Transcript: Everything Mississippi State Head Coach Zach Arnett Said After The 37-30 Loss To South Carolina
It was so close, yet to so far away for Mississippi State football (2-2) as the Bulldogs fell 37-30 on the road against South Carolina (2-2) on Saturday night.
Despite putting together by far their best offensive performance of the season, the team was unable to play complementary football to come out on top in a back-and-forth game.
Head coach Zach Arnett met with the media after the game.
Opening statement: They have good players. We’re a little banged up on defense," Arnett said. "We’ve got guys playing in positions that maybe we didn’t anticipate. But there are no excuses. They have a good quarterback. He was really accurate tonight. And we didn’t do enough to get off the field or disrupt him enough. They made the plays they needed to. They were four-of-four in the red zone…one of those might have been a field goal. They converted touchdowns in the red zone. We kicked one field goal and turned it over once in the red zone. That’s a big difference in the game. We knew we were going to give up some yards and play a little conservative to protect the deep ones from their really good receiver corps. Obviously, we gave up some deep ones. We played a little more bend, but don’t break. But it didn’t quite work out. Credit them though. They made the plays in the fourth quarter when they needed to."
Question: "What made South Carolina so difficult to defend?"
Zach Arnett: "They have good players. We’re a little banged up on defense. We’ve got guys playing in positions that maybe we didn’t anticipate. But there are no excuses. They have a good quarterback. He was really accurate tonight. And we didn’t do enough to get off the field or disrupt him enough. They made the plays they needed to. They were four-of-four in the red zone…one of those might have been a field goal. They converted touchdowns in the red zone. We kicked one field goal and turned it over once in the red zone. That’s a big difference in the game. We knew we were going to give up some yards and play a little conservative to protect the deep ones from their really good receiver corps. Obviously, we gave up some deep ones. We played a little more bend, but don’t break. But it didn’t quite work out. Credit them though. They made the plays in the fourth quarter when they needed to."
Q: "What did you think of the offensive side of the ball?"
ZA: "I think they did a heck of a job tonight. They were facing a defensive scheme that was pretty much inviting them to beat them through the air. And they did just that. They through the ball over their head quite a few times for a couple of big plays and on the last drive there were a couple more that just as likely could have gone down and Will throws for 500 and something. You’ve got to make the defense pay when they have a bunch of hats down in there, and throw the ball over their head. If they play softer coverage, you’ve got to be able to run the ball. South Carolina ran the ball pretty good. 47 for 144, that’s 3 yards a carry right? But they ran it well enough to make us pay for playing conservative coverage."
Q: "What was the explanation on the interception?"
ZA: "They said it was reviewed up in the booth and it was confirmed. I called my timeout and when it got whistled dead, I said I should get my timeout back. No, because I didn’t openly challenge it. Are you sure you saw it that way? They said I don’t get my timeout back for that."
Q: "What did you think about the way your team responded to being down 14-0?"
ZA: "I’m proud of the competitive spirit and fire we showed. They very easily could have put their heads down and quit, and it wouldn’t have been much of a football game. Instead, they did what all good teams do. Someone goes out and makes a play, creates some momentum. We hit Tulu over the top for a touchdown pass, and then defense goes out and gets a stop. Gives the ball back to the offense. That’s how it works. Someone’s got to make a play to flip momentum. I’m glad to see we did that, they ought to be able to draw confidence from the way they moved the ball and hit explosive plays. We gave up too many explosive plays."
Q: "What do you think of the way Kevin (Barbay) has used Tulu (Griffin) this year?"
ZA: "I would assume the guy who is a first-team all-America kick returner and takes them back in a number of different ways can hit the same seams on offense. We play to our strengths. We find a way to get the ball to the guy with the most explosive hands. He’s one of the best in the country. Gotta get to him a bunch of different ways. All offenses do that with their personnel. It’s good to see him stretch the field."
