Game Quotes

Oct. 26, 2002

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OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe:
"We had a lot blow up in our face today. When you're shooting yourself in the foot, you don't leave yourself an opportunity to be successful. The SEC is hard enough, but when you help your opponent, it is nearly impossible. Our special teams were bad today - how much worse can they get?

"Arkansas is a good team and we knew that coming in. They took advantage of the opportunities that we gave them. I felt we were well prepared for this game, but you can't really prepare for the unusual things that happened today. The only way to get through our problems is to work harder. We have to find a cure for what is ailing us.

"When you begin to press, it can cause turnovers. That's what happens. We have to avoid the temptations, especially against a good team. When you do play a good team, it is the people that you don't see who make the plays.

"Today we lost a player for some time, I'm not sure how long. Tremaine Turner went down with a knee injury."

OLE MISS PLAYERS
Ronald McClendon - RB/KR:
"I thought I was down in the endzone and really didn't think about the play [Arkansas' kickoff recovery in the endzone]. On the first play, Jimarr Gallon made a great play and you can't always do anything about that. We gave up two big special teams plays and that lost the game for us.

"After the game I felt like I was hit like a Mack truck because I felt responsible for the loss. We just need to put this game behind us and focus on the next one. Arkansas rushed twice as much as us so they're probably going to have more yards. I don't think we run the ball enough and that's puts a lot of pressure on Eli Manning to perform."

#10 Eli Manning - QB:
"We gave them lots of opportunities today. We didn't get off to a good start and were forced to pass the ball, but we couldn't get it going until late. I thought we did well throwing the ball today and I had good protection. We just had some breakdowns in focus on our kickoffs.

"On my interceptions I just made some bad reads. We didn't do a good job running the ball today and that put us in some binds at third and long. We executed very well, but we've got to execute better. Our receivers misread some blocks on some throws, but overall we just need to execute better."

#1 Eddie Strong - LB:
"We've just got to get over it and realize we got beat. When you lose the turnover battle you're going to lose the game. We've got to hold on to the ball better and make some more plays on defense. With this loss you just have to pick yourself up and get better. I think there was a lack of focus today on our part. We have to go out this week at practice and correct our mistakes. In practice you can correct a mistake, but in a game when you make the same mistake, it results in touchdowns."

On Fred Talley:
"Fred Talley is a great tailback and if you give him room he's going to make plays on you whether you like it or not."

ARKANSAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Arkansas Head Coach Houston Nutt:
"I'm really proud of our team and our coaches. Our defense played great and set the tempo with all the turnovers. There were lots of heroes out there today and I really believe in these players. It's been a long hard week since Wednesday. These players showed a lot of effort, and I'm very proud of my team for bouncing back like this.

"They gave us an entirely different look than what we prepared for the entire week. So I wanted one guy, Matt Jones, to stay in there and get comfortable. We are using a lot of guys and we need every one of them. We were all down on Wednesday and we still haven't gotten over the shock. I have to hand it to our coaches. They have been great counselors all this week."

Arkansas Players:
#20 Fred Talley - RB:
"Our offensive line really stepped it up today. They made great holes to run through. Ole Miss really crowded the line with eight or nine people, but we were still able to run the ball."

#14 Jimmy Beasley - SS:
"Our team came out and played extremely hard today. We bounced back from last week's tough loss. Our defense put up more points on the scoreboard and that is what we need to continue to do each week."

#38 Tom Crowder - WR:
"Our special teams gave a great effort in today's win. We executed more and didn't give up the big plays that beat us last week."

#56Raymond House - DT:
"Our team responds when our back is against the wall. This was a must win game for us and we came through with a victory.

"In light of this past week's problems our defense really stepped it up and filled a big hole on the line. When one guy goes down the second guy steps up. We played tough today and now we have to get ready for Troy State."

Injuries:
CB Eddie Jackson - severely bruised right shoulder (questionable for next week's game)

OLB Tony Bua - sprained left shoulder (questionable for next week's game)

TB Dedrick Poole - slight concussion

OLB Lerinezo Robinson - bruised left thigh

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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