FAYETTEVILLE — Follow along as Bret Bielema and Paul Rhoads discuss the Ole Miss win and the Coastal Carolina matchup.
Bret Bielema
— Dan Enos will speak tomorrow. Just got back from his father's funeral.
— Kendrick Jackson returned late last night.
— Austin Allen has continued to progress. Still on a limited number of reps. Want to see him throw and recover. Will practice this week and see how the week unfolds.
— De'Andre Coley was right on the cusp of playing.
— Britto Tutt didn't make the trip after aggravating a knee but will be back this week.
— Chase Hayden is doing great. Outside chance to have him back in postseason play.
— Frank Ragnow is having surgery Wednesday.
— Defensive honorable mention to Santos Ramirez, Bijhon Jackson, Briston Guidry and Kevin Richarson, MVP to Randy Ramsey, who played his most complete game since he's been here. Blake Kern offensive scout MVP. Deon Stewart was offensive honorable mention. Competitive and got a little chippy. Hjalte Froholdt and Zach Rogers on the OL. Rogers and Ragnow are close. Froholdt played his tail off, was very physical. Devwah Whaley and Devwah Williams honorable mention, but MVP to T.J. Hammonds, who was healthy for the first time this year in his prep. Gary Cross, snapper and holder were honorable mention. Connor Limpert, De'Vion Warren and three coverage guys, La'Michael Pettway, Rider Lucas and one more coverage guy got special teams MVP.
— Cole Kelley getting freshman of the week was deserved. De'Vion Warren got special teams player of the week.
— Those kind of plays catapult not only a game but a season. Challenged the team to do things different in prep this week, emphasizing second half performance "every day, every way."
— Coastal Carolina has played a lot of close games. Use multiple quarterbacks and do a lot of stuff. Defense is a 4-3 and brings a lot of pressure.
— During recruiting, Warren was dynamic with the ball. Used as a quarterback and receiver. Tends to find his way to him and throw the ball during free period. The contagious effect of Warren on the field with the other 10 is good.
— Ideally, you'd like Allen to play all the way through the year. Don't want to rush him, he has the opportunity to play football after this. Been fun to watch him and Kelley, re-watched the game on TV and enjoyed Allen and Kelley's rapport on the sideline.
— Have to have a No. 1 quarterback and kids have to know during the week. Allen isn't at a point where you can say he's No. 1. Limited on Tuesday and Wednesday. Maybe next week is different.
— Ramsey is long and athletic. When he's playing hard, he's tough to block.
— Kelley will get first-team reps this week.
— Jonathan Nance was stopped short of the sticks a few times a week before, but got beyond the sticks this week. Austin Cantrell had a play where he fought for the first down.
— The OL has to be the most cohesive unit on the field to understand the call in the huddle and the chatter at the line of scrimmage. When you lose a player the caliber of Ragnow, you don't. Has to be a number of guys collectively, talking, communicating and playing better than they have. That's what happened Saturday.
— Kelley has progressed. Talked about his positives in front of everybody at the team meeting. Was one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the SEC in the fourth quarter and the red zone. Then came back and talked about how he has all of them in his hands when he had the ball in his hands. Has to have two hands on the ball. Has to know when to take the 4-yard route instead of the 15-yarder.
— One win can get them going. "It just begins with one thing. One thing begins a chain reaction." Guys played harder. On Richardson's recover, guys get excited but he scooped it. A lot of plays based on extra effort. Liddell's interception. Froholdt's block on the screen and then his tackle. Hammonds was electric. "If he wants to play more, he needs to get the whole playbook."
— Coastal Carolina has had five quarterbacks get stats. They'll run some spread, option looks, read zones. Defensively, they're pressure oriented, bring people down in the box.
— Doesn't comment on things he isn't part of. He and Jim McElwain know each other a little. Had a come to Jesus moment after signing day once. Talked when Randy Shannon was hired there.
— Thinks the world of Shannon. That's never going to be an easy situation to pop into.
— Definitely have to make adjustments to stop early long runs. Kamren Curl and Henre' Toliver could've played better with technique at the line of scrimmage. Ole Miss was going after fades. Knows their record doesn't show it, but Ole Miss is a good football team.
— Made sure he made contact with every committed kid after Alabama, often would ask parents to get on the phone too. Go after kids with high character and demeanor, so that was enjoyable. Response from commits, their parents, players, their parents and past players. Nolan Richardson called him. Mike Anderson always reach out. Dave Van Horn. Lot of other coaches.
— Enos put his dad in hospice during the bye and knew it wasn't going well. Got to see his dad before he passed. "That was huge." Reaction in the locker room from players reminds you what it's all about.
— Nothing about how Enos handled it surprised him. Kids absolutely gravitate toward him.
— Richardson had a little saying, "all sickness is not death." Hit Anderson up about it. Got to meet him his second year at Anderson's house his second year here.
— Alabama has his vote. Georgia has a body of work. Invites any doubters to come play in this league. Got to watch the end of Penn State-Ohio State. The way the game is coached, officiated and set up, the ability to have huge momentum swings is more capable than ever before. Showed team what Iowa State has done. Anybody can get anybody on any day.
Paul Rhoads
— Constant message to the team about continuing to play and do their job even when they were down big. "Marveled about how the team responded. There was no flinching, getting after each other." No arguments like you'd expect in a losing streak. Huge factor in them playing defense.
— Combination of tweaking the scheme and players playing better. Ole Miss forced them to adjust starting with the second play of the game, continuing through the first half and at halftime. The second play was the same one they ran when Richardson scooped and scored. Did different things call-wise and players played better.
— Couldn't point to any plays in the first quarter and say Sosa Agim would've made that. Can't gauge mental impact. Better players on the field, the better you'll play.
— Ramsey's effort impressed him the most. A lot of plays made when he was on the far side of the play off sheer effort. Best game from a technical, effort standpoint.
— Curl and Toliver were resilient and came back and made plays. Toliver made a huge play on the Arkansas sideline. Curl made plays. You often forget about their coverage on plays they weren't thrown at. Were technically poor on some deep balls, but picked it up. Sure you'll see Toliver play better this week.
— Looked hard at the reasons why. Gave up a bulk of the yardage through 26 plays. Analyze why, show film and critique it, then look at plays 27 through 59 to look at how they met their objectives and goals. Set out to change those 26 plays through mental work Sunday and physical work tomorrow.
— Wasn't surprised Ole Miss was throwing it around late in the first half when Liddell's interception happened. Spent more time in two-minute prep than they had in the previous seven games. Hadn't been great in two-minute situations the rest of the year, but the interception was a result of Agim's pressure, Scoota Harris' coverage underneath and Liddell being in the right place.
— There's always a handful of plays you can point to. Ramirez forced and recovered fumble changed the energy. Probably wasn't high hopes before Richardson's recovery, but that changed it right back.
— Enos "was so composed all week long. Great with the kids, great with the staff, great with himself, handling his preparation in such a professional manner." Defense put him in a horrible spot. Was 31-7 and he continued to call a great game, took advantage of turnovers. "I, for one, don't know if I could handle it as well as he did."
— Defense would like to get to third down more. Sometimes they don't get a third-and-medium or third-and-long in a drive.
— Coastal Carolina is an option team. Runs the triple option some. "They're going to create some unique practice preparation for us."
— Dwayne Eugene was put in a conflict. Had responsibility of quarterback run and the possibility of a cutback. Eugene wasn't the only one at fault on that play. They pulled the guard, which pulled Greenlaw with him and left a player. Early in the game, you're a little amped up and want to make plays because it can hurt you. This play was a schemed play. The Ole Miss RB is the third-best they've faced.
— Richardson had a country fumble. Be quick but don't hurry.
— Alabama's Damien Harris and Auburn's Kerryon Johnson are the two best backs.