Georgia-Ole Miss Postgame Quotes

Nov. 17, 2001

GEORGIA HEAD COACH MARK RICHT
"I'm thrilled to death, of course. I'm extremely proud of how everybody played."

"The first half we stumbled around and put the defense in a bind against a great offensive football team. With the turnovers, we decided we needed to do something to take the pressure off David Green. We just challenged our line, our backs and our tight end to do it."

"Skill guys made plays, the defense, the offensive line, the tight ends. Even the wide receivers got into the excitement of blocking down-field. We ran for more than we blocked for. The line blocked well and the backs made some people miss. I think near the end the Ole Miss defense got fatigued and we reaped the benefits."

"At the half we checked our coverage and were looking at only two or three run plays that were under three yards. We decided to come out and see if we couldn't hammer them (with the run.) Nine straight run plays...and no Coach (Vince) Dooley didn't tell me at halftime to do that. It was a whole lot easier calling that game. Anyone could call it when they were blocking as well as they were blocking. In games like that you often worry about you skill guys getting bent out of shape in games like this, not being involved in enough plays. But there wasn't a guy who wasn't excited about what we were doing. They all played smash-mouth football. "

(On Verron Hayes)
"He is the most reliable person we have on the team and he doesn't tire a lot. We also have a lot of confidence in J.T. Wall. He blocked well and caught the ball today when we needed it."

"The last week was a struggle. I've said it before that I could live with a kid making a mistake and us losing the game. I've never felt as bad about my lack of contribution as last week."

GEORGIA PLAYER QUOTES
Quarterback David Greene
"Ole Miss is a great team. They only had two losses coming in and have a high-powered offense. Our defense stuffed them every time out. We came out in the second half and decided we were just going to run the ball. It seems like we scored on every drive."

(on running the ball)
"Statistically, Ole Miss is third nationally against the pass, but they aren't very good against the run so we took advantage of it. That definitely made my job easier since I came out with possibly my worst half of the year in the first half. Our offensive line and running backs just took over the game for us."

Rover Jermaine Phillips
(on the interception for a touchdown)
"We came out in a zone coverage which was perfect for the play they called. It allowed my to sit and wait and sneak under the receiver. Once I saw the first block I knew I had a chance, and then the sideline opened up. I saw that Eli Manning had an angle on me, and I knew I couldn't let him catch me or I would never hear the end of it."

(On the game in general)
"It's a big win for us. We wanted to win our last four games and with a loss in a hard fought battle last week it would have been easy to give up. We made a commitment to each other to play our last games the best that we could. We wanted to play hard and win for David Jacobs."

Running Back Verron Haynes
(on the running game)
"They gave us the opportunity to run the ball and we exploited that. In the second half we made adjustments, and our offensive line did a great job of opening up holes and blocking. Coach Richt did a great job of adjusting the game plan and coaching. We saw they were giving us more openings to run the ball, so we exploited what they gave us."

"We went back to the days of Herschel Walker today. We saw they were giving us the opportunity to run the ball, and I have to thank God for giving me the ability to play this game. I am glad that Coach Richt believed in me. The offensive line just did an amazing job today, and I have to give them credit."

OLE MISS HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE
"Certainly it was a very difficult afternoon for us. From the beginning, I didn't feel like we played well. Obviously that is my responsibility. We weren't as ready as we needed to be against a good Georgia team, and I want to congratulate them."

"Also, while I am thinking about it, I want to take the time to wish David Jacobs well. He is a young man for Georgia who is struggling with some health problems. We wish him the best."

"We've had one of those days. Sometimes you wonder why that occurs. Our execution was lacking in all phases. We made too many mistakes to beat a good football team. We repeatedly shot ourselves in the foot. We have to study that, and we have to do it rather quickly. We have to get back on track. We turn around and have to play again in five days, so we don't have any time to waste. We will try to correct our mistakes."

"I felt good early in the week about our practices. Our practice habits have been good. I felt like we had a good gameplan on both sides of the ball. After the open date the players kept their focus and practiced well. We didn't execute even close to where we know we can. We are not running the football and the other team is. That makes it difficult."

"We have some people to look at injury-wise. It was interesting from the beginning, Jonathan (Nichols) wasn't able to kick at all on Thursday. He had a leg problem. He felt better in pregame warmups. But, after the first attempted extra point when Jonathan didn't get much on the ball, we decided to go with Lee (Rogers). We thought we might have to do that coming in. Doug Ziegler looks like he's probably lost for the season with a broken forearm. Omar Rayford is out with a high-ankle sprain. We will have to evaluate him and see if there is any chance we can get him back as well as a number of others. We don't have much time to get those ready, but we will do what we can."

OLE MISS PLAYER QUOTES

Eli Manning:
"We had some opportunities. We were down there, but we just couldn't put the ball in."

"Our defense did good. They forced turnovers to give our offense the ball. We just couldn't keep the drives going"

"We would make some plays, some first downs, but we didn't make enough plays to win the game."

On Georgia's Defense:
"They were flying around and making plays. They did a good job of slowing down our offense."

"We were able to complete the ball, but we couldn't really get down the field like we wanted to."

"It is a short week so we need to start tomorrow and get focused"

Jason Armstead:
On his first TD catch:
"We were just trying to make something happen. We needed a big first down, and I was able to get the touchdown instead."

On going against High School teammate Brandon Williams (Moss Point, HS):
"He and I were like Deion (Sanders) and Rison (Andre). We're just those type of competitors on the field"

On Georgia's Defense:
"They were outstanding. They got a lot of pressure on the quarterback and we just had to execute play in and play out. And their defense played well."

Jamie Armstrong
On playing Mississippi State:
"We're going to have to get up for Mississippi State. We always have to get up for that game. We still have a lot to play for this season. We're trying for a bowl and we just need to win our next two games."

On playing in Starkville, MS:
"I think our team thrives on playing in a hostile environment. On the road, you've got all the fans against you. We are going to come out and play our best game."

Syniker Taylor
On Georgia being physical:
"The backs they had were unreal. They were fast, strong, and powerful. We kept hitting them, but they kept on running."

On Georgia QB David Greene:
"He made some big passes on third down a couple of times. Their receivers were pretty fast and they had a pretty good game."

Rob Robertson
On his interception:
"We were playing a drop back zone... I was in the right place at the right time"

On Georgia's running game:
"They had a lot of success on the lead draw. They just ran up the gut and we couldn't get it slowed down"

Jesse Mitchell
On Playing Against Mississippi State
"I'm quite sure they're gonna be physical and run the ball against us a lot.

On improving run defense:
"I think we need to improve technique wise, have gap integrity, and work harder"

The University of Mississippi Athletics

Related Videos