Postgame Quotes

Nov. 2, 2002

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Feature: Back In Rhythm

AUBURN HEAD COACH TOMMY TUBERVILLE
"That was a good football game between two good football teams. There was a lot of excitement. I think the difference in the game was turnovers; they got three and we got one. I was disappointed with the officiating. Either they weren't on, or we played really bad. We did make too many mistakes out there today."

"Anytime you win on the road against a really explosive offense, you've got to play hard and aggressive. You've got to be able to run to win. Ole Miss was able to run at the end, and that made it harder to defend. You know that you've got to force Ole Miss into turnovers, because you know Eli Manning is going to get 300-400 yards."

(On the Auburn offense)
"Our offensive line did just enough to win the game. Ronnie Brown had a great game and that starts at the offensive line. I think his second and third effort gets better. To rush that much (33 times) and not get a turnover, he did a great job. Jason (Campbell) didn't play well, but he had some TD passes dropped and he didn't let the crowd bother him."

(On the Ole Miss offense)
"Ole Miss fought hard. They had their back against the wall, and it is good to win on the road and get a win over an explosive offense. They came out in the no-huddle the second half, and that caught us totally off guard. We were able to adjust, but not shut them down. But you know you are not going to shut them down. You just hope they shut themselves down."

(On finishing up the season)
"Unfortunately, we have to look back over a few games. We are bowl eligible and we have more in sight over the next three games, two at home. We are a much better football team than we were three games ago. Winning a game like this builds confidence. We are trying to be in a position mentally and physically to compete down the stretch and be in the conference race. We need some help, with three losses its tough. But when you are out of the race, you lose momentum and work ethic. That's the main reason it's a big win."

AUBURN PLAYER QUOTES
RB RONNIE BROWN
"Ole Miss came out after taking that lead and really stepped it up a bit. Eli made some good plays. But you know Eli is capable of making plays. We made some mental mistakes, and he made the best of it."

"We came out and made the passing game work. Our line also had tremendous push. I have to give credit to the line. They blocked very well, and when my number was called, I wanted to make the best of it. I knew they did their job, and when I got to the line, I had to do mine."

QB JASON CAMPBELL
"We have a really good running game. Ole Miss has a great passing game. If they had a run game they would be dominant. Coming in, I was a little over pumped getting to play in my home state, but I got settled and relaxed. I feel more comfortable each game with the guys in front of me and around me. I just want to do my best. Both teams came into the game in a tough situation, knowing that the loser would be out of contention. It was sort of like a playoff game, and both teams needed to go out and lay it on the line.

OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE
(Opening Comments)
"We got better as a football team today. Obviously, it was not good enough to win. We had a lot of courageous efforts out there on the field this afternoon. We just came up short again."

"We have got to find ways to win games. We were close today, but close doesn't get it in our business."

(On the 17-16 lead turning to a 31-17 deficit)
"We could have folded the tent at that point there, but we didn't. We fought back and had a chance to tie the game."

(On Chris Collins' performance)
"Chris is a very good football player. Coming into the game, we were a little banged up at receiver, and we needed him to step up for us. He did just that."

(On Eli Manning's last interception)
"Eli makes great decisions all the time. On that play, he was trying to get the ball in the end zone. Obviously, I find no fault in what Eli decides to do."

(On Auburn's Ronnie Brown)
"Auburn did a great job of blocking today. You've got to defeat blocks and we didn't do that. When you give a running back a chance to make long runs, he can get hot, and Ronnie did in today's game."

JUNIOR QB ELI MANNING POSTGAME QUOTES
(On his last interception)
"They were dropping back into a zone. I probably should have run the ball, but I didn't. I saw (Trey) Fryfogle over the middle and I tried to hit him. I was scrambling and Trey thought I was going run, so he tried to make a block for me. He just stopped, he was trying to make a play. I thought about throwing it away, but that would have brought up fourth down."

(On whether or not Auburn's defense frustrated him)
Yeah, they are a good team. They had a plan for us. They knew we might come out and throw the ball a lot, which we did. They were doing a good job on zone blitzes. They had a plan and they executed it well. In the first half, we did not have a whole lot going for us, but we finally got in a groove. We found some plays that were working and we executed them well. We were in the place we wanted to be in the fourth quarter, we had a shot to close the gap. I just didn't make the play when I needed to."

(On the Ole Miss running game)
"We ran the ball well in the fourth quarter, and that is good because they were backing up, expecting us to throw. We threw a draw in here and there. Goldie (Ronald McClendon) did a nice job of making some runs on our last drive. That is something for us to build on."

(On if he feels comfortable making audibles at the line)
"I am and that is what we were doing. If we were calling a running play it was my job to decide which way way better to run (right or left) or if we should pass. Sometimes I would go to the line and see what Auburn was doing and then try to call a play."

OLE MISS OFFENSIVE PLAYER POSTGAME QUOTES
RONALD McCLENDON (Jr., RB)
(On running game)
"We came in with the mentality that we had to establish the running game to set up the passing game. We knew that for Eli to make big plays we had to make the defense worry about the run. Our running game didn't open up until later in the second half. It was too late."

(On bouncing back from Arkansas game)
"Our offensive line did a great job. Those guys worked really hard. They allowed me to make a couple of big runs in the third and fourth quarter. I was glad that I was able to bounce back from last week against Arkansas. I know that a lot of fans were down on me after last week. I wanted to come back and be the player that I normally am."

(On Georgia)
"We have to watch a lot film on Georgia. We know they have a good team. They have several good players, especially their running backs. We have to work hard this week."

CHRIS COLLINS (Jr., WR)
"We did some of the same things this week in practice, and we prepared well. This loss hurt. We were able to find a few mismatches on the field. On my first touchdown, I ran by the guy, the offensive line executed the play, and Eli threw a great pass."

(On second touchdown)
"We had to change the play from the sidelines. Eli and I were on the same page. I got inside of the defensive back, and Eli made another great throw."

(On Georgia)
"Everybody has to stay focused. We need to make sure and keep our heads up. We have two more away games and one home game. We have to continue to practice hard everyday."

MARCUS JOHNSON (Soph., OG)
(On offensive line)
"We did the same things throughout the game. Our guys have worked hard, but some of the plays weren't going right in the first half. Each week we play hard, and this week we came up short."

(On Georgia)
"We are going to keep on doing the same things. We have to take care of business on the practice field. We will get better. Today wasn't our day, and hopefully we will have a better outcome against Georgia."

OLE MISS DEFENSIVE PLAYERS POSTGAME QUOTES
MATT GRIER (Sr., SS)
(On the defensive performance)
"We had our ups and downs. They made too many big plays. We played really hard, and we were into the game the whole time. They just made bigger plays than we did."

(On halftime adjustments)
"We didn't make any adjustments. We just picked up our intensity in the second half, because we knew we had to if we wanted an opportunity to win the game."

(On preparing for Georgia)
"Like in past weeks, we need to go out on the practice field Monday, work hard and get back in the swing of things."

EDDIE STRONG (Sr., LB)
(On the game)
"It seemed like everything was going our way at first, but then the ball seemed to bounce the other way. They got the best of us, and time just ran out on us in the end."

(On halftime adjustments)
"We came in at halftime and went over some of our mistakes and corrected them in the second half. We went back on the field and played a better half, but time just ran out."

KELVIN ROBINSON (Fr., DB)
(On his forced fumble)
"I saw him (Auburn's Silas Daniels) come across the middle, and it was the perfect opportunity to make a big play. I just launched into him, made a big hit and the ball came loose. I was just glad we came up with the ball."

JUSTIN WADE (Jr., LB)
(On the game)
"Everybody played well, and played hard. It was just one of those days when they made more big plays than we did. We didn't give up many big plays, but the ones we did, they took advantage of them. That (giving up big plays) is one of the things we need to work on."

(On Auburn's Ronnie Brown)
"We knew coming in he was a great back. It was a big deal with them losing Cadillac (Williams), but Ronnie is in the same league as him. We had to prepare for Ronnie all week."

(On playing at home)
"It felt great being back home with our crowd behind us. All the fans were great. We're just disappointed we couldn't get a win for them."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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