FAYETTEVILLE — Bret Bielema, Dan Enos and Robb Smith review the LSU loss and preview the game at Mississippi State.
Bret Bielema
— The performance Saturday was unacceptable and can't be tolerated. Didn't think anyone was dogging it or loafing. Everyone needs to take a step forward, starting with him.
— De'Andre Coley should be back Tuesday or Wednesday. Everyone else is good to go.
— Mississippi State's QB is playing really well. They're really opportunistic.
— Austin Allen is nine games in as a starter in the SEC. Coming off the Auburn game, he was really banged up. Had a nice week of practice before LSU. Arkansas got into a situation where it had to throw a lot Saturday. A lot of Allen's struggles are the result of being a junior quarterback in the first year starting.
— On Sosa Agim being in a walking boot after the game: Was stepped on in the third quarter. He's a little banged up, but should be good to go.
— Mississippi State showed flashes against Alabama before being overwhelmed.
— There were similarities between LSU and Florida's scheme. When he arrived and started recruiting Louisiana, he realized the state of Louisiana produces one of the leading number of NFL prospects. Everyone talks about Leonard Fournette, but Derrius Guice is really good, too.
— In the Florida game, there were no busts. Saturday, the flare screen to Fournette on the first drive should've been stopped but there was a missed assignment. The interception gave LSU a short field. The Tigers took advantage of the opportunities when Florida didn't.
— Dominique Reed was later for his Sunday workout, which led to a meeting with Bielema yesterday. A good meeting with Reed. If he would get right, he would have an opportunity to play at the NFL. As of now, that'd be short-lived.
— There was a good team meeting yesterday and some players said some good things.
— Johnny Gibson is continuing to do a good job and progress. He didn't think Hjalte Froholdt was going to be able to go Saturday, but he gave it all he could. He's told his coaches that they need to look at cutting down the number of protections to an amount they're comfortable with so Allen has confidence in throwing.
— The run defense came down a lot to inconsistency with how they fit. Also told the defensive coaches to minimize the number of calls they make. LSU played well and Hogs didn't play the way they did the week before.
— Randy Ramsey wasn't perfect Saturday. They need to get him reps. He's only been at LB two weeks. He made some naturally instinctive plays and will play better as they get the reps. LSU played into the boundary, which he hadn't done much of the last few weeks. The strip fumble was a great hustle play.
— There were a lot of good effort plays. Jeremiah Ledbetter ran two plays down from behind.
— Dre Greenlaw won't run this week and would be doubtful the next, but the thought is they may get him in for bowl prep. They have to make sure the foot is healed. He had the same injury in the other foot.
— Pressed Allen, Rawleigh Williams, Frank Ragnow, Josh Liddell and Tevin Beanum, guys who've played a lot of football, to not be crickets on game day. Those juniors and some sophomores understand that and he thinks he'll take a step forward.
— Didn't have any doubt Williams would be back 100 percent this year when he saw him in fall camp.
— On Devwah Whaley's stiff arm to Jamal Adams: Devwah had seen him on film. The play was exciting for him and the fans. Thinks Whaley will be an NFL prospect after his junior year. He and Williams are a really good compliment in the pass game with their hands.
— On the 17-yard Fournette run, the set up wasn't as good as it could've been to allow Santos Ramirez to have a good angle. On the Guice run the next play, the corner didn't set the edge and Josh Liddell had to try to make a diving tackle instead of being able to come inside out.
— Frank Ragnow has performed very well this year, which, when factoring in what he's gone through emotionally, is very impressive. The staff will have a good feel for where he and Jared Cornelius could go. Ragnow has a lot in common with Travis Fredrick, who was drafted by the Cowboys after being at Wisconsin, but Fredrick had a redshirt year. They'll put the draft stuff to rest until after the regular season.
— Senior day is always emotional. He got emotional in a room by himself when making the list of the order the players were recognized in pregame. The most frustrating part was coming back Sunday and knowing that was the last memory the seniors will have in the stadium. The players voiced that, too.
— It's easy to sit back on Sunday and Monday and say maybe they needed to do more vertical passing, but Dan Enos has done a good job gameplanning. The reality of being down is it makes you press.
— Told Allen he won't tolerate first-down interceptions. It's unacceptable. It's bad football.
— You're defined more by adversity than you are success, but he doesn't want to go through so much adversity.
Dan Enos
— If he had the answer to getting Allen back where he was, he would've done it Saturday night. It was just one of those days. You have to give credit to LSU. Their defense and plan was good. Allen has to get back to fundamentals and basics, his preparation and detail in practice. There has to be a great week of preparation and need to get off to a good start at Mississippi State.
— Mechanically, he's been good throwing the ball. There are some issues with his drops, but a lot of it is eye discipline and footwork. They have to do a better job protecting him and he needs to go through progressions quickly and with discipline.
— When he says eye discipline, he means he's paying attention to the rush. He's been a little antsy. When you're antsy, you get off receivers to quick. The whole group needs to help him.
— The receivers have won their fair share of battles against Florida and LSU. Saturday, the offense was out of sync. There'd be a play blocked in a run game and miss the cut. They'd have good protection and throw early or to the wrong guy. They'd have a guy open and have bad protection.
— Mississippi State runs predominantly man. They'll mix in other stuff.
— Assistants tell him Mississippi State is a great environment. They anticipate it to be loud.
— Thinks it's probably hard for Allen to put the sacks behind him. It's not just the offensive line. First sack was on the tight end. There was one on the running back. Doesn't know if it's the trust factor, but he's got to play faster and instinctively, stop thinking so much.
— Being down early has a big effect on how the team plays and how the game is called. They have to stay on the field, run the football and control the clock. When they're not able to do that, the formula is not good, especially against LSU. Being one dimensional makes it tough.
— The run game was out of sync. There were times there was movement and missed cuts. There were times they had movement and made cuts. There were times when there were no holes. They didn't take advantage of opportunities to make big plays in both the run and pass games at times.
— On Rawleigh hitting 1,000 yards: The formula is to run the ball and control the clock. Bielema has a formula for offense, defense and special teams. The run game success should allow them to recruit top backs every year. Proud of Rawleigh, but he's sure he would say that he's more concerned with wins.
— Doesn't think any of Allen's issues have to do with the knee. Thought he threw well and planted through the course of the week.
— Mississippi State is very multiple. They have a nice blitz package and mix up coverages.
— The key is to play determined and with competitiveness, come out with a great sense of urgency from the first play to the last. Need to have a mindset to be the more physical team.
— Allen was very upset with how he played and the loss. He's a prideful guy and is competitive. When you put your heart and soul into it, it hurts when it doesn't work. He wants to play perfect and doesn't want to let anyone down. He'll have great resolve and great character. Saw his brother go through ups and downs and learned from that. Was down yesterday, but they picked him up and he thinks he'll play well the last few weeks.
— You wear a lot of different hats coaching QBs.
— Bobby Allen has been through a lot and seen it all. He has perspective and understands that losing a football game and not playing well isn't the end of the world.
— Allen has had some great moments this year where NFL personnel and TV commentators will tell Enos how great a player he is and how high a ceiling he has. Everyone is going to have moments they don't play well. It's how you respond.
— The big part is the communication of protections. You have a freshman running back and inexperience on the OL. The combination offensively is very young sometimes. They need to make communication and adjustments as simple as possible so the young guys can play better. The staff has to continue to keep putting them in the best situation to succeed.
Robb Smith
— Have to get better. Can't have a performance like that. There were some opportunities they didn't take advantage of and LSU did. They have to be consistent.
— Fournette and Guice were impressive. They had good patience and burst. Hogs did some things to make their life easier, but they were impressive.
— Thought the defense set the edge well, but had problems on the interior.
— Had Guice bottled up on the 96-yard run and he made a jump cut. Some players had over-pursued and he had a hole.
— They'll continue to evaluate personnel.
— Randy Ramsey will continue to get better as he gets more experiences. He'll have a role this week.
— Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald accounts for a lot of their offense. He runs faster than people give him credit for. Have to account for him as a runner and a thrower.
— MSU has shuffled the OL around some. Hogs have to be smart and simple in their approach, be aware of Fitzgerald's ability to run.
— Fitzgerald can extend some plays and has good receivers, especially Fred Ross.
— When the quarterback isn't a runner, you can use an extra guy to help other places. They'll have to account for Fitzgerald.
— Ross is very good at getting open when he's single covered. Fitzgerald is very aware of when that happens.
— MSU has been in a lot of close games and could've easily won all the close games. He doesn't look at the record as much as he looks at the film.
— Players are disappointed but not discouraged. Motivated for this week. He thinks some leadership is starting to emerge with guys being vocal yesterday.
— Starkville is certainly a loud place.
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