CHICK-FIL-A KICKOFF GAME: LOUISVILLE VS. OLE MISS

September 6, 2021

Malik Cunningham

Louisville Cardinals

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Press Conference

Ole Miss 43, Louisville 24

Q. Malik, that first half obviously you guys weren't in any kind of rhythm offensively. What did you see what was going wrong? Seemed like a lot happened at once.

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: We just played behind the sticks a lot. We couldn't get the running game going at first. We had a few missed opportunities in the first half. I think I had like two missed throws on 3rd down that should have hit, that would have kept the drive going.

But second half we picked it up and we scored every drive we had the ball.

Q. I know you said this off-season you worked a lot on trying to fix your pocket presence and go through your progressions. How did you feel like you did today?

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: I feel like the second half I really settled in. They were playing a lot of drop eight in the first half, so I was trying to make a lot of plays with my legs because the routes weren't there.

Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Q. You mentioned Ole Miss dropped eight in the first half. Was that more a product of them or do you feel like inexperience from the guys out wide?

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, hats off to those guys. They had a great plan. The coach had a great plan, and we weren't expecting that. But second half we dialed some stuff up that beat drop eight; just next time I guess we've got to be more prepared.

Q. The interception, what did you see on that play and why did it not connect?

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: It's my fault. The receiver didn't get over to the other half to hold that safety, but at the end of the day it's my fault and I take the blame for that.

Q. Coach Satterfield mentioned too that Ole Miss's defense they came out with was something you guys weren't expecting. What were you expecting from them at the start and what surprised you about it?

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, I expected them to blitz us and get in our face, but I guess they thought different and just dropped eight the whole game, just rushed three and tried to keep me in the pocket, and they did a good job of that at the beginning of the game.

Q. When a team does something like that, when you prepare for them to blitz you and then they drop eight, as a quarterback how do you adjust? Is it more so what you talked to Coach Satterfield or Coach Pete Thomas about it or how do you adjust to that?

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: Well, they both came up to me and told me that we were going to call some different stuff, so just sit in there and just dial things up, and that's what we did the second half.

Q. They told you that at halftime?

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, halftime adjustments.

Q. How would you evaluate how the offensive line did tonight? You took a lot of hard hits and it seemed like there were some plays where you had some time to throw in the first half, but nothing was developing.

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, the offensive line did good. Hats off to those guys. First game, first game jitters, but that's not an excuse.

Just a lot of inflicted wounds, a lot of holding penalties. I don't think they were holding, but that's something they've got to learn from.

But I trust those guys, they trust me. What I done, I wouldn't be able to do what I did tonight. We've just all got to go to work. It starts with me, starting up front, too, as well. I've just got to keep leading those guys for the rest of the season, and that's what I'll do.

Q. Obviously a big question was the receivers coming into the year. What did you learn about those guys in their first game together?

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: Those guys can make some plays. They've got potential to do a lot of great things, and we're going to need those guys on down the road because running is not going to be the only thing we have to do to win games.

We have to be able to throw the ball in the air, and the second half they showed that they can make some plays. A lot of veteran guys like J.J. and Braden and Justin and TY and Jordan, all those guys stood up and made some plays for me, and they're going to do that the rest of the season in order for us to keep winning.

Q. You guys have talked a lot about rhythm and kind of finding that balance between the pass and the run. It looked like you did a better job of that in the second half. What indicates to you that you guys are in a rhythm a little bit more and that just wasn't there in the first half?

MALIK CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, just keeping those guys motivated. A lot of guys were down the first half because we couldn't get stuff going, and when defense gets stops we'll go out and start behind the sticks. We got a targeting call so we was backed pegged up against our -- in the red zone, and when we had our chances we've got to capitalize on them. Even the pick, the fumble that was in the red zone. We've go to make those plays, because that was a walk-in touchdown and that would change the momentum of the game.

But we can't dwell on that. Stuff happens. We've just got to bounce back from it, and we've just got to come back to work tomorrow. You can't dwell on that loss. It was a real good team, good offense and a good defense.