Chad Morris
– On Alabama: "My goodness, they've been the standard of college football for many years. ... To beat a team like that you can't make mistakes, and we didn't play mistake-free football."
– Offensively, I was encouraged to see us execute better and grow. Ty Storey keeps becoming more and more comfortable. The more he plays the more comfortable he becomes. We had two fumbles that led to 14 points.
– Rakeem Boyd is progressing, and the tight end production is improving. We were much better on third down, but there's still room for improvement.
– The defense got out-leveraged from the first play of the game, and with a team with that kind of speed that can't happen. Alabama was faced with only six third-down chances. And, we didn't create turnovers.
– Special teams, we neutralized their speed for the most part. It was also exciting to see De'Vion Warren cut loose on the kickoff return.
– We're extremely excited about the atmosphere this weekend for the Ole Miss game. Morris said he knows the tailgating will be spectacular.
– You're always looking at personnel changes, Morris said about the defense. Alabama racked up 639 yards of total offense on Saturday.
– Right tackle Brian Wallace will be ready to go against Ole Miss on Saturday, he said.
– You're always looking for innovative ideas, but a lot of it comes down to the progress of Ty. We're probably at about 30 percent install on the offense. We'll run with what we're comfortable with. Sometimes we put things in early in the week then take it out by Thursday because we don't execute it at the level we would like.
– Morris said he expects running back Devwah Whaley to be back this week as well. He will know more about his status tomorrow.
– Joe Craddock and I work well together, and we're involved on every play call. He and I have a great relationship. I'm excited about the progress we've made over the last few weeks.
– T.J. Hammonds was not injured. We just liked what Rakeem Boyd brought and how he's progressing.
– On Cheyenne O'Grady: We're not going to give up on anybody. They're learning valuable lessons, and as long as they're listening we're going to keep teaching them. Take care of the things you can control. A lot of that requires zero talent. The message to him was loud and clear, and you've seen him progress. A lot of really good things are happening you guys don't see.
– We know Cheyenne is very talented. It's how you channel things and develop. One of the pillars of our culture is accountability, and he's taking that on. He has a bright future.
– A.J. Brown is as good as a receiver as we've seen with the ball in his hands. Quarterback Jordan Ta'Amu is very much a dual-threat and runs well, does a good job keeping his eyes down the field. He can really hurt you when he is flushed out of the pocket. He's playing very effective right now, and it's been impressive.
– This is a football team that is getting better. We're still focusing on us and working every day to continue to grow as a team.
– Offensive line play: Once we have found the right lineup that gives us the best chance to be consistent over time, we've gotten better. Once Colton Jackson got back and started playing more and more reps, he's been a part of that group and we've gotten better.
John Chavis
– I'm disappointed in how we played. I'm not disappointed in the players. In three plays Alabama scored twice and gained more than 100 yards.
– Alabama has evolved to a different style of offense. They used to be a big pro-style team and now they're more spread and RPO. They did a great job with preparation and executing.
– First play of the game, we should have made that play. We had 3-4 chances to make the play and we didn't do it. They have talented people running the football. ... If we're not in a great call, that's on me. Players have done a great job working.
– Ole Miss' receivers are fast, but they're bigger than what Alabama showed. We have to be able to tackle. You spread people out, run RPOs and you're forced to be in man coverage. We've got to make plays on the perimeter when that happens. Then you have to play the running game.
– Ta'amu is a good player and a tough young man. They are not afraid to run him. It's not going to be the same things we've seen, but it will be similar. We have to do a better job of scheming, and we have to make sure the players understand what is expected of them. We have to tackle better, too.
– We're going to face a different style of receiver, and they have a tight end who has been productive as well. We have to go back to fundamentals. We're not going to overload them with scheme.
– Ta'amu is skilled and very polished. Our goal has to be to keep him from standing in a clean pocket. I never really thought about playing two Hawaiian quarterbacks back-to-back, he laughed.
Joe Craddock
– We've always had a couple of tight end screens in the playbook and watching the NFL, you can always pick up on some things, too. We're learning our guys more as we go and installing as we go. I'm always preaching to the offense that we have to retain this stuff.
– Cole Kelley is enjoying being around our room, and he's embraced his role. He knows Ty is playing well. He has his back. It's hard to stop 6-7, 270 on the goalline. We've had a package for him each week since the North Texas game.
– The continuity up front is very crucial to the development of the offense. They're making mistakes, yes, but they're making strides, too.
– Ty has grown more comfortable the last few weeks, and he's growing more confident in the guys he's throwing the ball to as well. He's more confident in all he's doing. It helps in every down, not just third down. Any time any quarterback faces a third and long, it's tough. We helped ourselves out last week by being productive on early downs.
– We constantly preach ball security in practice. The first one was unfortunate. He was trying to get rid of the ball and avoid a sack. The one going into the end zone, I know he was disappointed in. We thought at first he was trying to reach the ball over. We'll learn from it, but in that situation you have to double up.
– Dalton Wagner did well coming in for Brian Wallace. Dustin Fry and myself didn't notice he was in there, so it was a good thing. Wallace should be good to go tomorrow.
– You always want to go with who is hot in terms of the running back spot. It's good to have a lot of backs. Six games in, Devwah has been banged up and Rakeem and Chase Hayden are sore and dinged up. They'll take today off and come back tomorrow ready to go.
– I second-guessed myself on the Kelley jump pass to O'Grady then went with it. I don't think they sniffed it out, but Cheyenne felt that way because the safety came up. I wish we could say that's how we drew it up. Cole said yesterday he thought he was going to try to run it in at first, then he saw Cheyenne flash across the middle at the last second.