Postgame Quotes

Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes

ARKANSAS POSTGAME QUOTES
ARKANSAS HEAD COACH HOUSTON NUTT
"Neither one of those teams deserved to lose. Both gave unbelievable efforts. I'm very proud of our kids. They had a lot of fight in them and no quit. There are a lot of heroes in that locker room. They all hung in there when three or four weeks ago things weren't so good."

"Matt Jones was hard for them to stop. Ole Miss had to defend both the option and the pass. Matt is cool under pressure. You don't have to worry about him getting up tight. He can throw and he can escape trouble. He can also stop on a dime, escape and hit a wide receiver."

"We've played one or two overtimes, but there has been nothing to prepare you for that. You have to play the game one play at a time. I kept thinking, 'what's going to be our two-point play.' I knew we were going to score a touchdown. Our offensive line kept telling us there defensive line is tired."

"I was also asking (Defensive coordinator) John (Thompson) to stop either the tight end or the fullback, but Eli Manning was a lot of that. Eli is a good QB."

"It's a game we will never forget. I appreciate the efforts of all 70 players and the assistant coaches. It was a gladiator-like. TD after TD. Two points after two points."

ARKANSAS PLAYER QUOTES
Quarterback Matt Jones
(on the game)
"You just feel the pressure the whole time you're out there. I was just trying to have fun with it. That's the only way you can do it. It was an awesome experience, and I'm glad that everything worked out. I was just hoping we would make it."

(On the rivalry)
"I don't really know too much about this whole thing. I'm just a freshman, so this is my first year experiencing it. It's an awesome feeling to win this. This puts us up there with a feeling where we can beat anyone right now."

Linebacker Tony Bua
"I've never been a part of anything like that before in my life. We went out and played and gave everything we had. We couldn't capitalize and then we finally came through. We've just been gelling at the right time. We want to play as a team and see where this thing can go."

Linebacker Jermaine Petty
"To go out and get this win is a great honor. We're trying to accomplish something as a team and we knew it was going to be tough coming down this stretch because we would be playing some tough teams. We are going to keep playing as a team and good things will continue to happen."

(On stopping Ole Miss TE Doug Ziegler to win the game)
"I knew going in they were going to be trying to get the ball to Ziegler because he had been making big plays for them the whole time, especially in the overtime period. I knew they would try to get him the ball. I saw him run out on a short route and knew Eli Manning would try to get him the ball so I keyed in on him."

(On the game)
"This is the first time that we have beaten them here in Oxford and it's a great honor to come in here and get a win like this one. It was great to go out and play a game like this with two great teams that showed up to play ball."

Fullback Mark Pierce
"To knock off three top teams, (South Carolina, Auburn, Ole Miss) like this means a lot to us as a team. Everyone is flying high right now. It's great to get this for Coach Nutt, the Arkansas fans and us. It just lifts us up. This win gives us a chance to go play in a major bowl game."November 3, 2001

OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
OLE MISS HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE
"I'm not going to let this be a 'what if' game. It just happened to end like this. Somebody had to win and we will move forward from this unusual experience. This upcoming week is a good time for us to have an open weekend, so we can get several of our players well."

"I just want to congratulate the Arkansas team, and all of the players on both teams. All of these guys are tough-minded. I've never been through anything like this at the college level. This is what football is all about."

"Arkansas did good at keeping us from running the ball. They played outstanding defense. Our biggest problem was our third down conversions."

"Each time we scored in all seven overtimes, I thought we might have this won. But it was snatched away on both sides. Everyone showed a lot of character on both sides."

"On the last overtime play on the two-point conversion, Arkansas stopped the same play that we won against Alabama with."

"This is an unusual loss, but not the toughest because we played so well."

"During the third and fourth overtimes, I was thinking let's just blow the whistle and say ' boys, let's go to the house."

OLE MISS OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
TE Doug Ziegler
"It was such a crazy game. I don't think it (that many overtimes) has ever happened in college football before. Both teams fought a hard battle, Arkansas just came up with the win. We are lucky we have an off week next week. We can come back Monday and get better. We are looking forward to playing Georgia."

On the last play
"It was a crossing route, but I just didn't catch it. He (Jermaine Petty) was playing good defense and he kept me outside of the endzone."

WR Jason Armstead
"It was a big for game us. This is like the world series going extra innings. You had two teams going nose-to-nose, teeth-to-teeth and toe-to-toe all game.

On his TD catch to force overtime
"It was just a basic route I have been running since high school. Coach was telling me 'when we call it, we need you ready to go', and I was ready to go."

QB Eli Manning
"I don't think there has ever been a game like that. It was a great game to play in, and both teams played hard and well. Coach told us after the game that everybody competed hard, and there wasn't really a loser. We just came up short in the end."

On the SEC West race
"There is a lot of football left. We have an off week, and we have to get ready for Georgia."

OLE MISS DEFENSIVE PLAYERS
LB L.P. Spence
"It was a great game. I have to give credit to both teams, because they came to play. We came up on the short end of the stick this week. Historically, the game is a classic. They (Arkansas) did a lot of different things on the fronts and ran a lot of different formations. They made the plays when they had to. We never gave up."

DB Matt Grier
"It was a long game. It was very intense. The defense competed the whole game as did the offense. It was just a good game overall. It's a privilege to be a part of history, just like it is a privilege to be at Ole Miss. We just have to keep our heads up. We will not ever hold our heads down."

DT Kenny Jackson
"I don't think this game will affect us. We had a great game today. Everyone fought hard, they just put two more points on the scoreboard than we did. Arkansas is a good team with good players. They came out with a lot of different looks and made a bunch of plays."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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