What They Said: Ole Miss Football Postgame Quotes vs. Furman

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss football thoroughly dismantled Furman, 76-0, in the Rebels’ season opener Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway.

After the game, head coach Lane Kiffin, wide receiver Tre Harris, quarterback Jaxson Dart and linebacker Chris “Pooh” Paul, Jr. met with media for the Rebels. Furman head coach Clay Hendrix also spoke with media after his team’s loss. Here’s what they had to say:

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin opening statement:

“Really pleased today by the performance, that is not always the case in these games when they go your way this early. I thought that our players really came out with a great intensity, have to with them. Their first game of this team that they have worked so hard for. This is your first message that you send about the team, no matter who you play next week or week five, any of that stuff. All that matters is this game. It was good that they responded this way. They played like it was an elite SEC game. Really pleased with that. I thought the fans were really good, and the student section. It was a good first half. That was good to see and good to feel. Good to be back out there with everybody. Someday we will get everybody to stay for the second half. Also playing clean, we ran 82 plays with no turnovers and a combined three penalties in all three phases of the game. That is enjoyable for a coach for that to happen. It means a lot of players are doing a lot of things right and playing with great discipline. They did that today. Highly unusual to go out in a second half where we do not play the starters. We usually let them take the first series. A lot of them were already out and that is when games can become not clean. Anytime you get up to seven first downs, two on the last series of the game and no points, you are going to win a lot of games. There was a lot of talk put in about this defense and energy put in about this defense. To see them show up like that was huge.”

On the offense in the first half:

“Fifty-two, missed a field goal at the end that is about as good as you can do. The one series we don’t punt, but the one series we kick a field goal and not a touchdown. We look at it, three points at the end, only four points left out there with a lot of series. That is a really good half. I don’t care who you are playing, that is a hard thing to do.”

On the defense:

“It was exciting. It was a feeling we have never had here. I haven’t had it as a head coach. You look at the four guys going out there and the three guys rotating in with them, it is elite. Size, length players that present major problems if they are doing the right thing and playing hard. It is intimidating to play against.”

Ole Miss WR Tre Harris

On the offense’s first half performance:

“For us it was a lot of our guys’ first game, our first game together and we just wanted to go out there and show what we’re about. This entire week our coaches were preaching to us about Furman, we weren’t going to take them lightly. ‘They’re going to come off the bus ready to play with effort, so y’all have to play even harder than them.’ We showed out tonight and I’m really really proud of the guys for that.”

On Jaxson Dart’s performance: 

“Oh yeah he’s been super dialed in. He’s really just been leading by example. I remember Friday night he told me that I’m losing a little bit of my edge and it kind of got me going a little bit today. It got me running a little bit harder, a little bit faster today. So, he’s just been doing everything that I’ve been preaching about since way before. He’s going to keep on playing the way he plays and he’s got a great season ahead of him.”

On the confidence he has in the revamped offensive line:

“Most definitely. We know that they’re going to give us time to run the routes we need to run and it also gives us time to do some things that maybe last year we weren’t able to do. To have those guys setting up a wall like that for Jaxson and giving him so much time to be able to really spread the ball around is huge. Big shoutout to them. Next week we’ve gotta do it again.”

Ole Miss LB Chris Pooh Paul, Jr

On the offensive line:

“I’m really proud of those guys because of the work they have put in. I’ve seen those guys work, grind each and every day. I’ve seen them work together as brothers and we have grown together. It was just really cool to watch those guys showcase what we have been working on this fall for the fans.”

On playing a game you know you will dominate:

“I think we take every game seriously and take every game as a big game. You have to play every game as if it’s your last, because you never know when you are going to get another opportunity. Locking in and playing to the standard we uphold ourselves to and playing to the standards of the coaches, as well as the fans expectations. No matter what game it is, you take it as your last and put everything on display.”

On first time playing for Ole Miss:

“Electric. At my previous institute, I played Ole Miss here before and I could feel the energy from the fans. It was startling at times from having such a good team who plays hard as well as having the crowd behind throughout everything. It’s kind of scary. Once I got here, I had a feeling of what I was getting myself into, but actually playing here and feeling that atmosphere, along with making a couple plays in front of the fans, that was electric and I can’t wait to get back out there next week.”

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart

On the offensive line:

“I thought they played great. Pretty clean throughout the whole game. I didn’t take any big shots so I give all the credit to them. Any time we’re able to have a big pass play or scoring drives, it all starts with them up front. I thought they came out with the right mindset and the right attitude. We know what they are capable of so it was a great day to have them out on the field and for them to show their dominance as a unit.”

On the biggest difference this year:

“I think the biggest thing comes down to experience. I’ve had three years in this offense and I’ve played a lot of ball with a lot of the guys on this team. I’ve had a lot of time with guys like Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins, and Caden Prieskorn which allows things to be comfortable and easier on the field for me. I think the new guys on the team raised their level of play and were able to execute at a really high level as well.”

On the potential of this team and putting up 76 points:

“Quite honestly, it was what we were expecting going into this game. That’s the standard that we want to play at and excel at. A big thing for us is just trying to control what we can control. Regardless of what the score is, regardless of the situation, go into each play with the same mindset and try to execute the play the best we can. I was really happy with how we were able to do that tonight and I thought it was incredible by our defense to not give up any points.”

Furman Head Coach Clay Hendrix

Opening Statement:

“They were who I thought they were. A very talented, tempo’d team. They were tempoing with four minutes left in the game and that’s who they are and who Coach Kiffin is. I told our team we could play Ole Miss a hundred times and I am not sure that much will be different at this point with how we played. I thought we had a chance in the first half, then we dropped a gimme interception and then got an offensive facemask call a little later which hurt us. Good teams can make you pay for your mistakes which was evident tonight. I am just disappointed in our performance, but our kids held on and fought hard. We’ll regroup and we won’t see another team this talented the rest of the way.”