Ole Miss vs. Arkansas Postgame Notes

ARKANSAS POSTGAME QUOTES

ARKANSAS HEAD COACH HOUSTON NUTT
"We were shellshocked right at first when they took the opening kickoff back. That was probably the start of things. Then we couldn't get going offensively. You've got to give Ole Miss a lot of credit, they did an outstanding job."

"I thought it hurt when we lost Josh Melton. That really hurt our chemistry on the offensive line that was coming along so good."

"Deuce McAllister was the man out there tonight. They did a good job of running the football. To me, he was the difference. Deuce is a much more physical runner this year. He's an excellent runner. He ran extremely hard."

"They were definitely ready to roll tonight. I think it was the snowball effect. Ole Miss executed on both sides of the ball. Ole Miss is much improved this year. I have never seen us so ready. We practiced right, we even looked good in pregame warmups."

"We knew what kind of beehive we were coming into. You can't give up a kickoff return, and we had to get out on third downs better. You can't keep putting your defense out on the field. You can't play behind the eight-ball in someone else's backyard. It's a tough position to be in down 31-3."

ARKANSAS QB CLINT STOERNER
"It's tough to play and win on the road, and it's even more difficult from behind. Ole Miss played well, and they did a lot of different things on defense that we hadn't seen before. I think they paid us back a little for last year."

"We didn't put points on the board tonight, and we are going to have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for Tennessee. If you don't play well on the road, you are going to get beat. When you're down and you're playing a good running team, it's hard to come back. We just didn't get anything done tonight."

ARKANSAS SAFETY KENOY KENNEDY
"Ole Miss played really good. It's the best I have seen them play. They played with a lot of emotion. We had a lot of poor tackling, and this is the worst we have played since I have been here."

"Deuce is a great running back. I had him tackled one time, but he just shook free. We missed a lot tackles."

(On being down in the first half)
"I told them (younger players) to keep their heads up after the kickoff, but things kept snowballing on us. We were not playing our best ball on the road."

OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE
"I'm extremely proud of our team and our staff. I thought that our team was well prepared, and that's a tribute to our staff and to the players. It's truly a team victory. We played as good of a defensive ball-game as you can get against a well-designed team as Arkansas is. The kicking game stepped up extremely big from the opening kickoff return and from that point, play after play. I'm really proud of our offense going against a defense that was just taking the ball away from people. They were No. 2 in the country in turnover margin, and we knew that was going to be a big factor. We made big plays, and we were consistent for the most part on offense. This was as good of a team victory that I've been around in some time."

(On comparing this win to a victory at Tennessee)
"Like I said, this was as good of a team victory that I've been around in some time. I told our players that there were too many stars to point out anybody which is what you want. You want a team that will keep competing and playing, and we did so tonight."

(On Deuce McAllister)
"His 40-yard touchdown run ignited us. We ready to play going into the game, and it was very obvious we were. I felt good about our week of preparation, and I knew we were getting better. Deuce is a playmaker and a big playmaker. He's just a threat every time he touches the ball, and he's just getting healthy right now. I thought that was a tremendous run. I made a mention of that run to the staff on the sideline."

(On putting Syniker Taylor on the offensive side)
"We were really depleted in numbers in the receiving corps. We got some playing time out of Jamie (Armstrong) which was good for us. Maurice Flournoy didn't play, and our numbers were thin. We've been waiting for Syniker's hand to fully heal. Ken (Lucas) has played at wide receiver before. Syniker is a playmaker, and that's pretty obvious. We're going to continue to work those guys in the wide receiver rotation, and they're going to get better."

(On defense vs. Arkansas compared to last year's game)
"I didn't focus on last year's game at all. I thought we played good team defense tonight. I thought our front played as good against the rush as they had all season. They were going after the quarterback and doing an outstanding job of disrupting him. Their receiving corps is as pretty and fine-looking as you'll ever see. But, our secondary gave them different looks and did different things and I thought they did an outstanding job. Our linebacking corps in both the pass and run game were extremely active. I think we played as good of defense against what I feel is a really good football team."

(On the offensive line)
"Our offensive line is reaping the benefits of Coach (John) Latina's system. Coach Latina has done a tremendous with them. There (offensive line) is just getting better and better. It is a six-man group, and each one has gotten better so they are better as a group. There are a lot of challenges left, and we're going to take them one at a time."

OLE MISS PLAYER QUOTES

QUARTERBACK ROMARO MILLER
"The offense came out and clicked as a whole unit. We prepared in practice, and it showed tonight. Deuce stepped up and ran the ball back, after that, the emotion took over. We continued to make big play after big play."

"This was really the first game I felt comfortable. I guess it was easy the way we came out and jumped out like we did. It was easy for me to get relaxed and think about what was going on out there. I feel like coach called a great game. The other guys out there with me on offense made great plays."

DEUCE McALLISTER
On His TD Kickoff Return
"We had talked about coming out and setting the tempo. I have been returning kickoffs for some time, and it was time to break one. We were fortunate to do so."

(On The Open Date)
"We are banged up and beat up. We have a two-game season left, and we're just going to try and leave it all on the field. This is what we play for. We put ourselves in great position. We just have to finish it off."

(On His Running)
" It starts up front. I am just trying to give the crowd something to cheer about. That's my job."

AL RICE
(On His Interception)
" They were running a flat route, and I read the play. I dropped back, and I tipped the ball. I almost dropped it. I didn't score, but I made sure to hold on to it."

(On The Defense)
" I give the coaches a lot of credit. They got us ready to play. They have been telling us all week about what happened last year. We came out to play this year, and we were ready."

SYNIKER TAYLOR
(On His TD Reception)
" I have been practicing with the offense this week. The coach told me I might have a chance to play. He put me out there, and gave me a chance. I made the best of it."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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