Moorhead Looks at Auburn Game in Weekly Press Conference

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead met with members of the media on Monday afternoon to preview the Bulldogs' upcoming SEC battle with No. 8 Auburn this Saturday.Kickoff between the Bulldogs (3-2, 0-2 SEC) and Tigers (4-1, 1-1 SEC) is set for 6:30 p.m. CT at Davis Wade Stadium and the contest will be televised nationally by ESPN2. For complete gameday and stadium information, visit HailState.com/gameday.

Below is a transcript of Moorhead’s Monday press conference. Head coach Joe Moorhead – Press ConferenceOctober 1, 2018

Opening Statement…

“Starting with the Florida game, obviously, a very physical and hard-fought game decided by one score. I certainly credit coach (Dan) Mullen and his staff for a good game plan there. Our performance indicators for the game, which we look at to kind of gauge what the outcome is going to be, I thought we did a much better job with the penalties, bringing those down from 16 to two, so that was a positive there. Won the turnover battle, one to zero. Lost the explosive play battle, and that is something, on both sides of the ball, that we need to improve, but particularly on offense. Through the years and through the first three games, it’s something that we thrive on and need for us to be successful. That was certainly lacking again on the offensive end. Third-down conversion percentage, we lost, and then red zone, we were 0 for 2 in touchdowns there, settled for two field goals, and they had the one touchdown in there.

Defensively, I thought we played, for the second week in a row, well enough to win. We bent, but we didn't break. We played a little bit better on third down than we did offensively. Certainly, in the compete zone down in the red zone, did a good job. Outside of the one trick play, we held them to field goals. The defense continually gave us an opportunity to get the ball back and get a chance to score and win. Special teams-wise, I thought we held our own. I didn't think we did anything to kind of influence the game one way or the other. We did lose the field position battle, but I thought we had a solid special teams game. Then certainly, offensively, for the second week in a row, performing well below our standard with two field goals and not being able to put the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

Once again, from an accountability standpoint, the first thumb goes at me. I oversee the game plan, and I call the plays, so that one's on me, and that’s one that’s going to get fixed. From an overall team standpoint, I thought we lacked the precision and consistency necessary to win a game of that level against that caliber of an opponent. Talk about the SEC being a margin-of-error football league. As you look at it, probably four or five plays, had they swung the other direction, it could have flipped the outcome, and we didn’t make them. I need to do a better job putting kids in the position to be successful, certainly on the offensive side of the ball, and when we do make good calls, it's dialed up the right way, and we find a way to execute the plays.

Obviously, no players or scouts of the week or helmet stickers. Student-athletes of the Week for this week were Keith Mixon and Jaquarius Landrews. From an injury standpoint, really not much has changed from last week. You know a bunch of bumps and bruises from the game, like I said, very physical, but the things that we had heading into the week are the same ones we're going to have heading into this week. Nothing major changing from that standpoint.

Moving on to Auburn, obviously led by Gus Malzahn, 49-23 in his six years there. Has won or played in the conference championship in seven of his 12 seasons as a head coach. He was a 2013 National Coach of the Year. The prolific offense is led by quarterback coach, Chip Lindsey. They play the spread and use a variety of personnel groupings and some unorthodox formations, which throughout the season, we’ve kind of seen them more and more, formation to sideline, trips and the sideline, so that's something we’re going to have to defend again. Averaging 33 points-per-game, rushing for 179 and throwing for 198. The quarterback Jarrett Stidham is a fantastic player, 963 yards passing this year. Operates the system well. A lot of people have him ranked or graded as a potential first-round prospect. Two running backs, very, very talented – Kam Martin, No. 9 and 28, JaTarvious Whitlow. He's their leading rusher. Then wide receiver, No. 23 Ryan Davis - quick, agile and a veteran senior. Certainly, a guy that we're going to have to pay close attention on the back end.

Defense is led by Kevin Steele, a long-time NFL and college coordinator, does a fantastic job. Once again, like the other teams we've seen, a mix of three and four down. They play one-high, two-high, man-zone coverages. On third down, they do a great job pressuring. They are the third-ranked scoring defense in the country, fifth in third-down conversion percentage, and seventh in turnovers. They’ve given up five touchdowns the entire season, and only one of them on the ground. Interesting to see, looking at the scoring defense rankings from this year, that six of the top 10 scoring defenses are from the SEC, and we've played two of those three already. Now, we’ll have another opportunity to go against one this week.

Special teams is led by Larry Porter, his second year. Kind of a simple scheme that allows his players to play fast. Averaging almost 30 yards on kickoff return with one touchdown. They've blocked two punts, and they have a 14.5-yard average. They have a bunch of guys there. The punter, No. 9 is extremely accurate, averaging almost 45 a kick with five over 50 and six inside the 20. The kicker has 85 percent touchbacks, 6 of 12 on field goals with a long of 53.

Moving forward to the things that we’re going to need to do to be successful. We're going to have to continue to stick together and be able to, like after the first three games, handle prosperity and after the past two, continue to handle adversity and know how to bounce back from it. We are going to continue to need great leadership from our coaches and from our players and continue to be a unit that takes accountability, starting with me pointing a thumb and not a finger. Had a great meeting with our captains and our leadership council on Sunday night, discussing the things that went wrong with the game and the things that we need to continue to do to improve. I think the guy that's not on either of those, but has kind of stepped to the forefront to become a great leader for us is Johnathan Abram. He's a guy after the game when it was very emotional and, obviously, guys weren’t pleased with the outcome, stepped in front of the team before I had the chance to talk. He talked about how the team was in the exact same position as last year after five games, being 3-2 and certainly, coming off a 31-3 loss to Georgia and a 49-10 loss to Auburn that we have the entire season in front of us. Plenty of room to improve. Like I said, being here to elevate the program from good to great. That’s something we’re going to have to do. I was proud of Johnathan for kind of stepping up and taking a great leadership role there and letting the guys know there's plenty to play for and plenty of things we need to do to improve.

We can't worry about our goals, although every single one of them are still achievable for us. We got to continue to play one game at a time, trust the process and do the little things right and know that it doesn't get any easier from here. Certainly, from our schedule here on out is going to be incredibly difficult, but this staff, team and myself, personally, welcome the challenge of playing in the SEC West. While short-term success is imminent, and we want it to occur immediately, it is going to happen. Myself, my staff and this team are also here. We’re not just building a team. We’re building a program here to make sure we have long-term, sustained success in addition to what we're going to accomplish this year. Very fired up for this opportunity. Excited to be back home. Had an electric atmosphere last week with the fans and appreciated everything they did to come out. I know we're going to see the same thing this week against Auburn in another night game under the lights.”

On the safety position...

“Coach (Bob) Shoop is doing a great job coaching those guys individually. They've played a lot of football for us. They kind of coordinate the calls on the back and make sure everyone's aligned. They kind of balance each other pretty good. Johnathan (Abram) being a very, very emotional guy, kind of wears it on his sleeve and plays as such. Mark (McLaurin) is more reserved and steady kind of guy, but getting excellent production out of both of those guys. They’ve played a ton of ball here. They’ve seen a lot of things. Certainly, their play through five games has been what we're looking for at that position."

On injury updates for Jamal Peters and Tyler Williams...

“Yes (Peters is still out indefinitely). Tyler Williams is still day-to-day with a lower body.”

On evaluating Nick Fitzgerald’s performance against Florida...

“I thought, not counting the sacks obviously, from a rushing standpoint, I thought he made good decisions in the run game and ran the ball well. Particularly in the first half, where we had three drives that were not two minute, and we were able to move into the red zone on two of those three. You know from a pass-game standpoint, certainly, we need to complete a higher percentage of balls. We have the opportunity. A lot of what goes into it, from a quarterback standpoint and having played a position, it’s the one that gets more than the credit it deserves and more than the blame it deserves. Certainly, 41 percent or whatever it was – we need that to improve. Part of that is the quarterback, part of that is the protection, part of that is the route and part of that is catching the ball. Certainly, Nick, on a weekly basis, looking to improve on the things we ask him to do and getting acclimated to a new system – certainly we need him and all of us – we need him to play better moving forward than what he did Florida.”

On Osirus Mitchell…

“Yelling at him isn’t going to solve anything, except put him more in the tank. The kid knows he made a mistake and had a critical drop. To me, you pat him on the head and tell him you're going to need him in this game, and you’re going to need him moving forward and really correct the issue, not the play. What happened there, he tried to run before he caught the ball. The term coach (Luke) Getsy and I use is 'eyes to the tuck'. When you catch the ball, you tuck it in before you start running. He's our leading receiver, and he's got a lot of great football in front of him. He had an unfortunate play, but to me, you have to correct in those instances. That's what we try to do.”

On seeing both Nick Fitzgerald and Keytaon Thompson on the field in certain packages…

“Every week, we evaluate the formations that we run and the different personnel based on what they do. Does a two-quarterback set gives us the opportunity to make a play or a package of plays? That’s evaluated on a weekly basis, but if there’s something that we see, schematically, that would give us a chance to be successful, we use it. It's kind of the same stuff last year at Penn State. It would appear for a game, disappear for a couple then come back again, so a lot of it is based on how the defense is playing.”

On making it more about the team rather than the caliber of the opponent…

“At the end of the day, it’s about making sure as coaches we game plan and do a good job today and throughout the week, putting a plan together and put the kids in positions to be successful. That we practice that well throughout the course of the week with great physicality and improved precision. When we make the good calls, we got to find way to execute them, so I don’t think it’s as much a concentration of what the opponent is doing as you mentioned as a ‘hey, this is what we do' and how can we improve our execution and consistency moving forward."

On the run game…

“Some of it is scheme. When the quarterback has the choice to hand the ball off or run it, a lot of reads we’ve been given dictated that the quarterback keep it. Also, you’re always evaluating your personnel and attempting to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Nick is a very capable and accomplished runner. Some of the times, we want the ball in his hands, but certainly to answer your question in kind of a round-about way, we are examining more and more ways to make sure that when we call a run it gets put in the running back's stomach and that he runs it as opposed to either a pull and a quarterback run or a pull and throw. All of those things are factored in and considered. Certainly, when the running backs are averaging close to seven yards a carry a piece, we got to find a way to get them the ball a little bit more.”

On what the team shows in practice that he didn’t see on the field Saturday…

“Defensively, I thought it mirrored what we saw on the practice field. Offensively, there wasn't a ton that Florida did different than what we practiced. Once again, it comes down to two things, the calls and the execution. I've got to do a better job. I should say we as an offense, from an execution standpoint, we need to do a better job.”

On tempo…

“I think we had one delay against Kansas State, maybe, early on in the year. Our style of offense is predicated on getting the best play possible against the look presented rather than running a poor play quickly, so a lot of that is by design. Certainly, with us getting the play in quicker can help with some time on the clock. I don't think that’s incredibly abnormal, us using that much of the clock. Certainly, you’d like to have it snapped before one.”

On Nick Fitzgerald’s confidence…

“Confidence isn’t certainly one of Nick’s issues. I think a bad game or a bad quarter, bad half, bad play, he’s a guy that has supreme confidence in himself like we all do, offensively. With Nick, that’s not something that we harp on with him because his confidence is usually sky high.”

On Erroll Thompson's role in making the defense successful this season…

“Between him, Leo (Lewis) and Willie (Gay Jr.) and (Brian) Cole at kind of a nickel-linebacker position, I think those guys at the second level are doing a very good job. Coach (Tem) Lukabu and coach (Bob) Shoop put them in a good position to be successful. Erroll is a guy that makes all the calls, gets the front set and gets the pressure going where it needs to go. You talk about the center being the eyes and ears up front of the operation. You know, Erroll is kind of the eyes and ears of the defensive operation and getting everything organized and aligned.”

On offensive scheme…

“That is something on a weekly basis on Sundays when we come in and do our evaluation of the game, we talk about personnel. We evaluate that on really a weekly and daily basis of who puts us in the best position to be successful. Then once you determine who those 11 people are going to be, what can we do schematically to, as I mentioned before, maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses? Certainly, with some of the issues we’ve been having from a protection standpoint, what are the things we can do to help? Chipping was some of the stuff we worked on this week. Certainly, screens, draws, getting the ball out quicker and more quick game, that can help alleviate some of the protection issues we've been having."

On how open competition for playing time is this week…

“Win, lose or draw, it’s always open, so it's not like we went in Sunday and said 'alright, we lost our second consecutive game and didn't play well on offense again. Today, we’re going to decide to evaluate personnel and make changes.' Even after wins, we come in and say, 'hey, this guy performed well. This guy didn't. Is there a rotation or change we can make to improve us moving forward?'”

On where the team is at this point in the season...

“I think, overall, I’d like to be 5-0 and not 3-2. I'd like to have two wins in the SEC and not none, but I think from an overall program standpoint, I like the way that our culture is heading and the kids believe in the things that we're stressing on a daily basis to build a long-term, sustained and successful program – discipline, accountability, attention to detail, selflessness. I like where all of those things are heading on and off the field. I think we've performed very well defensively throughout the first five games. Certainly, at the end of the Kentucky game, it got away from us a little bit with some leaky yardage and a couple points, but a lot of that stems back to our offense and inability to sustain a drive. Then offensively, I think we played well for the first three games and below our standard in the last two. Special teams, I think we've been solid. From an overall standpoint, I think we need to continue to do the things we’re doing defensively and not rest on our laurels, continue to improve there. I think we're top 10 in a couple of different categories. Offensively, we got to get it rolling, and that starts with me. Special teams can continue to be solid. I’m confident in the direction of the program. We’re confident in our staff and our players. Like I said, we're not looking for a one-year build here. We’re looking to put together a long-term, sustained, successful program where we're consistent in our behaviors. That will, in turn, lead to consistency in our production where it's not eight wins, six wins, seven wins. We want to make sure, as we build this, we’re building it at the highest level."

On facing Auburn’s and other SEC defensive fronts…

“Starting with No. 5 this week, he’s a pretty good player. I think I might have skipped over those guys, but No. 5 is a very strong guy. They have very active linebackers – No. 57. They have a bunch of long, defensive backs that can cover and haven’t given up much pass yardage. The interior, the core of our offensive line, has performed a little bit better than the edges in pass protection. Some of that is relative to the players that we’ve seen – No. 99 for Florida and No. 41 for Kentucky were very good players. Once again, I think it’s a combination of things. Mixing up some of the things we're doing, making sure we're changing the launch point. The third-down blitz, as we’ve seen. Making sure we're picking those things up. Make sure we’re doing things schematically to put our kids in position to be successful. Making sure we have the right people in there.”

On field position factoring into the success of an offense and defense...

“I think, if you look at studies of average drive start, common sense would dictate that the further you have to go, the less chance you have to score a touchdown or field goal. I think ours was – 19 for this past game, our average starting field position, so that's an 81-yard touchdown drive. I think theirs was in the mid-30s. I think we've done a real good job on our kickoff return unit. I think we took a little slip back this week. That goes to defensive stops as well – getting three-and-outs, making the punt and getting field position. That’s critical.”

On team morale during Sunday’s practice…

“Practice went good. They were stinging a little bit in our team meeting. They were a little sore and upset – as were all of us. They should be. I don’t want guys in there hooting and hollering after a loss, but certainly, you don’t want them to internalize it. To me the most important thing is correcting the things that need to be fixed and then move on. We went through practice, went through the Florida corrections, and moved on to Auburn prep. I thought they did a good job shaking it off.”

On any true freshman not redshirting outside of Marcus Murphy and Scott Goodman...

“Whop (Devonta Jason) won’t redshirt either. Marcus (Murphy) and Whop are doing a very good job for us on special teams – kind of working and fighting their way into rotation at receiver and safety. Goodman, certainly for a walk-on kid, true freshman, he’s been doing a real good job at kicker.”

On great fan support…

“To me, it’s not if, it’s when. I think that’s part of the great thing about Mississippi State, our fan base and our community. They’re with you. They aren’t fair-weather fans. They’re with you win, lose or draw. They are going to come out. I wear a double-sided headset, so I couldn’t hear the bells. I had family members there and friends. They said it was the loudest environment they’ve ever been in any college football setting. I appreciate the heck out of our fans. I know that they love the Bulldogs. Certainly, they may not love what we’re doing right now, particularly on the offensive side, but I promise you, it’s going to get fixed. It’s going to get better. The light at the end of the tunnel, it’s an opening not an on-coming train, so we’re going to get there.”

On injury update on Darryl Williams…

“Yeah, he’s a tough kid, lower-body, day-to-day. A lot of these guys with the bumps and bruises, they got injury checked yesterday. We’ll monitor them as the week progresses.”