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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss-South Carolina
6/21/1999 | Football
October 3, 1998
Head Coach Tommy Tuberville
"What a game - You can go back and look at this game and say what happened. The whole key to this game was in the second half our defensive coaches made some smart adjustments, taking their crossing routes away. They (South Carolina) were able to run the ball a little more but at least it wasn't 15-20 yards a play. Give it up to the defensive coaches for the ideas that they had. South Carolina totally changed what they have done in the past. This is the first time they've come out in a no huddle offense. They ran what we call the Florida State passing-attack -- short passing game. We had trouble with it in the past, but luckily our offense runs a little of it so we've had some practice against it."
"I though it was a well played game on both sides. There were some mistakes made in the kicking game and in coverage, but that's going to happen when you play a team as explosive as South Carolina. They got a good football team. They've just made some mistakes but they're going to get better and better."
"We took a different approach in practice this week. I thought after the SMU game we were awfully tired and dead legged. We cut practice back one half. We only went out for about an hour and 15 minutes on Tuesday and Wednesday. We just put our game plan in and had very little contact. We've been practicing for two straight months and we're a little banged up. I thought that made a little bit of a difference in the second half because we were fresh. The guys were playing harder and we kept our concentration better this game."
"Any time we score 30 points, we are tough to beat. We didn't have that many turnovers -- we used them all last week against SMU."
OLE MISS PLAYERS
Romaro Miller
"I believe of all the games that we have played this year, this is the one where we really grew up. We played the entire game today. We had some breakdowns, but we were there from the beginning till the end. "There wasn't any panic on the team on the last drive. When the fourth quarter starts, we all raise hands and say it's the fourth quarter, and everyone on the team knows what that means. We come alive in the fourth quarter, and we did again today."(On the TD to Grant Heard): "I threw the ball to Grant and he did all the work. I have never seen him (Grant) make so many moves on one catch, but I was happy for him."
(On his grandmother's passing): "I got to go home last night and be with my family. It was kind of hard for me to come up here and play a ball game with all that going on back home, but I knew she (Romaro's grandmother) would want me to go out there and do my best. I did my best, and that fourth quarter comeback was for her."
Rufus French
"I was hurting the last game, but I give a lot of credit to Tim Mullins and his staff for getting me ready. My shoulder was hurting yesterday, but I was ready to play today."(On the comeback): "All I can say is that we never quit. We never quit. I feel like this team will never give up."
(On Romaro's grandmother passing away): "We just found out about it last night when he (Romaro) wasn't with the team at the hotel. Romaro responded great today against those odds. You have to tip your hat to him."
"South Carolina is a great team. They are a good team, but they have just had some close calls at the end of games like today. There's no doubt that South Carolina is a great team, but they have just had some bad luck."
Cory Peterson
(On the South Carolina final field goal attempt): "I knew that he (Courtney Leavitt) could do it (kick a long field goal) because he did it in high school. I've seen him do it. I like to see him do well, but I didn't want him to hit it this time. It was a hard situation for me. I want him to do well, but I didn't want them to win the game."(On his block on the G. Heard TD): "I saw Grant catch the ball, and I just wanted to make a good block. I guess my block was good enough, and Grant read it right and cut back. Grant made an unbelievable run after the catch, and you have to give him all the credit." Grant Heard "We ran the ball effectively at times today, but then we had to come back to the pass. The offensive line did a great job by giving Romaro time, and he found the right receiver. Rufus came up with some big plays down the stretch."
(On Romaro's play): "We feel that he is going to make the play. He's going to run it or find the open man. He's a great athlete." (On his TD): "Sometimes the play is called for me, but on the touchdown play, the call wasn't for me. The linebacker just over-pursued, and moved into the open area. The (offensive) line gave Romaro great time. He came back to me and found me."
(On Peterson's block on the TD catch): "Coach Knox teaches us that when the ball is in the air, go to the ball. Cory saw me coming and he threw a great block. I just had nothing but green in front of me." Ken Lucas
(On his big plays): "Two weeks ago, the coaching staff decided that I had too much speed not to be in the game. The coaches put in some plays in the offense like that reverse to get the receivers more involved in the game. They set the play up by running to the right side, and then we came back around because the safety came down real hard on the play. It worked to perfection."
