Q. What did you think of Billy's Griddy?
JACK PYBURN: I would say the six out of ten evaluation was pretty on.
Q. Did you know it was coming?
JACK PYBURN: No, I didn't know it was coming. We were all trying to get him to dance because he was actually trying to get a team break, and we were all just still dancing and the music was going too crazy. He is, like, Keep it going. He did his break, and he said, Turn the music back on, and he hit that dance. It was pretty funny.
Q. What did that win, that game, and just that moment over the weekend mean for this team?
JACK PYBURN: I think it was huge. Guys came in wanting that win really badly. You know, we prepared all week for it. We worked really hard to come back from a pretty bad letdown game the previous week, and we wanted to respond in the right way and show that we were that team that we knew we could be again and get back to that standard of especially what our defense is.
I think we came out there, and we showed that we can be a team that's serious to deal with.
Q. Does it become like a feeding frenzy?
JACK PYBURN: Oh, yeah. Once you get one, you smell blood in the water for sure. You can look at another guy and see the panic in his eye and see that he is like -- especially offensive linemen or quarterback. You just see they're bewildered a little bit. It's like, Oh, yeah, it's on, we have this guy on the ropes.
Q. It's supposed to be the best offensive line in the country, and you all kind of whooped them up pretty good, didn't you?
JACK PYBURN: They were a good group. They played with good physicality. They played good technique, but I think that we just wanted it more, honestly. I think that we came out there. As the game went on, we really realized that, Wow, we are taking it to these guys. They can't really --
I just felt like overall as a front no matter who was in the game, we were kind of on another level and kind of on Cloud 9 the whole day.
Q. How much do you think that performance was motivated by how disappointing the showing in Texas was a week prior?
JACK PYBURN: I think it definitely played a big role because we've been playing really good defense up to the point of the Texas game. You know, we had a little bit of a letdown against Georgia. We had high hopes. We felt really good the whole game, and then stuff happened, what not.
Then going to Texas, lose like that knowing that it's not that they were better than us. It was just so many mental mistakes all over the place. When we turned on the tape, it wasn't that we were really getting dominated up front too badly or anything. It was just purely us beating us.
We were, like, you know, we can't do that. We can't miss that many tackles. We can't have that many mental busts. We worked through the whole week to get back to where we were. That's the product that we displayed.
Q. There were a couple of guys on the defensive line that said that LSU's offensive line last year was kind of telling them that they couldn't hang with them in this game. Caleb said he heard it from Emery Jones and Will Cam. Do you think that was a motivational factor coming into this game?
JACK PYBURN: I definitely love guys that talk back to you and talk trash. It gets me going a little bit more. I can tell you that.
They came out and trying to a lot of trash, and we were talking even more trash. I think our trash talk ultimately spoke for itself a little bit more than theirs.
Q. Did they stop talking after a little bit?
JACK PYBURN: Yeah, they stopped talking.
Q. Because of injuries, a lot of freshmen and sophomores have been thrust into roles and some have really risen to the occasion. What kind of energy is that providing for the team and what does it say for the future?
JACK PYBURN: I think it speaks tremendously for our future. It just shows the depth that we have. I think in previous years had some of those injuries happened, we would have had to put guys in that weren't ready to play, but now we have so much more depth on the roster overall.
When those guys step up, they are ready because they've been developed under older players and also taken a lot of reps. Just overall depth helps. When you have a deep locker room, when you have guys that can step up at every position, you know, ones and twos without a major dropoff, that's how you play great defense.
Q. The challenge of going from a quarterback who is very stationary, like Nussmeier, to one that's very mobile like Dart...
JACK PYBURN: Yeah, I think overall we have to do a good job of keeping him in the pocket, but also getting him off his spot and creating pressure.
I think that Ole Miss does a tremendous job with the tempo of their offense. I think they do a good job of moving the ball downfield, taking vertical shots, getting the ball to the perimeter, establishing a run game.
So we need to stop the run like every week and then get him off his spot and force him into positions where he is uncomfortable and force him to make mistakes.
Q. Motivation for a bowl and even to play spoiler too. You did it to LSU. Ole Miss -- how much motivation does that provide for the week?
JACK PYBURN: I think overall we're just looking each week just to win each game one at a time. You know, carry momentum, continue to win, and just focus on this week.
So right now we're just focused on this week, winning this game, playing our best brand of ball, and continuing to improve upon what we've been doing.
Q. You said there's nothing nice about kind of ending another team's --
JACK PYBURN: I didn't say that, but you know... (laughing)
Q. So you kind of addressed it more, but the Texas game you feel like that was kind of an anomaly, or did you feel like coming out of that like, yeah, we got to get back on track because it's like you guys had shown up ever since the month of September week after week.
JACK PYBURN: Yeah, I think for us -- I wouldn't say I felt like it was an anomaly. You know, when we turned on the tape, we saw the mistakes we were making. It was way too many missed tackles that we have not been, like you said, since September we have been a great tackling defense. We've been a defense that's been flying around.
I just feel like we had a lot of mental busts that were, like, no-brainers. We just don't do those kind of things. Then it's just you can't do those things against a big-time opponent like that. In the SEC if you come out there and aren't on your A-game, it doesn't matter what opponent you're going to play, you're probably not going to walk out with a win.
Q. What do you say from a Lane Kiffin offense, what stands out?
JACK PYBURN: I think they do a good job with their temp crow. I think we need to create first and second down negatives, get them off the tempo. Not allow them to run their game plan because I think in any game you have seen where they've been able to take control of the game and run their offense and use their game plan.
They've been extremely successful, and it helps their quarterback be very successful. So we need to go in there and play our game and not their game.
Q. What do you think of Kiffin, just his personality? I'm sure you've seen him on social. He trolled you guys a little bit during your spring game. Are you familiar with kind of his persona?
JACK PYBURN: Yeah, I think he's a great coach. He Tweets a lot. He says some funny stuff, but I'll respect him as a coach and for everything that he does. I think he's a tremendous coach, and he has a great pedigree. I look forward to playing against his team.
Q. Is it fun for the game you think having a guy like that, the foil and kind of needles people and stuff, or do you even care?
JACK PYBURN: Not really, no. I'm going to be honest. I don't really care what their head coach is doing or saying unless he is talking some crazy trash and then I'll be like, Okay, show me.
Q. How do you normally deal with outside noise like the hype, conversations around Lane and Billy and all the drama that's been going on throughout the season? How do you tune out all that outside noise?
JACK PYBURN: Again, I just think we have to be focused on our team, what we have now, what is we're trying to work for. If you concern yourself with all the outside noise, you lose track of what is in front of you, which is an opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the country, and that's what we've been doing all year.
I feel like in life if you buy in too much to the outside noise of the opinions and what not that's not the people in your circle, it's not going to be beneficial to you. You just need to focus on what's in front of you and what's going on.
Q. Speaking of social media any thoughts on Princely coming back?
JACK PYBURN: Again, all respect to him as a player. I think he's a great player. He's a friend of mine. He's a great dude, and I know he is looking forward to coming here and we're, again, looking forward to having him.
Q. Going against this offensive line this season, your offensive line, how much have you seen those guys improve in practice? A year ago they gave up 39 sacks. I know there's a lot of factors involved in that, but only 13 this season. How much have you seen them come along this year?
JACK PYBURN: I think they've done a tremendous job. I think overall it's been mentality. I think that you've seen their play extremely elevate since kind of that after September.
You can speak to some of the guys on the offensive line. I mean, honestly practice, it's harder than the game a lot of the times. The good-on-good reps in practice are so fast-paced, physical, and violent that when you get in the game, it's easier.
I think going against a great offensive line every day and them going against us, I feel like we're an amazing defensive line at this point. We're just making each other better. Again, iron sharpens iron.
Q. I'm going to go back to Billy hitting the Griddy. Did you ever see the video of Adam Schefter when he tried to do it? He tore his meniscus.
JACK PYBURN: I don't think I've actually seen that video, no.
Q. (Off microphone)
JACK PYBURN: I don't think it's -- it doesn't seem like it's too dangerous, but that's kind of unfortunate. I didn't know he tore his knee doing that.
Q. The trash talking, is there anything that you kind of got on one guy with and maybe he just -- at the end of the game he was kind of like this? Can you repeat?
JACK PYBURN: The only thing I'll say is, you know, they were talking -- especially their front was talking a lot of trash at the beginning of the game, and after the game none of them came out to shake our hands, and they all just walked in the locker room. So I thought that was pretty funny.
Q. Was the most disappointing part of the game for you when you got your helmet ripped off on Saturday?
JACK PYBURN: Yeah, I was pretty -- yeah, I was pretty annoyed. Then I put my hands up. I was, like, Don't flag me. I stopped. Don't flag me.
If that was me last year, I probably would have dove on the pile and done something stupid and gotten a flag, but in that moment I blew up the dude, and my helmet popped off, and I was, like, Oh, all right, all right, let me not get a flag and hurt my team.
Q. That's improved discipline there?
JACK PYBURN: Yeah, definitely.
Q. Shemar got SEC defensive player of the week this week. Just kind of leader he is for your starter, what he has meant to the defense?
JACK PYBURN: I was so proud of him on Saturday. I kept telling him in the middle of the game -- I just kept running up to him and celebrating with him. He's just come a long way.
Me and him sat there in the offseason both kind of injured together and went through a rehab process together and got really close. I am so proud of him and the way that he's responded every single week and continued to get better, and I think on Saturday he had a career game, and it was amazing to watch.
Q. Was there a point in the game late in the fourth quarter when you looked at him and they looked at you, and you just knew they were whipped, that they knew the game was over?
JACK PYBURN: We didn't even have to look at them. We could just look at each other on the sidelines as like a team in general. Just the energy. I think the energy in general without even having to look at them, you could see it. Our sideline was just buzzing, and their sideline was just kind of bewildered. I would definitely say they looked a little scared for sure.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports