Postgame Quotes

Sept. 7, 2002

Recap?|? Stats?|? Notes?|? Photo Gallery | A Rebel (Defensive) Uprising

MEMPHIS HEAD COACH TOMMY WEST
"We got our butts whipped. I thought we played slow offensively. Our defense held up early in the game. They did a good job defensively."

"Field position was the most critical part of the game. We punted poorly. We were bad in field position. We played a long field, and they played a short field."

On Northcutt's interception ...
"It wasn't a bad play call. It wasn't the difference in the game. The difference was we put ourselves in bad positions in the first half."

About the running game ...
"It was obviously a big factor. We couldn't run the ball, and because of that, we never got into a rhythm."

"They took lots of snaps, and got it in between the 40s. And when they got it between the 40s, they could do what they want."

MEMPHIS PLAYER POSTGAME QUOTES
#97 Tony Brown, DE
"Our secondary was a big question mark, as they are a young group. I think they did exceptionally well. From this game, I think we are a lot better up front than last year, but we do have a long way to go. The Ole Miss offensive line played a tremendous game. They played fundamentally sound, not dirty. They just got the job done. We look forward to the game against Southern Miss and not making mistakes. We are focused on them and cutting down the mistakes."

#18 Danny Wimprine, QB
"Ole Miss threw at lot of different looks at us. It was hard to get comfortable and develop a rhythm. We saw some things on the outside. Antoine Harden got some good releases outside and we were able to make some big plays. The offensive line got a lot of pressure, but there is going to be pressure and we didn't do well at times. Ole Miss did a good job of bringing it. Next week is a bigger game than this game. We start conference, and that is what we are here for. Want to start that off with a win. "

#24 Dante Brown, TB
"It looks like Ole Miss studied the run on tape well, and that's what they came out to stop. Besides that we made some mistakes. Without those I think we'd have done better. We've just got to go in tomorrow, try to correct mistakes and get to where we need to be."

#33 Antoine Harden, WR
"Coaches kept telling us to get deep. Danny and I have worked up a lot of confidence in each other, and all I had to do was make a play on the ball. The Ole Miss secondary were just like they were on tape. They were aggressive and quick. We had bad field possession but I have to give credit to Ole Miss. We are looking forward to being more productive and we against Southern Miss we will give it all we've got."

OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach David Cutcliffe
"I thought that was an outstanding team victory. I'm really proud of our squad, our staff, the plan and with every phase of the game. Defensively we certainly set the tone early. We played the kicking game extremely well with the exception of the missed field goal. We had a really, really outstanding kicking game. We played very physical offense today."

"We know that the schedule is going to continue to get tougher, and we've got to continue to get better. I'm anxious to get back out on the practice field. We got a few injuries-Ben Claxton and Marcus Woodson to name a couple of them. We have to take a look at them and evaluate that tomorrow and see where we are. But we just have to close ranks and keep marching, much as we did today when those people went out. Josh Cooper went out with a hip pointer. Hopefully, he'll be back out on the practice field on Monday."

"I commend Memphis. They're an improved football team. As I said, that is about as good a team victory as I have seen in quite some time."

OLE MISS OFFENSIVE PLAYER QUOTES
Jason Armstead, WR
On his performance:
"We've been setting things up. We've been trying to get everyone on special teams to step up. It was just the perfect time. Everyone was keeping their blocks. I was just trying to make some moves and make people miss."

More on special teams:
"Special teams played a big part and thankfully, we were able to get a score."

On his ankle injury:
"Coach kept on asking me if I was ready to play to today and I told him, 'Yeah, I'm ready to play today'. My ankle is fine. Speed kills at all times."

Robert Williams, RB
On his second consecutive 100 yard performance:
"Our offensive line pounded them the whole game. It took us a little while to get in sync. At the end of the first half, we finally started to get things going. We came out the second half and knew what we had to do."

On next week against Texas Tech:
"It's going to be tough. They have a good team. We're looking forward to the challenge."

OLE MISS DEFENSIVE PLAYER QUOTES
Lanier Goethie, LB
On improvement on Defense:
"We played better this week. The big challenge coach put in front of us this week was to play better. We stepped up to the challenge and improved from the first to the second game. Everybody went out there and played hard. We did what we had to do, we played hard the whole game."

On Memphis:
"They are a good football team. They came out and played hard. Today just wasn't their day."

On next week against Texas Tech:
"I don't know too much about their offense yet. We have to come to play just like every other week."

Eric Oliver, DB
On the defense:
"We practiced hard all week. We came out and played our hardest. It (Practice) paid off. We just have to keep getting better."

On special teams coverage:
"Coach Middleton told us to let loose and get down the field. That's what we did. We made some big plays and got some big hits."

On Memphis:
"They were good. We were on top of our game today. We came out and played really well."

Charlie Anderson, DE
On pressuring the QB:
"Coach Hobby got on us during the second half to rush the passer a little better and to start getting to the quarterback. We got a couple of sacks on him."

On next week against Texas Tech:
"I've never played on turf. It's going to be tough to get adjusted to the turf. They are a good team, so we're going to have to work hard and stay focused."

ELI MANNING POSTGAME QUOTES
On his performance:
"I got off to a shaky start. They were playing a lot of cover two. The safeties weren't giving us any easy completions. Our offensive line really dominated up front."

On his first TD pass:
"Bill Flowers went over the middle and he just beat his guy. The middle of the field was open. He ran a good route and got in the endzone."

On the Memphis secondary:
"The pressed us tough and didn't give us any completions. They played a lot of double safeties. They wanted to make us run the ball and we did."

Q: Why were you taking treatment?
A: My knee got a little banged up. There was a little swelling in there, but I'll be ready to go in practice on Monday.

Q:When did you get your knee banged?
A: I believed in happened on the second play of the game (when he ran for an 8-yard gain).

Q: What got you and your receivers out of rhythm early today?
A: Memphis played well defensively. They played a lot of cover 2 and dropping guys, not giving us any easy completions. That's why we ran the ball so well because they didn't have enough guys up front. That made it easy for our running game, and we took advantage of it. If teams are going to play us that way, then we'll run the ball, and that's why we ran the ball for over 200 yards today.

Q: As a quarterback, do you get frustrated with that?
A: You can get frustrated because there are no easy completions. They are dropping back, and they're in the passing lanes. You have to take what they can give you. We took some easy passes in the flat, and then we took our shots down the field at times. We figured if we kept running the ball, they would get out of their defense, but they never did.

Q: Do you think you'll see more opponents play that way against the Rebels?
A: I'm sure we'll see some teams play that way, but they can't play that way the entire game because of the way we're running the ball. That's what we did today.

Q: Talk about some of the shots you took today.
A: That's just part of football. You are going to take some hits, you are going to get banged up, and you are going to suffer some injuries. You just have to stand tough, and keep going with the game plan.

Q: What about Justin Sawyer filling in for Ben Claxton?
A: Justin has been here a long time. He's been here since I've been here. He started off at tight end and he's been moved around. He's had some playing time, and I've practiced with him so I was comfortable with him. He came in and did a good job of getting the line responsible for what they're doing and making calls. He did a good job out there.

Q: Do you feel your offensive line wore them down?
A: I thought so. Our offensive line was pounding on them so much that they were getting tired and frustrated. They stayed in the same defense the whole team and we just kept running the ball.

Q: Talk about Rick Razzano's play.
A: Rick is one of those guys that when he runs into the line, the opposition gets tired of seeing him. We didn't run a whole lot of different plays so he was probably hitting the same guy over and over, which couldn't be fun for that guy. He doesn't get the ball much although he got a touchdown today, which I'm sure he's excited about. But, he's much rather run into the line and hit another guy.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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