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Ole Miss 41, Auburn 20 | Postgame Quotes

Coaches and players discuss the Rebels' big win over the Tigers.

Todd Van Emst

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik

Opening comments...

"Give a lot of credit to Ole Miss. They have a very good football team. Our guys played hard and we had our chances in the fourth quarter to stay in the game, but we had some very unique things happen and we couldn't get the job done. Our guys fought hard in the end and they never quit. It's a tough loss for us, but we have to get back to it next week and try to get our first SEC win."

On the importance of not letting things that happen in the fourth quarter pile up on his team later in the season...

"The team is very disappointed. At that point in time, we had the game in hand, only down seven, but we couldn't get a stop and we just have to continue to move forward. We have to finish plays. That's the bottom line."

On if his team got away from running the football in the second half...

"Well, I think we distributed the ball pretty well on offense. We did distribute well more so in the first half than we did the second. When a team puts eight or nine in the box, you have to be able to throw the ball a little bit. The problem was that we had too many three and outs. We came back from a 14-0 deficit and I think we handled everything pretty well then. They're an explosive offense and we didn't do a good job at making tackles on them as well. It was a total team loss."

On what they have to look forward to toward the end of the season...

"We're just looking forward to the next opportunity to play and win a game. That's it. We're just taking it one day at a time."

DB Jonathan Jones

On Getting To Play...

"It was good to finally get in and play and show what I can do. It was good to finally get in an SEC game."

On When He Found Out He Would Play...

"Coach kind of hinted to it all week, so I'd been looking forward to it all week. When I got in, when he told me I was in, I was prepared."

On his evaluation of the game...

"Decent, there's room for improvement, trying to learn everything to do and do it well. There's always room for improvement."

K Cody Parkey

On team holding together on kicks...

"He had me kick a couple of touchbacks. We wanted to get the crowd going a little bit and get our team motivated, so we kept a couple in. We were able to capitalize one of them, just trying to keep our team strong enough so that if I don't kick a touchback, they can cover every kick."

Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze

Opening comments...

"Obviously words really cannot describe the feeling in that locker room and in the stadium. For the better part of two and a half years the Rebel fans and students and players and administration have had to put up with some disappointing times. We're not there yet, nor do we think we are, but today we were. We were good enough in four quarters to win an SEC game. We're sure we sound overly emotional, but one of the things our staff wants so badly to give to the Rebel fans is some good times. I know that they're going to enjoy the Grove today, and that makes it a special weekend for me."

On resilience of team after loss to Texas A&M...

"It was real disappointing last weekend, but let's move on from that and talk about the resilience. When I saw them Sunday, I thought our coaching staff did a great job of moving past that, putting that in the trash can, learning from the mistakes, taking the positives from it and building on those, and putting together an effective game plan against what I consider a very talented Auburn team. Obviously something is not exactly right there, but they definitely have a lot of talent, and they scare you when you watch them on film, so I'm very proud of the resilience and the leadership of our team."

On Jeff Scott's touchdown...

"We'll just call that touchdown Jesus. But that's what you do. You play until the whistle blows, and that's
what he did. I never feel good about replays, but I had a total peace about that one. I don't know why. I just felt like this one is going for us, and it did."

On Bo Wallace's performance...

"People really don't know what went on in our week. Monday night Bo's sister had to be airlifted to Vanderbilt with a broken neck. Then Jim Wiseman's mom passes. We had a little issue with some of our kids. I had to put some discipline on a few of them and not play some of them for periods of time. So the whole week was kind of filled with some concern, and obviously Bo, his week started out very concerning. Tuesday he was not himself, but thankfully the doctors did a great job and expect her to have a full recovery, so they're very blessed with that. He was 17-for-22 and protected the football and also ran a couple of touchdowns. We had talked about improving things we were not doing well, and I think he's making strides in the right direction. "

QB Bo Wallace

"Great ball game, to come in here and get our first SEC win. It is just a great feeling inside the locker
room right now."

On his parents...

"Mom texted me during the week and just told me to worry about playing Auburn. I know she wishes
she was here but luckily she got to go home and watch the game. I am really proud of it."

On not committing any turnovers...

"It is what we have to do to stay in ball games in this conference. I am really proud of the way we
protected the ball."

On his offensive line...

"They did an amazing job today. Anytime I felt pressure, I could stay in the pocket and find guys that
were open. I gave it to them and let something happen."

On the rest of the season...

"We need to get a couple more wins to get bowl eligible and that is what we are focused on."

RB Jeff Scott

On his touchdown at the end of game...

"They gave me the ball. The defender wrapped me up, but he never brought me down. I just got up
and kept running."

On protecting the ball...

"It is hard. Everybody says I'm too small to run between the tackles, and I feel that I have to play that
much harder with a chip on my shoulder."

Difference between last week and this week...

"It was a good game (last week), but we came up short. With nine minutes left in this game, I said to the team that we can't let this happen again, we have to finish this game."

LB Mike Marry

On his interception...

"The secondary had everyone covered, so the quarterback had to force a throw. I was just in the right
place at the right time."

On if the defense got tired...

"We never really got tired thanks to our offseason training. We believe in the offense and we believe
that they would come through in the clutch."

On receiving the game ball...

"This was my first ever game ball and it means a lot to me."

S Cody Prewitt

On the first SEC win...

"It feels great to finally get the chip off our shoulder."

On Mike Marry's interception...

"He has a killer instinct all the time. We know when we are up, we need to put it away, and I can't think
of any better way that that could happen."