Peach Bowl Notes 12/29: Ole Miss press conference
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Dave Wommack and Rebel players Senquez Golson, C.J. Johnson, Cody Prewitt, Deterrian Shackelford and Mike Hilton met with the media Monday before Wednesday’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl game vs. TCU. (Click the video above to see highlights of the press conference.)
Coach Wommack was asked his thoughts on the Ole Miss season, one that saw some fantastic victories and some heartbreaking losses. “I’ve enjoyed it,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade these guys for anybody in the world. I love them and can’t wait to play on Wednesday.”
Cody Prewitt answered questions at the Ole Miss press conference Monday.
Cody Prewitt also discussed the highs and lows of the Ole Miss season, saying: “The game of football is just like life. There are going to be good times and there are going to be bad. The thing about it is how you respond to the adversity and for the most part, I feel like our team has responded to the adversity well. We never lost faith in our coaches and ourselves; we simply saw our mistakes and tried to fix them the best that we could.”
With so much talk in the media about the dominance of the Southeastern Conference, the players were asked their thoughts on representing the SEC in a bowl game. C.J. Johnson replied, “You have to represent your conference when you come to a bowl game, and we understand the magnitude of how we play football in the SEC and how everybody perceives the SEC throughout the country, so it’s really big for us to represent the SEC on this stage.”
All-American Senquez Golson is ready to face the Horned Frogs.
Senquez Golson added that both TCU and Ole Miss are “representing the pride of each conference.”
The Rebels will be facing a very dynamic TCU quarterback, Trevone Boykin. When asked how Ole Miss plans to prepare to play him, Coach Wommack pointed out that he finished fourth in the Heisman voting this year. “He is a key to their offense and what they do,” he said.
Wommack also commented on the similarities between TCU and one of Ole Miss’ SEC opponents. “In breaking them down and watching them, they’re very similar, their passing attack, to Texas A&M; although, their running attack is a little bit different.”
C.J. Johnson stressed the importance of pocket awareness when facing a quarterback like Boykin. “We rush the quarterback a lot,” he said. “It’s kinda hard sometimes with four guys rushing six lanes with a good quarterback who likes to scramble, so I think if we have a good pocket awareness, we will be fine.”
Senquez Golson explained how a dynamic quarterback like Boykin affects the secondary. “Going into the game with a good quarterback, there’s always a red flag, which means you might have to cover a little longer, so I try to last through a little extra. As a cornerback group, we know we’re going to have to cover longer,” he added.
Mike Hilton said TCU QB Boykin reminds him of one of the great SEC quarterbacks this season.
Mike Hilton said Boykin reminds him of another player the Rebels faced this season at the quarterback position. “Watching him reminds us of Nick Marshall, the way he can get out of the pocket, throw the ball down the field, and he’s very accurate throwing it down field and he has guys on the outside who can make plays for him, so he’s a really good athlete—and we have to contain him the best we can.”
With the Horned Frogs bringing one of the nation’s top offenses to face off against Ole Miss’ No. 1 scoring defense, it is no wonder the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is widely recognized as one of the most exciting bowl games this season!
