Ole Miss vs. LSU Postgame Quotes

Nov. 22, 2003

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LSU POSTGAME QUOTES

LSU Head Coach Nick Saban
"I am proud of the way our players competed. They faced a lot of adversity. I'm proud of the way they play hard and fought through that adversity. Our defense played like gangbusters. We fought through the turnovers and the bad field position. We could have melted down, but they showed a lot of character. It wasn't always pretty, but they showed a lot of maturity."

"I almost feel it is a shame anybody had to lose, but I am proud we came away with the win. We have some fixing to do. When you win, sometimes it is hard to make people want to fix things. We started to show some consistency there in the second quarter but we were never there in the second half."

"Sometimes it helps to have the ball bounce in your direction. But how you can compete can make it that way."

"Ole Miss did not make many third downs. And to stop them on that fourth down was a tremendous stand. Somebody stepped on Eli's foot on the push."

"I did not think we had our personality. I do not think we looked like ourselves. The staff did the best we could to get them to focus on the game and execute. We wanted them to forget about emotion and what is at stake. I think early on we were fearful and anxious and that made us play tentative on offense. I don't want to take anything away from the Ole Miss defense."

"There were times we didn't block well or didn't block the right people. We didn't throw well. It wasn't a good day on that side of the ball. We were able to run at times when we had to. Devery had a big play on that drive in the second quarter. We did not play with the same energy level, which can be affected by anxiety.

"We called some QB runs and Matt scrambled well when he could. The thing that Matt did a fantastic job on tonight was that he never got frustrated. He has a tendency to press because he is so competitive.

LSU PLAYERS

Quarterback Matt Mauck
(On his three interceptions)
"The first was a rollout and I led Michael (Clayton) too much. On the second, I threw too far inside. The third interception was just a great play by their man."

(On the team attitude after the first interception)
"I don't think we really tensed up. Maybe the offense tensed up a little, but the defense didn't. The defense bailed us out every time we messed up."

(On not getting frustrated)
"You just have to keep playing. The more games you play, the more comfortable and confident you become. When you have you team behind you it makes it easier. It's not one person, it's everyone behind you."

(On using the running game for a period after the interceptions)
"It helped a little (with calming me down). We didn't play well throughout the game, but we made the plays when we needed to."

Cornerback Travis Daniels
(On the fourth quarter rally by Ole Miss)
"We haven't been in many situations like that. That's why you come to LSU, to be in the big games that come down to the wire. The games that will go down as one of the biggest of the season."

(On defending against Eli Manning)
"We were trying to disguise our coverage. We didn't want to let him get the quick read, because we knew he had the authority to check out of a play at any time. Most of the defensive backs just played to defend the ball no matter who was throwing it."

(On Eli Manning as a quarterback)
"I can't really say he reminds me of anyone we have seen. He's definitely his own person. He reminds me a lot of Dan Marino, the way he can call a play, read the defense and then check into another play to at the defense."

Cornerback Corey Webster
(On Ole Miss' rally in the 4th, and whether there was concerned Ole Miss had figured out the defense)
"It was never about what they did. We didn't execute our defense. It was all about what we weren't doing and getting our defense together."

(On the slow start offensively)
"The defense did well. Some games the offense has had to pick us up. Tonight we had to pick things up. It's just our job to go out there and play."

(On Eli Manning and whether the game was personal for the defense)
"I wouldn't like to say it was personal, but everybody said it was all about Eli (coming into the game). Everybody said he could win the Heisman off of us. We weren't going to let that happen."

(On his interception)
We'd had a change of possession on the previous play. We were on the sideline and coach said someone needed to step up and make the play."

Defensive lineman Chad Lavalais
(On the mindset after the game) "We worry about getting better in practice. We got a good victory tonight over a good team. We have to go out Monday and focus on Arkansas. We don't worry about all that stuff on the side."

(On the plan to blitz Eli Manning)
"That's our game plan ever week, no matter if we are playing a young quarterback, an old quarterback, an experienced or inexperienced quarterback. It was a matter of them protecting him. They did a good job of that in the first half. Later in the game, our front four started getting in there."

(On Ole Miss' rally in the 4th quarter and the mindset of the defense)
"Our guys were ready to go back out there. I kind of thought 'I hope they (LSU's offense) throw another interception so we can go out there and stop them again.' Put the game on our shoulders. It's been that way. It's been on our shoulders all season."

OLE MISS QUOTES

Ole Miss Head Coach David Cutcliffe
(Opening Comments)
"First thing I want to do is commend our players for the good effort. They fought hard for four quarters against what I think is a good football team. There certainly wasn't a lack of energy or effort. I'm also proud of the support. I can't say enough about our fans. The support and the atmosphere they created in the stadium and in the Grove was truly something special. They don't know how much we appreciate that. It was a hard fought game. Probably the biggest issue was their ability to keep the ball and make a few third downs conversions. Our defense played great, but they played a little better than we did. They kept our defense on the field, and we got a little tired. Specifically we didn't make the plays when we had the chance to until late in the game. They play a very tight defense that makes you make plays. We just didn't get it done."

(On LSU's defense)
"They are definitely the best defense we've seen this year. They are as good as anyone in the country in my mind."

(On their defense to other great defenses in the past)
"The Southeastern Conference always has two or three people that just play at that level of defense. I don't know if I could specifically compare to them to anybody but they are as good as I've played against."

(On the fourth down play)
"It was a drop back pass. They were overloading the side, and (Eli) had the protection sliding. He just got stepped on. That can sometimes happen. I asked him who, and he didn't know exactly who stepped on him. He said that a lineman getting in position to make their block, stepped on his foot. You never what would have happened. It was just unfortunate."

(On being in a position to win the game against the No. 3 ranked team in the nation
"We put ourselves in a position to have a chance to win. That's what we intended to do, and knew it wasn't going to be easy. As I said at the beginning, I am proud of our effort and proud of what we did. Now we have to put it behind us and move forward."

(On Jonathan Nichols' two missed field goals)
"I haven't had a chance to talk to Jonathan yet. Sometimes you just miss them. Nobody is upset. Nobody works harder and more consistently than he does. It just happened."

OLE MISS OFFENSIVE PLAYERS

Quarterback Eli Manning
(On LSU's first-half defense)
"They're a good defense. They were bringing pressure and we were trying to react to it and just didn't make plays. We did have opportunities, but we just didn't capitalize on them."

(On their long drives in the fourth quarter
"We just started making plays. We were picking up protection and receivers were catching balls. We started to pick up their blitzes and made adjustments. I was more accurate than I was in the first quarter."

(On rebounding for the Egg Bowl
"It's our last game and we've still got a shot at representing the West (in the championship game). We have to go out and do our best. The Mississippi State game is always a big game so we'll just have to focus, play hard and smart football and try to find a way to win."

Running Back Vashon Pearson
(On not being able to move the ball in the first half
"They were pressing our receivers and making it hard for them to get off the line. They (LSU) were bringing everybody else, and it was hard to pick up. Our receivers were having a hard time in the first half getting off the press. When they are pressing you and you can't get open and they are bringing everybody, you don't have anybody there to help."

(On the running game picking up in the fourth quarter.
"We got hard-headed about running the ball. We kept running until it started clicking. That is what you have to do. When the running game is not going your way, you have to be hard-headed about it."

On the Mississippi State game.
"There is still a lot to play for. Everything is still out there for us. We knew what this game today meant, but we've still got to go out and beat Mississippi State and hope Arkansas beats LSU."

Wide Receiver Chris Collins
(On LSU's play)
"They weren't doing anything that we didn't expect. We just couldn't make the plays when we had to. They played great, but we came up short."

(On turning it on in the fourth quarter)
"We just made up our mind that we had to get it done. It wasn't just one particular thing that got us going in the fourth quarter. We challenged ourselves to make plays, and we did."

(On the Egg Bowl)
"It's going to be a tough game. It's Jackie Sherrill's last game, and always a big rivalry between Ole Miss and State. We have to have a great week of practice and get ready to win."

OLE MISS DEFENSIVE PLAYERS

Defensive Back Travis Johnson
(On interception/touchdown)
"We've been practicing hard and we knew (Michael) Clayton is a big receiver and he was going to get the ball a lot today. It was the first play of the game, and I knew it was going to be a pass play so I just stuck on him the whole time and made a big play."

(On his quick read of the play)
"He just threw it straight to me and I just made the catch and tried to get it in the endzone for a score. I knew we had to score some kind of way."

(On LSU's talented receivers)
"They put a lot of pressure on us(defensive backs), but you know we work hard. We've had our ups and downs this year, but we fought hard today."

(On Thursday's game)
"We've got Mississippi State and we know that it will be a hard game because it's a big rivalry. We've got to just go out there this week and practice and get through the pain, try to put this behind us and move ahead."

Linebacker L.P. Spence
(Defensive performance in general)
"On defense I think we came out and played up to our potential. There were just a couple of big plays here and there that hurt us."

(On preparation for this game)
"We didn't do anything special this week, we just concentrated on key plays and fundamentals, and just went out and played football."

(On Thursday's Game)
"Every week is a big game. We're just going to take it one game at a time like we've been doing all year. We're disappointed right now for the loss. We were in a great position to get the win, but we lost. We've just got to bounce back this week and come back home with a victory."

Defensive End Jayme Mitchell
(Overall defensive performance)
"I feel like we did a pretty good job, but I'm not satisfied. I believe we could have done a little bit more to come up and get the 'W'."

(What could have been done differently)
"I think we could have played better pass defense, run defense, and just all around better on defense. I thought we could have done everything better and come out with a win, but we didn't and that's what matters."

(Effect of success on confidence)
"This game helps us a lot with our confidence on defense. We came out and put together a solid performance, but our confidence would be higher if we could have made just that one extra tackle or made that big pass deflection, but we didn't. We've just got to move on."

(On preparation for Thursday)
"We're going to go through the same routine. We're going to come out and play hard and do the same thing we've been doing."

(Goals for Thursday)
"Win. That's my goal. Just get the win, that's the only goal that matters."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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