Louisiana-Monroe at Ole Miss Postgame Quotes

Sept. 13, 2003

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LOUISIANA-MONROE POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH CHARLIE WEATHERBIE
"We went out in the first half and had our opportunities, but we didn't perform. On the pass back to the wide out on the kick return, we didn't execute like we did all week. We had opportunities inside and twice came away with nothing to show for it. The first half should have been in our favor. During the second half, Ole Miss came out to play and we could not get our defense off the field."

"We are just going to have to keep working. There were many areas tonight where we didn't execute very well. We have to block better for the run and we didn't pass protect. We will have to play better for Northwestern. They are as good or better than Steven F. Austin."

"Manning is a good quarterback with a good cast of wide receivers. You can do a lot of things when you are running the ball as well as they did tonight."

PLAYER QUOTES
Wide Receiver Floyd Smith
(On the offense with starting QB Steven Jyles getting hurt)
"We practice with two quarterbacks, so it's not that big of a deal. It matters as far as what we are used to. We're used to playing with Steven Jyles, but we have faith in Daniel DaPrato. We know he can get the job done."

(On the offense's performance)
"It was a total team effort tonight. Our line blocked well tonight and Steven Jyles threw some good balls out there."

(On losing Steven Jyles)
"We hope he can come back soon. They said he should be back next week. He'll be ok."

(On his performance and stepping up with the loss of WR Drouzon Quillen)
"I had a lot of fun tonight. I was just trying to do what coach tells us to do every day in practice. Losing Drouzon Quillen was big. We weren't ready to lose him (for the season). We're stepping up. I'm looking forward to that first win, though."

Quarterback Steven Jyles
(On his injury)
"They said it was a ruptured ligament. I'm going to try to get back out on the field as soon as possible. I felt really good today. I felt like I prepared really well this week."

(On not capitalizing on opportunities early)
"It hurts a lot. It could have been a different game if the score were closer going into half time. We you get opportunities you have to take them. No matter who is in the game, we should be able to get the job done."

OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
OLE MISS HEAD COACH David Cutcliffe
(Opening comments)
"First thing I would like to say is congratulations to our staff and players. They responded this week by getting better. Disregard the score and things that happened early in the game, they get better as the game went on. We still did some things in the first half that a real good football team can't do. I thought the staff challenged our players at halftime, and they took the third quarter and played as good as we could on both sides. That is a move in the right direction. But it is still early in the season, so we have to continue practicing with the same intensity and continue trying to get better."

(On the running game)
"We ran the ball better in the first half. We have been more physical on the front on both sides of the ball in the first games and we have been improving. I know that UL-Monroe is not a Southeastern Conference defense, so we will be challenged to continue this move in the right direction. But I did see marked improvement."

(On what you can learn after a game like this)
"The execution was positive. Handling pressure when we needed to handle pressure. Not giving up as many big plays. We still gave up some big plays, but not as many have we have. We will learn a lot from the tape. We will see a lot of things that we will have to improve on this tape."

(On getting some of the backups in the game)
"I love to have that opportunity. I have particularly been concerned about our backup quarterback. He has not had a lot of snaps, none this year. That is invaluable. If he has to come in and play, or is thrown into a tough situation, we know how he respond in the game. It was good to see our two deep linemen respond, also."

(On Travis Johnson's game)
"Travis Johnson made the one big play. He has been competing hard. He cramped a little bit, he has got to get used to playing a full game. It was good to have him back, and I thought he responded well. He prepared very well for this day."

OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Senior WR Chris Collins
On tying the record for receptions
"I thought about it some, but really isn't that big a deal to me. I didn't go out there tonight to break a record. I just went out there to play my best. I wanted to go out and make the plays, and I made them."

On the outstanding runs after catches
"I made up my mind that I am not going to get tackled anymore. I am going to either run over the defensive back or make him miss me."

On him and Manning together
"We just try to go out and play hard and do our best. We just happened to find each other."

Senior QB Eli Manning
On Chris Collins and their chemistry
"He's a smart player. We've played a lot of games together. He's got a natural feel for getting open and finding open areas."

On his rushing touchdown
"It was my first real rushing touchdown. I've had a few quarterback sneaks. I looked to my left and nothing was open and then I looked back right to see if Chris (Collins) was open. Nothing was there and I saw an opening up the middle and I just ran it in."

On play of offensive line
"I didn't get sacked once and didn't get hit many times. They did a great job of protecting all night. Louisiana-Monroe had some good blitzes, and our line did a good job of picking that up."

Good game to get back in a rhythm and prepare for the next big one
"We had two tough ones to start off with and tonight was tough also. It's good that we have an off week, and we need to get ready for Texas Tech."

On the team keeping its morale this week during practice
"Everybody practiced hard and came in ready to play and fired up. We were ready to do our jobs. We executed our game plan and didn't make too many mistakes. We still have to work on some things and get better."

On the running game and Jamal Pittman
"(Jamal) Pittman is a special player. He is getting some playing now and showing what he can do. He will definitely help us down the road. We ran the ball well today and it opened up everything else.

Sophomore QB Micheal Spurlock
On scoring a touchdown on his first drive
"It feels real good. I've been waiting a long time to get in and play. Coach told me that whenever I got in to just take care of the ball."

On the team getting fired up when he came into the game
"We were joking around this week and I told Eli that we needed to run the score up so I could play, and he said we would. Coach told me that when I get in to make sure that we don't miss a beat."

On running on his first play from scrimmage
"Coach told me to make sure faked them out good, but I didn't get a good enough fake. The defender had a good angle on me and he caught me. Hopefully that won't happen again."

Freshman RB Jamal Pittman
On waiting a long time to get an opportunity to shine
"I was sitting on the bench waiting for them to call my name. We got a lot of great running backs ahead of me. I've been patient waiting for my turn. Coach gave me the go ahead, the line blocked well, and I just did what I do best."

On taking it down the field for a touchdown
"It was a lot for a first time, but I handled it fine. The line blocked well. It really wasn't as hard as it looked. The line made holes for me and that made it a lot easier."

Giving credit to Orthopedic Dr. Ed Field and trainer Tim Mullins for being out there six months after surgery
"My surgery with Dr. Field went great and then rehab with Tim Mullins and Kyle Wicker went great. They made me work hard this summer. They told me what I needed to do to get back and they stuck with me through thick and thin. There were days when I didn't want to go out there. This proves what happens when you work hard." DEFENSIVE PLAYER QUOTES

Sophomore DB Travis Johnson
On how the defense played:
"We played alright, but I feel we can play better than we played tonight. We've just got to get back to practice and improve because we should have played better than we did. Overall though I think we looked good tonight."

On the interception:
"My man went inside of me and I just read the running back because I was seeing what they were doing. I don't think the quarterback even saw me so I just stayed where I was, picked it and took it to the house."

Senior DT Jesse Mitchell
On the defense overall:
"I think we did some things well, other things we didn't. We still have a lot of big areas to improve on and that's what we'll work on during the off-week. That's what's good about having an off-week. I think it came at the right time."

On the upcoming off-week:
"We're just looking to minimize our mental mistakes, try to get a little healthier and just come together more as a team."

Junior DB Eric Oliver
On the defense tonight:
"I think we came out and got back on track. It wasn't that we were that off track to begin with, it's just that we weren't doing what we've been coached to do. This time though we came out, did what we were coached to do and won big."

On having the team high in tackles
"It was a good night. I felt pretty good, my body and my legs felt good, so I just came out ready to play. I was just trying to make a couple of plays and ended up doing that."

On the upcoming off-week
"We're going to face a great passing attack (in Texas Tech). We've read in the papers about how the DB's are basically the weak link so we're going to come out and be ready for their passing attack. We know that's what they (Texas Tech) like to do."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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