Alabama-Ole Miss Postgame Quotes

Recap?|? Box Score?|? Notes

ALABAMA POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Dennis Franchione
"It was a good, strongly fought game. Both teams played hard, we just came up one play short."

On Eli Manning:
"We hit Manning a lot of times. That might have rattled a few quarterbacks. He just stayed in there and made one more play than we did. Manning was about like I thought ... I was impressed coming in."

On the Ole Miss offense:
"Ole Miss showed good patience. They have shown that quality in the games I've seen."

On the loss:
"They all sting. To lose two on the road in the fourth quarter, there isn't any doubt we need to finish. Until then, we are going to have trouble winning tough, hard fought games. Today we were one play short."

On the Ole Miss defense
"I thought the Ole Miss defense did a good job of execution. The fourth-down sneak sticks out."

On the Alabama defense:
"Our kids got out of position some and were in position some. The defense had a good stand on the last fourth down. We had thought that would be the last, that we would get some first downs. I think they still went back out there trying to get a stop."

On the missed field goal:
"It was pretty close. The kids thought it was good. I couldn't tell."

On the weather:
"We had a long talk last night about the weather and it went about as we had thought."

On getting focused for Tennessee:
"That will happen at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow."

ALABAMA PLAYER QUOTES
Quarterback Tyler Watts
"We're all heart-broken right now. It's another one that got away from us. We got to the fourth quarter and just didn't do the job. They fought hard the whole time and they did what they had to do to win the game. We just have to keep our heads up and continue to play hard."

"This loss hurts a lot more than South Carolina did. We just didn't do much as an offensive unit in the second half. We made some mistakes, but we still made some good shots at things. We have to start marching down the field and scoring."

On the QB sneak late in the game:
"There was no way we were going to be able to block all the guys they had in the box. They had good thrust and stuck to their assignments."

Offensive Lineman Justin Smiley
"The way we moved the ball on them today, this is a heartbreaker. There were a few times, though, where they lined up in ways we weren't prepared for because we just didn't figure they would use them. Toward the end of the game they just threw more stuff at us we weren't prepared for, I guess."

Stong Safety Wayne Bacon
"We didn't really have a sense of the game slipping away or anything. We changed out defensive game for this scheme, but they ended up on top."

On Eli Manning:
"I believe he is the best quarterback we have seen all season. He's been around his brother and his father so he knows the game and has it in him. I believe he may be the best quarterback we will see this season. He made the plays he had to make."

Tailback Santonio Beard
"This loss hurts big time. You have to give credit to Ole Miss fighting back from behind by 10 points, but this one really hurts. I don't have any words that can explain being up 10 points in the fourth quarter and losing. We thought we had the game won, but they came back and won it."

OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach David Cutcliffe
"I want to congratulate our squad. That was a true team victory. We fought hard for four quarters in the kicking game, the offense and the defense. Nothing is ever easy in these types of circumstances, and it was truly a team effort. I also want to congratulate our staff. Our team was well-prepared in all phases of the game. We did a good job of adjusting to some things as the game went on."

On the fans:
"I definitely want to congratulate all the Ole Miss fans who took this kind of weather day and filled our stadium. It doesn't get any louder in this conference than it did out there today. I appreciate the way they conducted themselves. They made a difference in the game."

On Alabama:
"I want to commend Alabama on a hard-fought game. They are doing a great job and have continued to improve. They are a fine football team."

The last drive:
"We had a lot of things going through our minds. They (Alabama) had changed coverage somewhat and done some things differently. We had thrown to a lot of stationary targets all day. We felt like we had a chance to catch some people on the run. I told Eli that it was a tough circumstance to be in, because you have to be great with your eyes. When you are running from one zone to another with receivers, there are always people you may not see. He handled that well. There were so many significant plays throughout the game for me to remember all of them or mention them at this time."

On Defense:
"I don't think they (Alabama) made a first down in the fourth quarter. The defense just continued to fight. I know they were looking up at the scoreboard and seeing 24-14 forever it seems like. But, they continued to fight. You never know when you are going to make big plays that makes a difference in the ballgame. We played really good team defense and had several people trying to make plays against a good offensive football team."

OLE MISS PLAYER QUOTES
Junior LB Eddie Strong:
"Everytime the defense or offense went out, we told each other 'lets go'. We believed in ourselves. I think this win will help us get better."

"It was a tough game because we all knew a lot of the Alabama players. It was a tough game, but someone had to win. That someone just happened to be us. After the game all you can think of telling your opponents is 'good game'."

"On that last play, I could just tell by my teammates' attitude that we were going to score for the win."

"We knew Alabama was a tough football team. They came with the option game and that's hard to defend. Coach (Lindsey) put a scheme together, we worked real hard, and showed them what we can do."

Senior DT Anthony Sims
"During the fourth quarter our mindset was great. We knew we could keep stopping them all night long."

"The first half of the game we were having trouble moving around, but the second half of the game we had no trouble getting where we needed to go, especially on that last drive." "We were feeling good about ourselves. We came out there and we knew we were going to stop them. We went out there with the right mindset."

Senior RB Charles Stackhouse:
"We haven't beaten them since 1988, and I've never beat them. So this was a big win and a great feeling to finally overcome Alabama."

"We knew we had to push Alabama, that was one of our goals. This win is great for us, but we need to take each game at a time and stay focused."

Eli Manning
"Coach Cutcliffe told me before the winning touchdown, that this is the position a quarterback wants to be in at the end of each game. You're the one that decides if your team wins or loses. You're in control."

"This is a sweet victory, but not the prettiest we've ever competed in. We played hard, but we still made several mistakes."

"I didn't really think the field was a big issue. I didn't really see any of the guys slip, and the officials made sure we had dry balls at all times. Quarterbacks should be prepared to throw wet balls."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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