test this afternoon that I haven’t heard the results of that yet. Or is having one this afternoon. He hasn’t had the test, so how could you get the results? But he’s in great spirits. Honestly, I think he got hit right here (MOTIONS A PUNCH TO THE JAW), like a punch. But I would think that he would have an opportunity to play this week.
(Dart is known as a passer, but he hurdled a dude, not sure if you saw that… Also, Isaiah Sategna is a hurdler - thoughts on his play?)
Well, Dart, like I said before, he’s fast. Ole Miss, it looks like they’re having fun, and he’s jumping over people. And to answer your question, I’ve seen every play they’ve had this year — offense, defense and special teams — so I’ve seen them. That’s why I look a little tired. (Laughs) But yeah. The thing about him is he’s a great passer, but he’s just fast and athletic.
Isaiah’s, iffa (YES, THAT’S WHAT HE SAID), woulda, coulda, shoulda, he lands on his feet, he just lands on his feet without the ball. His knee actually knocked the ball out of his hand. If he has the ball in his hand, he may still be running. I really like what he’s brought to us. I know that he had a little bit of a ball (security) issue on Saturday, but we’re not going to give up on him. I think he brings a lot to us and I really like his athleticism. And he’s one of those guys that wants to do that. You’ve got to five a guy that really wants to do that, like Smith at A&M.
(Differences in Ole Miss from Alabama game to LSU game)
I think schematically [there were differences] as well. Schematically, I think there was two different schemes ran, two different coverages, things of that nature. Alabama’s front four, their two ends, had put quite a little bit of pressure, and they couldn’t run the ball quite as well as they did against LSU. [Against] LSU, they had success. It’s hard to stop somebody if they’re having success both in the run and in the pass. You’ve got to make them one dimensional. I think Alabama maybe had an opportunity to do that a little bit more. Here’s the bottom line: they missed some plays against Alabama or that game could have been different, too. They had some guys [open], and things they hit against LSU, they just missed against Alabama. But Alabama, they’ve been playing that defense for a long time, and they’ve got big, physical guys. I just think the different was they weren’t able to run the ball quite as well as they did against LSU. They didn’t quite hold up as well against Alabama’s front four as they did against LSU, which allowed Dart opportunities to make some plays.
(Tight end reps, how ya determining those)
I think what we’re going to do is we’re going to play two of them with the first group and two of them with the second group and we’re going to let them battle it out and figure out who it is on Saturday. To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t think there’s any of them that have really excelled over the other guy or anything like that. You have two different types of guys. You have Washington and Gumms, then you have Bax and Francis. They’re kind of over here and they’re kind of over here. We’re just going to let them battle it out this week and get them all the equal amount of reps and see who we’re going to throw out there first.
(Tight end group as a whole)
You look at Gumms and Tyrus, those guys are Luke Hasz type-ish if you go that direction. One of those two guys, I believe that they can [help]. Obviously Luke was a first-team guy, so we felt like he was the best tight end that we had. I do think our depth is better than what it was a year ago and we’ll certainly find out Saturday. But I feel confident in the group.
How has KJ been behind the scenes?
He’s been great. You know KJ has been here before. I don’t think he’ll mind me sharing, it was after the LSU game and I was just talking about we got to stay together. We got to get better. When I got through, he said coach, we’ve been here before. That made me feel good, like, we’ve lost two games in a row before and we’ve come back and he said it in front of the team. Our team, I think is resilient. I believe they are, and we’ll find out as the weeks keep going but we’ve got a lot of football left. To be honest with you, we need one. We need to get one and that’ll help us into something else, but we need to find a win. Obviously, we’ll try like hell on Saturday.
Mix on schematics and physicality on offensive push?
I think physicality is something that we certainly have to and have been addressing. Schematics, I think you can stay with your base run package, but you’ve got to have something that when you call it, that you think you can get a touchdown. You can get 20. You can get something off maybe a similar look that comes off of it. A little bit more LSUish. We tried to do some things there. Obviously, we’re still running stretch and we ran it well for you know, three years in a row. Sometimes we are, sometimes we’re not. I went back and looked at last year’s game and in that game, sometimes we did and sometimes we didn’t. But when we did, we went 50. We went 30. We went. For whatever reason, whether we’re not straining hard enough, not getting to the second level, whatever, we’re not having those plays. AJ I think did it against BYU, but other than that we’re not doing it. It’s got to be the strain, the physicality or the position the kids are playing, so we’re going to move it around a little bit.
TeSlaa separation an issue?
I’ll be honest with you, you know guys, a couple things, let me answer the question and tell you a couple things. One, if your quarterback doesn’t have time to throw it, that’s going to affect all your numbers as your receivers. Whether you got Treylon Burks out there or whether you don’t. If you’re nervous, or if you’re having to do too much in the pocket, you’re not going to be able to get the ball to Burks, you know what I mean? We have had that conversation about TeSlaa because we moved him to slot and my question was did that hurt his production? Then I go back and I look at it and I don’t think so. More what’s hurting those guys is just time to get the ball to him because I think he’s still getting open, it’s just, you should throw that, well that’s easy to say unless you’ve got five 300-pounders coming, getting close to you.
Oh, another thing I was going to say too is, you know when we go in after a game and we — don’t be nervous (towards Kyle I assume) — when we go in after a game, I want you to know something that I’m trying to answer your questions. But, I don’t see it. In other words, I don’t have the replay of it. I see it one time. And I’m on the field so I’m looking way over — sometimes I don’t see it. You know they say the ole coach speak, I think that came because you don’t want to seem like a dummy and say ‘Well, I didn’t see it.’ But you make up something, you know what I mean? So sometimes when we come in after a game, it’s hard to answer all the questions because some of it I just don’t know. And maybe I just say, ‘I don’t know. I didn’t see it.’ But, y’all get a chance to see it on replay. You know what I’m saying. I don’t know why I said that, but I did.
Talk about Max Fletcher’s punts and the balance between punting it far and the coverage team getting back faster.
Pittman: Another good conversation that we had and we have had. Now, it didn’t hurt us until the other night. He (Max Fletcher) boom boomed it. Two (Ainias Smith) is a really good punt returner and we knew it. First of all, we thought that we could win at the gunners and be close. Now, not five yards, not two yards close. We knew we would have 10 yards cushion. We felt comfortable that we could get him on the ground. I think there’s twofold, you tell Max to kick it out of bounds, or you tell him to take something off. We’ve all seen taking something off don’t work. That’s not his deal. So, I went back and just said ‘Hey, Max, kick the damn thing as far as you can kick it. We’ll cover it. Put it in the zone, don’t put it in the middle of the field.’ Things of that nature. And it stung us, you know, the other night. We are going to look into, if we feel like we’ve got a dangerous guy back there looking to kick it out of bounds. But then you have that problem of taking something off of it and kicking it out of bounds. So, we’ve got to really work on that and see if we can get consistent with — because we’re just now getting consistent punting it. And doing a really good job. So, there’s a little bit of that going on.
Talk on KJ breaking the total touchdown record.
Pittman: Well, probably not. That’s not — you know, things have changed of that nature because of social media because all the kids know it. If they’re on any type of (social media), they already know it. That was Saturday, and now it’s Monday. I’m really weird about rewards and records and all that kind of stuff. I would have — if we would have won or something like that, then in the locker room that would’ve been a really special moment. But I forgot all about it to be honest with you. But it’s really a great — you’ve got to stay healthy for a long time and you’ve got to be a great player to set any kind of record. I’m real happy for him and I hope he puts it so far out there that the next guy has a way to go to catch it. But I’m really happy for him.
You said the defense can stop explosive plays, Can you though given that Dart just blew through LSU?
Yes, I am against a really good offensive team and that may be limiting it to 5, might be limiting it to 3. They’re going to get some. You know it, I know it; everybody knows it. You know what I mean? It can’t be 10, can't be 12,. Can't let them get behind us, LSU obviously did. To answer your question, yes. I am confident in our defense, and I think they are making huge strides as the season’s gone on.
Lane’s good at coaching and social media… Take?
He’s great at it. I look at coach Kiffin in that as he just doesn't care. I don't know; I can't speak for the man, but I mean if somebody says something, he’ll come right back on. I bet it don't bother him an ounce. If he wants to make a joke on there about something. He’s special. He has a special gift there that I don't think it bothers him. It might, I don't want to speak for him. (Pause.) Mike Leach, he had a special gift, of after the game whether he won or lost he was like “Well, we prepared we did the best we could and dadgummit Sam we missed a field goal, and I'm going to go on social media and say it's open tryouts.“ You know what I mean, he just had a gift ,and I would watch him when I watched TV and coming off after losses, he would be so nice. I mean we’re all nice, but you know what I mean, Like genuine, happy for you, we’ve got to play better, whatever it might be. To me, Lane’s got that same ability with social media, instead of fighting it, he just goes with it. Obviously, I wish I had that same ability. I don’t. I respect how he handles all that. He takes some jabs and things of that nature, but I think it's all in good nature though.
Tom says that Sam has the ability with the media
Thank you
Game mean more to KJ in Oxford?
I’m sure it does. I think everybody in life needs a little bit of motivation to get to whatever you need to get. I think it's obviously a big deal going back. Last time we were down there we didn't quite get it done, but it sure wasn't because of him. If I look back at my going on four now, In my four years, there are a couple of games that stick out. One was Missouri his very first time, and we lost. The next one was Ole Miss, and we lost that one too, but it wasn't because of KJ. He was outstanding. We’ll get rolling. I believe in this team and believe in our coaching staff, and I’m really excited to get over to Ole Miss and see what happens Saturday Night.
