Head coach Skip Holtz

Opening comments:

"I say it every week, but it is always great to win because it sure beats the alternative. I was really proud of this team and the way they went and competed. It was a very physical and hard hitting football game. The game was very emotional on both sides. I am really proud of what our team was able to go out there and do. Congratulations to Terrell Pinson for defensive player of the week and the helmet sticker on Saturday night. The accolades and his performance is a real tribute to all of the hard work that he has put in. It is also speaks for the role that our defense is playing right now and the job they are doing for us the last couple of weeks. I think as a team we are maturing. I talked about us being a work in progress in where we are going. We are maturing in that we have played hard, I have said that each week. The thing that has been encouraging me the last couple of weeks, is that we are playing smart. We are playing winning football. We are following the plan and we are not just out there running around. There is a difference between playing hard and playing smart. That is why I feel like this team is really beginning to mature."

"I think UTSA is a very good and talented football team. Their defense is deserving of many of the billings they have. They are one of the better defenses in the league. In this game we had some players that hard to step up. Jens Danielsen stepped in on the offensive line and did a really nice job. With Paul Turner being out, you had two freshmen that had to step in with Carlos Henderson and Marcus Gaines. Marlon Watts ended up playing a lot in this game."

"Defensively with Mitch Villemez playing a very limited role with his injury, Russell Farris stepped in and played a nice game. Secdrick Cooper as well. Coming into it, Cooper has been our fourth safety. (Lloyd) Grogan was not able to play, which was a game day decision due to his sickness. He is fine now. Cooper went from playing eight plays a game to playing 35 or 40 plays a game. I thought some guys stepped up and did a really nice job. We keep talking about building that depth on this football team because you never know when it is going to come in to play. Some of those guys stepped in and did some really positive things."

"Defensively, we are really starting become what we thought we could be at the beginning of the year. We said our defense was going to have to carry this team a little early in the season. You are really starting to see them mature, understand and develop. I cannot say enough about the guys on the defensive side of the ball with the way they are playing and the things they are doing. I think our defensive staff is to be commended the have done a great job putting together game plans. There are a lot of positive stories going on, on the defensive side of ball. It is nice to see because if you can play defense like that every week, it gives you a chance to be in a football game."

"When looking at this game, there are some things obviously that we need to work on. The production in our kicking game is definitely one of them. We have to get better in our kicking game. The consistency on offense is something that we have to get better at. I thought we did some good things running the ball but we are not as consistent as we need to be. I think the lack of big plays and the penalties were the two things I would like to see us change as we move forward. I think the key offensively would be consistency. One thing we are not talking about is protecting the football. I do not think Cody Sokol had one of his better games but I thought he did a very good job of managing the football game against a very good defensive team who was creating a lot of pressure on the quarterback."

"It is always nice to get a win in conference. As I tell the team every week, you have 24 hours to celebrate it and we were on to Southern Miss last night. I am excited as this is the third longest running rivalry on our schedule. We are excited about the opportunity to play this game. I think Coach (Todd) Monken has done a great job. I have known Coach Monken for a long time, back when he was a graduate assistant. I had a long relationship with him, he is a very good football coach. I think you can start to see in their second year that they are getting better trying to put together their program. You are really starting to see some of the benefits of that, especially when you watch how they have improved this year. I think it is hard to look at them statistically to find out what they do really well, when you have to ply Mississippi State and Alabama. Similar to us, where we played Auburn and Oklahoma. Maybe statistically we are not at the top of any charts, but I think as a football team you can see the improvement that they have made as a football team."

On the offensive side of the ball, it starts with their sophomore quarterback. He played all of last year as freshman. He is starting to feel more and more comfortable. He is very accurate throwing the football. He is the third ranked quarterback in our league right now, as far as passing yards. They are throwing a lot. Last week, not only did they throw for a lot of yards, against a very good North Texas team, they also rushed for over 200 yards. They have two running backs that are playing really well for them. They have a group of wide receivers. Thomas and Martin are their two big play guys. Martin is more of a ball control receiver. Those are the two primary targets. It is not by accident that those two are the kick and punt returners. They are very talented players. Martin is averaging over 12 yards a return on his punt returns. I think their special teams are very solid so it will be a great test for us. It is a conference game and a road game. We know every week will be a challenge, we just have to get our players focused in and ready to play with a 1-0 mindset."

On the performance of Cody Sokol vs. UTSA:

"There are probably two or three reads where Cody would like to have them back. When you look statistically, he had a couple balls that were thrown away, two spikes and you take four or five of those off. He was against man coverage so we tried to throw the ball down the field a little bit more. He barely missed Carlos Henderson and Hunter Lee. If you have the opportunity to hit those two and put 14 points up on the board, it is very similar to what we have done the past couple of weeks. I think he is doing a great job of managing the game and I do not want to take that away from him. We are not turning the ball over. Last year offensively at this time, we were averaging 2.7 turnovers a game and were 118th in the country. That is one of the things we talked about doing a better job of. I think he is doing a god job of managing the game. I think we just need to be a little more precise in man coverage."

On the performance of the defense vs. UTSA:

"The defense is creating turnovers and getting the ball back in the offenses hands. When we talk about the inconsistencies on offense, Kenneth Dixon rushed for over 100 yards, yet we ended with quite a few three and outs. There were a few times where we would rush for six on first down and then be penalized and pushed back. We have to eliminate the penalties. We had five penalties at halftime. Our offense had five on the day. We have to eliminate that to give ourselves a chance to control the ball. There are only two ways to score. You have to throw it over everyone's head, or you have to get good enough to where you can methodically move the ball down the field and put it in the end zone. We have been able to hit some big plays, but were not able to make some on Saturday. Our defense is doing a great job right now of helping the offense and putting them in really good field position."

On Kenneth Dixon:

"Running for 120 yards is pretty good. We have to find a way to get him the ball a little bit more. I am not saying we are going to give him the ball 35 times and let him get pounded with everyone focusing on him. Last week one of the things we were trying to do is manage an offensive football game against a talented defensive front. A defensive front that I thought would be one of the better fronts that we would face, especially in this conference. They have a lot of experience and are big and strong. Kenneth is very versatile and can help in a lot of different ways. In that game we said we wanted to manage it and get a little bit bigger and put a hat on a hat and be able to run the football. We were able to do that. It was not a game where we went in saying we would score 50 points against a great defense and let our quarterback sit in the pocket and take a beating. Offensively we executed the game plan with what we were trying to do. I wish we could have done it better, but I thought we were successful with our primary goal."

On whether the team is maturing as the season progresses:

"There are ways to win and there are ways to lose. When you starts having penalties, mistakes in the red zone, not converting third downs, turning the ball over and things like that are a recipe for disaster. There are certain things you have to do, to be a good football team. There a talented football teams and there are teams that play hard. For me, there is a formula to winning football. There are certain things you have to do, to give yourself a chance to win. This team is starting to understand that and we are doing it much better than we did a year ago."

On the intensity of the Southern Miss rivalry vs. others:

"We talk about geographic rivalries. With Southern Miss and the 45 previous games, there is tradition. There is history and we are only three and a half hours away. We recruit against each other. We are in the same conference. I think three of the last four games have come down to the final possession. It is a rivalry game and one we are excited to be involved with. I definitely think it is a huge rivalry."

On forcing turnovers:

"All these guys are starting to understand how things fit when you blitz. They realize the ball is going to come out quick. You can sit on a route rather than keep backing up. I think that is where our defensive staff has done a really good job. I think our players are feeling more comfortable in the system. This is a system that we put together in the spring. We started all over in the spring with new terminology. As I talked about the first six game, we are a work in progress. When you sit down and watch Oklahoma and Auburn, you can say that when we do what we are supposed to do, we are pretty good. You can see the improvement we made from Oklahoma to Auburn. That switch has really flipped and the guys have really bought in. I think our defensive staff has done a great job with an experienced defensive team. The guys are really starting to understand it. The players are the ones who go out on the field and they are just getting more and more comfortable every week with what we are doing and how they fit into it. They are playing fast."

On success running the ball:

"Our guys are getting better up front. It was great to see Jens Danielsen get into the game and see him have the success that he did against some physical and aggressive defensive ends that can rush the passer. The move of Wixson, Brunson and Carter inside, is really paying dividends. They are battling against one of the better fronts. It was encouraging to see. We still have to get better. Those guys are playing as a unit for the third week in a row. They are starting to get more comfortable, but when you really get there is when those guys have been playing two years together. I am excited about having three weeks of stability on our offensive line. I do think they will get better each and every week."

On being undefeated in C-USA:

"It is the goal when we come in. Right now I am excited about where we are. We talk about the big picture on Sunday and on Monday we are right back to game week. We talk about our record, our division, standings and now Monday is Southern Miss week. It is a 1-0 mentality and we do not talk big picture anymore during the week. The rest of the week is focusing on what we have to do here. We are trying to stay away from the big picture right now, because the big picture is not going to help us focus on what we have to do this week to go 1-0."

On the Southern Miss offense:

"Southern Miss is throwing for about 275 yards a game. Which puts them third in our league. They are probably 90 percent pass and 10 percent run but then they come out last week and rush for 200 yards. That is where they are getting better. They lost their one dimension. Last week showed a sign that a lot of people had not seen with them being able to come out and run the football like they did. Offensively, they are very good. They have a young quarterback that is in the system for his second year. He throws the ball very accurately. They throw the ball around to some very good receivers. Their offensive line is doing a good job of pass protection. As many times as they have thrown it, they have only given up 14 sacks in six or seven games. Offensively they are putting up some numbers. That is why you cannot just look at what they are averaging. They are getting better and better. You can see them starting to make some changes. Some freshmen are coming along and starting to play for them."

On the Southern Miss defensive front:

"I look at [Nunez] up front. I think he may be one of the better players in this league. Against Mississippi State he made a lot of tackles. He is very disruptive. He is a very talented player. I think as a whole they are playing a lot of young guys. Against Alabama and Mississippi State they gave up a lot of statistics early. They were taking their lumps with younger players. They are starting to figure it out and get better. Looking at them statistically, which I do not think tells the story as their win against North Texas on the road shows they are getting better."

On the Southern Miss offensive line:

"They are asking their offensive line to pass protect. They are asking them to do what they can do. They are playing younger players and have moved some people around. They are doing a very good job of pass protection. They are buying time for their quarterback. He is sitting back there and throwing for 270 yards because they are getting the ball down the field. They are doing a good job and they have some good concepts. I know Coach Monken has been at a lot of different passing schools and been exposed to a lot of different ways to do it. Right now some of the things they are doing stretching the field vertically, they are doing some good things with it."

On points off turnovers:

"Coach Diaz has a lot of wrinkles in what he does as a defense. It is very difficult to prepare for everything he can do. Having a lot of talent on defense and that make up, makes it a dangerous combination. There are some guys who have played some football for us. We do not have to be vanilla on defense. He can utilize his bag of tricks right now. It can make it difficult to prepare for because he is not one dimensional. He can give you a lot of different things. Totally different offense this week than a week ago. Last week they did everything. This week you know they are going to line up and throw it 80 percent of the time, which makes it a little bit harder. They are good at what they do right now in throwing the ball. They are throwing for a lot of yards."

On talking to the team about grinding out the last few games:

"We broke this season into one six game season, to get to the first open date and then took a breath and now these are the next four opponents. We are kind of in a four game season. We have to put our nose to the grind stone and go 1-0 each and every week. We have Southern Miss this week and at the next open week, we will look at where we are. We are trying not to look at how many we have left. Let's go through, six take a breath, go through four, take a breath and then look at where we are going into the final two."

On Injuries:

"We have some guys who were limited last night. We will have a much better idea going into Tuesday. Grogan will be fine, he practiced on Sunday. Beau Fitte and Paul Turner are the two we will see. Mitch Villemez will be fine. With him missing a lot of practice last week, we said we were going to go with Russell Farris. I thought he played an excellent game going in there as a true freshman and starting a conference game. We felt like if we need Mitch, he was available. If we did not need him, we would give him one more week to get ready to play. I expect him to be back at full strength. Everyone else I will have a better feeling on towards the end of the week."

Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz

On closing out the win vs. UTSA on Saturday:

"We had to be in that situation. I did like the way the game ended. I liked the way the defense was out there and we made the play at the end of the game to win because we had not done that before. Until you have the confidence, until you make that last second shot and see it going in the hoop, you don't really know you can do it. Our kids defensively, they wanted that burden on them, they wanted to have the feeling of going out there and finishing the game. We had not really played a close game that we had won yet, so for our guys, I thought that was a good situation for them to get out there and make plays at a crucial time in the game."

On the defense forcing more turnovers in the last two games:

"It is run defense. The game is not complicated. If somebody cannot run, they have to throw to beat you. And if they throw to beat you, then the ball is in harm's way. That is what our players understand. There is not a team in America that does not preach turnovers. Turnovers come when you force the offense to throw the ball to move the ball. When you throw the ball to move the ball, you can make yards, you can make some things happen, but ultimately you are playing with fire when you do that. That is really what it has come down to these last couple weeks. We have done such a good job eliminating the run game from the other teams' arsenal and after that, it is just getting after that football."

On Southern Miss being more of a passing team:

"When you play a team that throws the ball as often and as well as Southern Miss does, first and foremost, you must eliminate the run. If they can run it, then you are still playing them on two fronts. The core of our defense will remain the same. We have to eliminate the run and then you have to affect the quarterback. And you can affect the quarterback through a lot of different ways. It can be through pressure, tight coverage, disguising zones or different things, but that is really all this game comes down to."

On Southern Miss' offensive line:

"Their offensive line has done a better job, but I think the biggest point is their run game, and that is what I was just talking about. To run for 200 yards against North Texas, who is always going to try and outnumber you in the run game; that is what allows your offensive line to have a chance to pass-protect because now it is not just every down being your best pass-rush move. You have the honor the fact that it could be a run play. Certainly they have improved each week. It is very obvious when you watch them chronologically on film, and it does have a lot to do with up front and the way they are able to run the football."

On the play of Terrell Pinson:

"Obviously, the big plays Terrell made were fantastic, and as a coach, you always like to see your seniors to be able to make plays like that because that will be an afternoon that he of course will never forget. As his coach, I am as impressed with some of the other things that don't really catch the eye. The plays he made were fantastic plays, but some of the ways he took on blocks, some of the ways he moved square through the block, and some of the ways he is just playing fast and under control; I was as excited to see those plays on tape as much as I was the ones that were obvious. To have a good football team, your seniors have to play the best ball of their careers, and to see a guy like Terrell do that, it gives him a lot of confidence. This is a guy that seven games ago didn't know he was a linebacker, so it gives him confidence that he not just survives the position, but thrive at that position. It gives our whole team a big boost in the arm. Next week, it might be somebody else. That is kind of what we are based on."

On having success at the linebacker position:

"In this day and age in college football, it is a part of the field that is attacked a lot. Your bubble screens, your sweeps to the field, all your quick passes to the field; you have to have someone that is tough enough and physical enough that can stop the run when we bounce the run out to him, that can set an edge on the perimeter on screens, which he did a really nice job of on Saturday. But when the ball is thrown, this is a guy in essence that you could argue is a short safety. A lot of times, his responsibility is patrolling the middle of the field, which he has done in the past, but instead of being 25 yards down field like Xavier Woods, he is 8-12 yards deep. His instincts and his ability to have a good feel for where the ball is going to go helps. Now, Terrell will be the first to tell you that about every play he made on Saturday, somebody else had a big hand in. A lot of times, the quarterback was under a massive amount of duress and had to get rid of the football, and that is really where the whole thing comes together. That was neat to see all the guys understand that everyone had a role in his success."

On the return of Vontarrius Dora vs. UTSA:

"With his health, you were not sure with getting the reports back day in and day out in terms of how much he was going to be able to handle. We sure needed it with the way the game turned out. He made an effort play maybe on the second to last play of the game when they ran the double-reverse throw back play, and he and Pinson actually ended up sort of sandwiching the quarterback. To have him out there, he changes us. You can't deny it when he is out there. His speed and athleticism off the edge, just coming out of the alley and making plays and just chasing the ball, it is a different force. The other guys stepped in and did a really nice job, but he helps us when he is in the lineup. Fortunately, he is a lot better player than he is a coach. I like him better than I like him coaching, but certainly he was watching as our guys were growing [when he was injured] and our guys were having success. We want all of our guys to play. We are a better team when we have all of our guys play, but the other thing that our guys have seen is we have a little bit of a next-man-up mentality on this defense. We know we are better fully loaded, but we have had some guys who have missed some time and some other guys have stepped up and made some plays. They can really see where everyone has a role to play in this defense. We played the entire second half on defense on Saturday, and it was sneaky hot. It seemed like a nice day, but it was sneaky hot down on that turf. A guy like Jabari Prewitt got some big reps. Michael Mims came in and got a couple of big reps in the game. Dillon Williams got a couple of big reps. There was a bunch of guys that came in there, and that was a time when we needed everyone. Some guys were going out for a couple plays here and there with injuries, so the depth of our defense is going to be crucial here down the stretch."

Senior LB Terrell Pinson

On his performance against UTSA:

"I was just very excited that my team got the win most of all. A lot of the guys on the team were making tackles and interceptions so I am just glad we got the win."

On the conversion to linebacker from safety:

"It was kind of tough, just going up against o-linemen that are 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds and I am just 6-foot-2, 210 [pounds] so it is hard. I am just working with the other linebackers. Tony Johnson and Mitch Villemez help me learn certain techniques to overcome those things."

On having to cover space like a safety:

"I think that is why they moved me there for more speed in the open field as far as other linebackers not being able to do certain things like that. It is a big advantage for me to be on the field and be able to move around like that."

On Southern Miss' passing attack:

"Just coming from the game Saturday, [UTSA] threw the ball a lot and we had success as far as getting turnovers so hopefully the same thing will happen this Saturday against Southern Miss."

Senior Quarterback Cody Sokol

On the offense being more consistent:

"I think the biggest thing for us is to continue to move the ball down the field. I think we had a lack of big plays this game and we are kind of used to that, but we have to get better as an offense of just being able to move the ball down the field methodically and get first downs."

On having a defense that can get you turnovers or a short field:

"It is great. I think the biggest thing is making big plays, but also not turning the ball over. I think our defense does a great job of winning the turnover battle. When we go out there we know that they are going to create some turnovers on defense and get us the ball in some good field position."

On going up against the defense in the fall:

"I learned just to make it simple. The biggest thing I learned was that coach Diaz does a great job of moving people around. The biggest thing is just eliminating people and trying to make the game easier which I think teams have a little bit of trouble doing. Coach Diaz does a great job in preparation and those guys do a great job of coming in and getting prepared for games."

On the improvement of the offensive line:

"I think we did a great job running the ball. I think giving up zero sacks to a team that came off a game against FIU where they had a lot is a big credit to our offensive line. I think we just need to continue to get better and better."

On the challenges of the Southern Miss defense:

"They have another good defensive line. I think they do a great job of keeping two-high shell, but I expect them to try to stop the run game. I would not be surprised if they played a lot of man. I think a lot of teams have prepared for us in that way and I think we have to take advantage of it by throwing the ball."

On the deep ball throws:

"I think I just need to keep doing what I have been doing all year. We have been having great practices and we have had a lot of success with the deep ball, throwing the deep ball down field in practice and in games. I am just going to keep preparing how I normally prepare."

On Marlon Watts:

"He is a playmaker and a guy with great ball skills. He shows it in practice. He goes up and gets the ball. He runs great routes, catches the ball well, has a big vertical, so I think he is a big red zone threat for us to have. He is another unselfish player for him to take the redshirt off and be willing to help the team in any way he can."

On having a wide receiver who can go up and get the ball:

"I think [Marlon Watts] does it in practice all the time. It is my job to keep getting the ball into those playmakers hands and continue to get those guys the ball."

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