TRANSCRIPT: Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, Jaxson Dart, Tre Harris and Daijahn Anthony talk about the 73-7 win over Mercer

OXFORD, Miss. — After the Rebels’ 73-7 win over Mercer, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, quarterback Jaxson Dart, wide receiver Tre Harris, and safety Daijahn Anthony spoke with media. Head coach Drew Cronic and quarterback Carter Peevy represented Mercer.

Here is what they had to say:

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin

Opening Statement

“You guys have covered us going into our fourth year now. I want to give credit where credit is due. Our players played really well today and I told them that. Obviously, there’s things to get better on, but I commend them for how they started the game. I also commend them for halftime because a lot of times with a lead like that you come out flat in the second half, so I commend our guys and our coaches. We put in a lot of off season work making the roster, and then making sure these guys understood they’ve got a game to play to get to 1-0. It’s good to be back in a winning locker room. It’s been a long offseason. I’m really pleased with how they played. Obviously not perfect, there were two significant plays. The fumble and then the first run of the game by them.”

On decision to start Jaxson Dart:

“Like I told you guys, I think both guys played really good throughout camp, in scrimmages and in the mock game. We felt really good about both guys being able to win for us, and I thought both guys played extremely well today. I think Jaxson started 11-for-11. Spencer scored two touchdowns. At the end of the day, we had to make a decision who went first and Jaxson did, and he did a great job. Now we go back and work this week and make all our players better. I know there’s people out there that say, ‘People need to be named starters for them to play well.’ He wasn’t named the starter and he went 11-for-11 so I think it works very much. I don’t think keeping competition open is a bad thing.”

On Kyirin Heath’s performance:

I thought he did a good job. He stepped up last minute when [Caden] Prieskorn was unable to go today, so that’s a lot more offense that you’re gonna play outside and play in open space versus play as a normal tight end. I thought he did a great job in really his first significant playing time with the start, he did a good job.”

On Tre Harris’ performance:

“You guys had asked about him and you guys had seen him out there, so I didn’t really want to jinx him, but I really thought he played like this all camp. He looked like a really dominant receiver so for him to go out and perform like this today in his first Power-Five game, catch four touchdowns in two-and-a-half quarters of play, that was pretty good to see.”

On how many players played today:

“That was an obvious question. I’d like to have leads like this in every game and play everybody. That would be great. Ideally when you do get ahead, you want to get reps, especially when you’ve got so many new guys who’ve never played together. A lot of our coaches are new and a brand new defensive system, so it’s nice to be able to do that. Obviously the goal is to win the game, but being able to get up early enough to play so many guys and be able to watch film on them and see how they did, the experience was huge.”

On the defense recovering after the first play:

“It wasn’t a really good start but I did hear after that that we only gave up 14 yards rushing. The first play broke on the quarterback pulling it but we settled in after that and played really well. We’ll see things on film and work on some issues.”

On [Michael] Trigg only dressing out for the second half:

“We’ve got discipline in our program that we handle internally, so that was part of it. It was good to see him respond positively and play good in the second half. That had nothing to do with any other player’s injuries. It was good to see him come out and play really well.”

On the offensive game plan:

“Those guys played well. Two years ago at Alabama, they played really good at the start of that game, and they hung with Auburn last year for a while. That’s not a team that goes to SEC games and has scores like that usually, especially on the defensive side. It was really good to see. There’s a lot of people doing a lot of things right, especially by the quarterbacks. We’re going to see a lot of people stop the run with Quinshon [Judkins]  returning and us leading the SEC in rushing all three years we’ve been here. It was expected that we’d have to throw to get by this defense.”

On why Tre Harris was so effective:

“I think he prepared really well. I really love everything about this kid with how he prepares and how he focuses on the game. He really struggles with guys that don’t want to be like that around him. It’s awesome to have him and he really responded today. Pretty unique guy, kinda some [Jonathon] Mingo personality to him. Just goes to work and doesn’t say much. Not one of these guys that wants to celebrate because they got a first down and do some kind of dance.”

On Spencer Sanders performance:

“There was not a set plan there of when that switch was going to happen. It’s hard to switch when someone is playing so well, things are going so well. I commend Spencer [Sanders]. This is a guy that started 41 games. It’s not an easy thing to do to go from that to sitting on the bench for a half. I commend him and the way he stayed focused and played well.”

On the defensive performance today:

“Outside of that one play, I thought that the defense really swarmed the ball and really rushed the passer. We got some turnovers too so it was really good to see.”

On looking forward to Tulane:

“That’s a big challenge. [They are] Cotton Bowl Champs and coming off of beating the Heisman winner and USC. Going into their place and trying to beat them on the road, a top-25 team, that’s a big challenge this time of the year.”

On Suntarine Perkins performance:

“I wasn’t surprised. That’s how this guy has played in every practice he’s been in and every scrimmage. That’s what we expected him to be. That’s why we put a lot of energy into recruiting him. We haven’t really had a defensive impact freshman like that so it’s really good to see.”

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart

On starting quarterback for today’s game:

“I mean to be honest, I kind of felt like that was going to be the case to start once the season ended last year. I felt like I earned it and it is what I expected.”

On connection with Tre Harris:

“We spend a lot of extra time together. He came out to California with me to work with my quarterback coaches and obviously extra work around the facilities here. It was kind of funny last night because we are hotel roommates and we had some conversations because he has never played for an SEC school. He was asking what to expect. It was fun because we kind of manifested it, we felt like we were going to have a great game together. We felt like we had a great connection leading up to the game. With kind of how the game plan played out, we knew he was going to get a lot of touches and he made the most of it.”

On how the offense played out in the first half and what they could work on:

“I felt like we were really prepared for the game and I felt like our coaches did a really great job of getting us a good game plan. We had two weeks to prepare for it with the mock game last week and the mock game went well. I think our confidence of being able to execute what was being called and then obviously being out there and staying disciplined with one another and getting the right calls, right splits, and all that stuff. I thought we did a really good job on execution and played with a lot of confidence.”

On growth during the off-season:

“I think you could say that. Like I said, I was really prepared coming into this week and a good place mentally. Myself and my team, I feel like we are in a very good spot as well and I honestly think we are in a better spot than last year. I’m really looking forward to the future.”

On Lane Kiffin not publicly naming him the starter:

“Kind of comes back to controlling what I can control. You know there may be times where I disagree here and there, but at the end of the day he is the head coach and makes the calls around here. He is going to put us in the best chance to succeed and I think that is all you can really ask for as a player. I know that going forward I am confident in my role and what is expected of me and I will do my job each and every week.”

On the battle of starting quarterback:

“He is a great talent. He has a ton of experience, played a lot of games, has a lot of individual accolades which credit to his ability. I feel like we made a good relationship and I can learn stuff from him even though he hasn’t been in this offense. I just think his experience and stuff like that is good to have with someone pushing you.

On Jordan Watkins performance and his future this season:

“I would just say for J. Wat [Jordan Watkins], he is such a reliable player that you kind of always have to have on the field. He is another leader out there with me, so him being able to line guys up quick and when guys aren’t confident on their job, he knows it like that. It’s like having another coach out there and making great plays, which shows to him how much more comfortable he is in this offense. It is fun to see guys succeed.

On mindset going into game week:

“I kind of went into this week that my focus is to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country. With all due respect to everyone in the room, that’s my mindset and what I want to accomplish this year. I want to take those steps with my growth and put the team in the best situation to succeed. Hopefully we put up a championship by the end of it.

On Cayden Lee’s touchdown and coming up this fall:

“I would probably say the back half of camp. I kind of referred to his really big play in our first scrimmage on a slot fade and he caught the ball on the back shoulder and I was able to get a float in. I remember seeing that and thought, ‘This kid can really play and can play right now.’ It is fun to see young guys like that compete throughout camp and work themselves up through the depth chart. When it comes to it in the game, it went really well.”

On Kyirin Heath’s first start and play:

“I am super proud of him and his growth from year one to year two. He took huge steps in his physical abilities and grinding throughout the weight room and putting in the extra work during routes. He is going to be a really good player and continue to develop so I am super excited for his future.”

On recognizing when Tre Harris gets a hot hand:

“I feel like that goes with the momentum of the game. When you see a guy make plays, you get hungry for more. It’s fun when you have guys like that and excitement around the team. It was his first game but to see his play and the elite talent that he is, I am super pumped.”

On the offense excelling:

“These are conversations we have in our home locker room and we kind of compare things from last year to this year. I feel we are so much more balanced of a team and attack defenses in different ways and are super versatile. We are able to move guys around and have a lot of confidence in them and I feel like our depth is in a good spot right now.”

On the quick 21 points in the first three minutes:

“Before I knew it, I looked up at the screen and like five minutes into the game had scored 21 points. It makes you have that rush of wanting to get back out on the field and doing it over and over again. Those are the addictive feelings of college sports.”

On the offense line’s performance:

“They did a hell of a job.”

Ole Miss WR Tre Harris

On the pace of scoring touchdowns:

“I looked at the scoreboard and realized it was 21-7 pretty quickly. My mindset going in was to dominate. That was the whole team’s mindset. We didn’t care who we were playing, that was what we came out and did.”

On first game experience with Ole Miss:

“From the Walk of Champions and just seeing that many people out there to support you and your teammates, it’s incredible. When I first walked out there, you get a little wave [of emotion]. You get goosebumps on your arms and it is really incredible.”

On how comfortable with the offense:

“It started before camp. I got here in January and got to learn the offense. I probably definitely say in the summer going to meetings with Coach and all the small position coaches was the biggest thing to get me comfortable.”

On letting the foot off the gas before halftime:

“I wouldn’t say it was hard, but it can be challenging at times. I want to say it was the last drive before half, our coaches were telling us our intensity went a little down and I felt it myself. We knew in order to have time in the third quarter we had to pick it up a little bit and that’s what we did.”

On what worked in the game:

“It was more just out there and playing my game. I’m a big receiver. I knew that after the catch, it was going to be huge for us, not just for me. It was for everyone who touched the ball after the catch.”

Ole Miss safety Daijahn Anthony

On how the defense bounced back after first play of the game:

“After not playing a game in a year now, it was just about getting the little mistakes out of the way right in the beginning and after that we were ready to go.”

On getting first interception at Ole Miss:

“Our coaches made a really good call where our eyes are on the quarterback and where they end up. So, they gave me a quarterback vision to break up the ball.”

On the cohesion of the defense with a lot of new faces:

“We’ve been preparing really hard for about two weeks for this game. We treated it like a really big game, because every game is a big game. After facing Coach Kiffin’s offense for the last five weeks, and then flipping to Mercer’s offense, it was definitely a big difference. Overall we prepared really well, which is how we got the results we did today.”

Mercer head coach Drew Cronic

On the recap of the game:

“When you play these games you want to find small victories. We did some good things. We had some mistakes defensively. That’s all we can do is look at the small victories, build off of those, correct the mistakes which are very glaring today and go back to work.”

On preparing for the rest of the season:

“Learn from it. If you go and say, ‘Man if we do the right things when we’re playing against this level of talent, we can beat anyone.’ What do we take away from this day? Improvement.”

On positives to take away:

“We move the ball at times against some pretty good talent. I think we have a really good defense. At our level, we have a really good defense. You can’t lose confidence, you have to work and improve.”

Mercer QB Carter Peevy

On feelings of today’s game:

“It wasn’t what we wanted, but like Coach Cronic said I feel like we did some good things. We need to focus on doing good things at a consistent level. There were times during the game of good success, and then one play would kill the whole thing. Across the board we have to get better. There are good things that we want to take away from this and there are some things we definitely need to fix.”

On being the leader of the team:

“You have to figure out a way to twist this in a positive way. We can’t dwell on it too long obviously. Tomorrow I am going to watch film and we’re going to look it over and I’ll show the guys how close we are. I think that will give the guys confidence and a positive twist on something that obviously didn’t go our way today.”

Next Up for Ole Miss

The Rebels travel to New Orleans to face Tulane next Saturday.