WHAT THEY SAID: Here’s everything Coach Lane Kiffin, Jaxson Dart, Suntarine Perkins and TJ Dottery said after win over Gamecocks

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss football marched into Columbia, South Carolina yesterday and defeated the home team Gamecocks, 27-3, to move to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in league play. The Rebels bounced back from a loss to Kentucky in Oxford last weekend. The victory over the Gamecocks was a critical one for Lane Kiffin’s team as they look to stay alive in the hunt for both the SEC title game and the College Football Playoffs.

After the game, Coach Kiffin, quarterback Jaxson Dart, linebacker TJ Dottery and edge/linebacker Suntarine Perkins spoke with media about the win.

Here’s a transcript of what they said.

Coach Lane Kiffin

Opening Statement: Alright, I want to first say something. Our thoughts and prayers go to Ron and Claire Rychlak, who tragically lost their son this week and the service was today. And so he’s had major impact on so many students and faculty at the university for a long time. So, our thoughts and prayers, first off this whole week and today and continued, for their family.

I thought that, you know, this was a really hard week. Switching back to football, this was a really hard week of that loss. You know, I felt really bad — probably the worst feeling after a loss and for the most amount of days since we’ve been here, of any game….It just was like we just handed that thing (Kentucky game) away in so many ways and just so not what we thought we were going to play like. And so our guys battled this week and they battled through that. So they didn’t let it affect a second game. And so….you know that means a lot of people are doing right. And so I’m really pleased with our players that they came back, because I’ve said before, you can win a one-score game. The ball, you know, goes in or out on a kick or something. But when you come in on the road to a really hard place against a team that really was going up two scores to be undefeated, you know, and gets a fluke penalty against LSU or that’s probably the 10th-ranked team in the country undefeated that we just played. So really proud of our coaches and players, and how they showed up today.

Lane on capitalizing early on the fake punt and recovering a fumble:

It was really good. And credit to our special teams and defense and we had a feeling they’d fake a punt today, and we had played a lot of punt safe where you saw Walter rushing and stuff like that just to be safe in the first part of the season. So, I thought they might do something like that and run inside. Really glad that our coaches did good and then the players made the plays. That was big momentum. I just thought it was a really clean game for the most part, especially how it had been. We’d been the most-penalized defense in America through five games. So, it’s exciting when the players respond to what we spent all week harping on. And, they did a really good job right from the beginning. That’s a really good defensive performance there against two quarterbacks that are tough sometimes because even when you cover people, they’re hard to catch.

Lane on Suntarine Perkins playing in place of injured Princely Umanmielen and getting 11 tackles.

I just love when a kid fights through and everybody (nowadays) wants to leave, you know? And especially when they’re a highly-recruited kid. Because everything’s not going their way early. And he just keeps working. And so it was awesome for him to get a big-time chance today and make plays.

And for our team, you know, the left tackle was out and Princely was out. So you know guys stepped up with some guys hurt, which is awesome. And then Tre Harris, the most productive receiver in the country didn’t come back to play for the whole second half. So really good job by guys stepping up.

Lane on what makes Pegues so reliable at the goal line:

He’s just he’s just so unique. You know he can run really well. He’s got great feet for 300 pounds. So we’ve done that stuff all off-season, preparing for goal-line short-yardage situations and utilizing our team, and getting outside the box. We don’t have big running backs. We had one and now we don’t. So we found one. He was just on the D line. So he’s just really unique and really special. And actually his touchdown before half there, we actually put that play in, so it says a lot about him that we could install a play with a D-lineman, a misdirection play, and then he could execute it at quarterback.

Lane on his offense without Tre Harris:

I thought we were big little, and again, Juice obviously shouldn’t switch hands, you know, or we’re talking about a different score and we have two different double moves that Jaxson misses that we took advantage of what they were doing. So I thought it got a little hit and miss. Got a little big little because of that. And those guys have really good players. Those are two really unique ends (for South Carolina). That freshman is going to be a phenomenal, phenomenal player. He is a phenomenal player. So those guys give you problems, especially in the stadium, because of their pass rush and the style that they play in.

Lane on Jaxson running the ball:

Well, they weren’t scrambles. So they were you know there’s some are called runs like he makes a couple that are big conversions there late to keep that drive which which is really good. Even though it was three scores, our defense had played a lot and we went three and out. So it was just really trying to, you know, use up all the clock and get out of here with the win. And Jaxson made some good runs in those. So a lot of those were called runs or because they’re playing the running back and he’s got to pull it.

Lane on Jaxson’s claps:

Well he didn’t have a cadence, he just claps. So it ain’t like the old days. It’s not that hard. You can do it. Just clap and they jump. But it was a big part of the plan just because they they do a great job, they uniquely rush. And even the way the stance goes….That was a big part of the plan because we couldn’t even double clap sometimes because we couldn’t let them get off because they’re so wide and they give tackles a lot of problems. LSU left tackle is great and he had problems at times, so that was a big part of the plan. Even when it doesn’t work, it just makes them slow down their twitch.

Lane on Walter Nolen being so disruptive:

Yeah, I thought Walter was really good today. I mean, they hold him a lot every week, and they were holding him today, and we got our holdings fixed on defense, and I keep telling the refs. ‘Okay, well, we were fixing ours, but then they keep holding our d-linemen, especially Walter.’

But, just was proud of him. Talked to him a lot about how it was going to be a long game. It’s a hot game. You’re going to play a lot, and just like a fighter, just go out there and don’t waste a lot of energy between rounds. And I thought he did a really good job. You know, you didn’t see these massive celebrations and all that. We just told the guys just expect to make plays. Kind of like last week, every time we made a play, we had to have like this celebration of the year. So, (instead) just expect to make plays. Watch our offense. We don’t celebrate first downs. You can celebrate a touchdown but that’s it. So, I was proud of the way Walter played early.

Lane on the in-helmet communication in a loud road environment:

Well, I thought we kind of took him out with the game going our direction. And obviously with halftime, a number of people left so that really wasn’t an issue ever in the second half….I think when when we make first downs, it’s kind of hard for the crowd noise to be a major impact against this system.

You know, Tennessee is the same way. When you go on the road, if you make some first downs, you play so fast that I say the crowd doesn’t kind of know when to cheer. It’s not the traditional like, ‘okay, well, they walk to the line and they snap the ball.’ So now if you don’t make first downs, it becomes a problem. But I thought that our guys did a good job with it today.

Lane on his team’s health heading into LSU game:

(LSU is) another team we’re going to get off of a bye. So, our left tackle (Jayden Williams) didn’t play today. Princely (Umanmielen) didn’t play, the right end you know. So that’s a good job of guys stepping up and a good job of developing depth. But we’re going to get another team coming off of a bye — which I know people make a big deal of, but I think it’s overrated. And analytics show that your win percentage after byes, you can’t really prove much to it.

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart

Dart on the second half, offensively, for Ole Miss with Tre Harris out of the game:

We definitely left out a lot of points in the second half. So that’s going to be the biggest takeaway is just making sure that next time we take advantage of those opportunities to take them out.

I was super proud of guys like J. Wat (Jordan Watkins) and Juice (Wells) and Cayden Lee. And (Caden) Prieskorn had a big third down conversion. So you know, all those guys stepping up making big plays, and then obviously running the football, especially in that fourth quarter, was big for us. And I think this was just a really good win for our team. I can’t even explain how much it hurt last week. So just being able to go through that and then stack this win and get some good momentum.

Dart on feeling ‘sick’ after the loss to Kentucky and how he thought the team responded this week in practice:

I was just really impressed with how we were able to come together. We had a player meeting, a lot of meetings, with just one on one individual guys. And leadership, when you have such a talented team and you have a game like that, that you just screw up on your own, you definitely have to look at yourself in the mirror and you’ve got to see what are you about? What’s your identity as a team? So just being able to have those conversations and, the team felt a lot of urgency this week. I was just happy how we were able to come together instead of divide.

Dart on what it’s like to have a guy like JJ Pegues there at the goal line:

He’s so awesome. He’s so awesome. He’s the only defensive tackle who can move like that in the whole country. He could honestly play tight end for us too. So he’s a special talent, and any time that he’s in the game and has the opportunity to have the ball in his hands, good things are going to happen, especially on the offensive side.

Dart on the importance of capitalizing early with the atmosphere at Williams-Brice:

Oh, huge. Very huge, especially getting those turnovers early in the game and then us being able to capitalize on those. Going up two scores is a really big deal, especially when you’re going into somebody else’s place and then just them playing a complete game, being able to hold them out of the end zone is extremely impressive, especially against an SEC opponent.

Dart on throwing to Juice and missing on trying to get him a touchdown:

Yeah, those ones are going to hurt. Those ones are going to hurt for sure. But I was happy with how he was able to handle himself. I know that’s definitely not easy coming into a place where you were ‘the guy’ and then everybody turns on you. But, I’m just proud of him, how he handled this week. And people forget he was hurt this whole offseason, so we didn’t get a lot of reps together. And, I think it’s just kind of a wake up call for us, as well, just to try to take advantage of the reps that we get in practice.

Dart on Vandy beating Alabama and how crazy the league is:

Yeah, absolutely. That dude (Vandy QB Pavia) is a beast. Pavia. He fires me up. I think the SEC is the closest thing to the NFL. You hear people say that all the time, but it really is unpredictable each and every week. If you’re not really on, you can slip up and lose. And that goes for anybody, any team. I mean, that game says it all too, just like us last week. So, it’s definitely really fun to play in. It can get stressful at times, but you got to stay on your toes and be ready each and every week.

Dart on playing LSU in a big game next weekend:

Yeah it’s huge. It’s huge. But I’m going to make sure to enjoy this one with our team. You know, SEC games are hard to come by and they’re hard to win regardless of who you’re playing, especially coming into a hostile atmosphere like this. So we’re going to enjoy this. But you know, at the same time, we know what’s coming up next week and we know how big of a game it is and we’re going to be ready.

Dart on what he learned about this team just over the last week:

I think it just showed what our true identity is. Like I said earlier, we had every opportunity to divide and turn away inside the locker room and point fingers at this, that and the other. And the truth is, we didn’t. Coming out of the (Kentucky) game, we were all just quiet in the locker room, like there wasn’t a lot of words said. We all had the exact same feeling. I mean, a lot of us met up, like, at 2 a.m. that day. We couldn’t sleep and we just had tough conversations. And, you know, so us being able to bounce back and have a win like this and then, obviously our defense coming up and showing out in a big way was huge.

Dart on where they had the meeting at 2:00 a.m.

We have fingerprints so we can get in, but we actually had it like a little fire and we just sat around the fire.

Dart on playing with such a strong defense:

Honestly, I haven’t had a defense like this in my college career. So, it takes a lot of stress off of our shoulders when we feel like we don’t have to score every single drive to win. I think we need to start feeling like that a little bit more so we can put more points up, but at the same time, when you can come off the field and you have all the confidence, regardless of where you give the ball to your defense, that they’re going to find a way to come out with a stop. And I think they’re the prime example of bend but don’t break. So, like I’ve said it from the get go, it’s tough to go against them in practice. So, um, I know it’s got to be hard for everybody else to go against them as well.

Ole Miss LB/Edge Suntarine Perkins

Perkins on if he felt any extra pressure or extra responsibility with Umanmielen out:

No, sir. There was no pressure at all. You know, it’s just next man up. All week I’ve been working in practice, getting the plays and, you know, just getting ready for Saturday.

Perkins on the game plan that allowed the defense to put pressure on the QBs:

It was part of the game plan, you know, just keep him (QB Sellers) inside the pocket and keep him from going outside, so we can get pressure on him and we can cage him in, just be able to cover him up.

Perkins on him and TJ Dottery leading the team in sacks and the evolution of the LB corps:

We all, every day at practice, work on moves and stuff like that. We watch film and see what kind of quarterback we’re facing and work on the moves that we can use against the tackles.

Perkins on what this last week was like for the defense:

You know, (we were) just (working on) getting better, especially after the loss we had last week against Kentucky. It was the biggest adversity this week. So, we just go in on practice on Monday, just go over everything. We had a lot of mistakes last week.

Perkins on his performance against South Carolina:

I just love going out there and playing with this group of boys. You know, first of all. And I’m just thankful, just getting a chance to go out there and play with them.

Perkins on if he knew JJ had those moves at the goal line.

Oh yeah. Definitely.

Linebacker TJ Dottery

Dottery on him and Perkins leading the team in tackles and how he sees this linebacker room evolving game to game:

I mean, it’s awesome. Just each week, man, we go in and we all sit down together and we learn together. And we just play off each other. Pooh (Chris Paul) has been balling all year, and Perk’s (Suntarine Perkins) has been playing good all year, and I have too. And just each week, we just try to get better each week.

Dottery on what the last week was like for the defense:

It was huge, man. We had a bad taste in our mouth all week, even up to kickoff. And it was good to get that out of our mouth and just to make a statement on defense and just to know that that we can do that. And that’s the standard each week.

Dottery on how big it was to stop the fake punt and then to score and get another turnover and score again:

That was huge. That’s a testament to our special teams coordinator, Coach Jake Schoonover. He harped on that all week about their special teams game and a lot of fakes and how they do that. So we were prepared for it. And that was just the main thing, just being prepared for it.

Dottery on JJ Pegues’ goal line moves:

I think it’s awesome. I love that man. You don’t see it a lot in college football. So I love that man. And Lane likes to keep it fun for everybody. And JJ is used to that and we trust him.

Dottery on what it’s like playing behind that defensive line:

I love it. It’s a blessing. I love all four of them, man. They’re great man. They make my job so much easier. And Pooh’s job as well, so it’s awesome. I thank them.

Dottery on Walter Nolen who had two sacks against South Carolina and what does he do so well:

He dominates. Dominates, one on ones, double teams. He just dominates. And that’s his mentality, man. Once I got to know him and just knowing him, that’s his mentality, to dominate. Every Saturday he comes and dominates. So that’s awesome.

Dottery on Vandy beating Bama:

I just found that out. That’s huge. Just got to be ready to play on the road. Just got to be ready to play.