CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL: OLE MISS VS PENN STATE

December 27, 2023

Jared Ivey

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Ole Miss Rebels

Quick Quotes

Q. When you talk -- about the defensive line, what stands out to you about them on film?

JARED IVEY: He's got good length and great hands and good grip. He's one of those guys that gets a hold and doesn't let go very easily. He's a good player. Real physical kid.

Q. Does anyone else in particular stand out to you individually?

JARED IVEY: The tackle on the other side is also a pretty good player too. I'm not too certain on his name.

Q. Wallace?

JARED IVEY: Wallace, yeah, but from cutting up tape and watching the both of them, they're pretty good out there on the edge.

Q. I was talking to JJ about Kaytron Allen, him being such a physical runner and how he wants to set the tone. What's that like for you as a defender to try to land the first punch to show that you guys can set the tone? What kind of goes into that?

JARED IVEY: Yeah, just going out there and sticking to the script and following our plan. I've got trust in my coach and what he has to call and our ability to go execute it.

Yeah, that's the plan and just sticking to it.

Q. When you look at Drew Allar at quarterback and what he's been able to do over this year, what stands out to you about him physically and then what he's doing?

JARED IVEY: He's a really big dude. He can make throws all over the yard. More than that, he's a big guy. He's bigger than KJ Jefferson, and that's kind of where we had our -- like that's the biggest quarterback we faced and kind of what we're basing that off of. We know it's going to be paramount to get back there and keep a hold of him and gang tackle and really get him to the ground.

Q. JJ also mentioned K.J. Jefferson. Is that kind of the comparison you guys are using?

JARED IVEY: For sure, yeah.

Q. Is that just in terms of film?

JARED IVEY: Just size and stature. You look at Instagram and see that they're just giant quarterbacks.

Q. What did you do against K.J. that you think can apply against Drew?

JARED IVEY: Just handling our rush lanes and keeping the integrity of the pocket and try to keep him under pressure and under duress all night.

We'll have some different things and different ways we can game plan it, but really just excited to get out there against a great competition and a quarterback that's done well all year and get out there and get after it.

Q. The Penn State offense has undergone a couple changes. For what you guys are looking at right now, what are the trends that stand out about what Penn State is doing?

JARED IVEY: I don't think I want to answer that one.

Q. Trade secrets on that?

JARED IVEY: Yeah, I don't think I really want to answer that one.

Q. Both Lane and James Franklin have talked about wanting to get to this point and not having guys opt-out, wanting to keep the team together. What's the communication -- what's the process look like for Lane to get you guys to buy in so that most of you are here?

JARED IVEY: I think Lane does his part, and he's a great coach, but I think that's just a testament to the relationship we built in the locker room and guys wanting to come back and play with each other and for each other.

I think using this year to catapult us into a playoff berth next year, obviously we would have been in whatever setup they've got going on next year. So just coming back and trying to run the table with our best players and giving it a go.

I think it was kind of a self-recruiting thing where I'm trying to get this guy to come back and he's trying to get me to come back, and that guy's trying to get this guy to come back, to where a lot of us just wanted to stay.

Q. What's kind of the excitement within the team when you're going about something like that? You kind of see all these pieces coming together?

JARED IVEY: It's huge, just like a domino effect. Obviously everybody vets their options going forward and what their situation would look like moving on to the next level. So there is that piece of it too, but once you start seeing guys come back, you know there are guys that could go that still came back just to be a part of what we've got going on.

We've got a chance to go make history this year and another chance to go be better than we were this year next year. So that's super exciting and something that I feel like a lot of guys want to be a part of.

Q. Is that kind of feeling something that you think can help on Saturday? Like even though it's thinking kind of about next year, you guys can channel that into this game?

JARED IVEY: Yeah, I think just being around guys that you know you can trust and guys that you know want to go to war with you, I think it's something that can be pulled from that whole situation going into next year into Saturday and just knowing that the guy behind you is not going anywhere.