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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss/Arkansas State Postgame Quotes
10/2/2004 | Football
OLE MISS HEAD COACH David Cutcliffe
Opening Comments
I certainly will say that we were better in the second half than we were in the first half and that is encouraging. It is something to build on. It is always great to get a win. Arkansas State has a really good football team. I want to commend them. They play hard and have played well over the last couple of weeks. They are a dangerous football team to play. I was proud that we were able to make the big plays in the second half, cash in on those plays offensively that the defense made, and come out with a victory.
How much does this win mean to you and the team?
"Emotionally, I would say this is pretty big. We are playing this season one game at a time and trying to win that game. We don't need to think about streaks, winning, losing,or anything else and play that game and be the best we can be in that particular game."
On trailing at the half
"There was a lot of frustration at halftime. Sometimes, something good can come out of frustration. I told (the team) that this frustration alone is not going to change what we are getting. We have to change some things. We have to get better. We have to be more physical. We have to be more consistent. I thought we responded in the second half."
On preparing for South Carolina.
"We are just going to take it one game at a time. It is always better to prepare after a win than it is a loss. Certainly practice on Monday will be better because we will be pumped about winning. But the bottom line is that we have to play as well as we can and play one game at a time."
On Ethan Flatt's performance.
"I thought he was good. I don't think there was anything spectacular there when he missed a few open people. But he made some big plays. I know he would like to have the overthrow back when he threw the interception. But other than that, I don't think there was any obvious mistakes."
On Arkansas State quarterback Nick Noce's performance.
"I knew he was a good runner, and I knew they would probably try to run the option. He is a good athlete and a good player. But I didn't think he would be as successful as he was."
OLE MISS PLAYERS
Running Back Vashon Pearson
On his third consecutive 100-yard rushing performance.
"I'm pretty happy about it. It's been something that I've wanted to do. I've got my chance now, and I'm just trying to make the best of the opportunity. Also give credit to the offensive line. They've been great at opening up holes, and I've been able to find them. Today was a good all-around effort."
On entering the stretch of 6 straight SEC games.
"We've got to step things up a notch. We need to speed our game up next week. We'll play a good South Carolina team, and we're looking forward to the game. We've got some things to work on."
Quarterback Ethan Flatt
On the victory.
"I thought we played well. We executed well offensively. We were more patient with the football and did things according to our game plan. On the confidence of the Rebels. I think this win will play a big part in how we approach the rest of the season, and hopefully we can get on a roll now."
On the upcoming SEC schedule.
"We're looking forward to going to South Carolina. We're going to be very disciplined in how we approach this week's game, and hopefully we'll be successful."
Wide Receiver Mike Espy
On the victory.
"It was a hard fought game, and I thought the offense did a good job. I thought we should have punched the ball in a few more times. The score was closer than it should have been, but a W is a W."
On his 5-catch, 53-yard performance.
"I think I played okay. As always, you think you could have done better after the game is over, but overall we executed well. On the confidence level of the team entering SEC play. I think we're ready. We were a little shaky today, but we made plays. I know that our guys are excited about turning things around. We'll approach SEC play with an aggressive attitude. We're going to be ready to play."
Linebacker Rob Robertson
On the defense's overall effort.
"I think the effort was really good. We played with a lot of intensity. It's a lot easier to play with more emotion when you make plays like we did today. We caused some big turnovers and made big plays, so I thought overall it was a good performance."
On slowing them down in the second half.
"We made a few adjustments. They had two long plays where they got outside of us in the first half. We tried to emphasize our containment a little more and keeping things on the inside, so we really didn't change that much. We started doing a few things a little better and that's the main thing. Without looking at the film, we had a pretty good game. We had fewer first downs. We had some three and outs which we haven't had in the past."
On the team's confidence.
"A win helps everything and lifts everyone's spirits. We're about to hit a road stretch right now and play some big games, so we're ready."
Defensive Lineman Jayme Mitchell
On his interception.
"I wasn't too surprised because our coaches got me ready for the screen. It's something we knew was coming in this game, and I just made a big play on it."
On the impact of the play.
"It was a big play for our team. It got us going and it was something that we needed."
Defensive Back Charles Clark
On the game.
"We came out and fought hard. We had some trouble in the beginning with all the shifts that they do. But we came back in the second half and went over some things in the locker room, then came back and played a good second half."
On the impact of the team's blocked field goal.
"On things like that people don't really think about it, but it can make a big difference in a ball game. If they had come away with that score late, they would have been in a better position, but plays like that you've got to capitalize on; all big plays and little plays."
On gaining momentum for next week.
"A win is always good. You've got to take success and keep going with it throughout the season. Monday we'll have meetings and start preparing for South Carolina, get our game plan together and go over there and play well."
ARKANSAS STATE HEAD COACH STEVE ROBERTS
Opening Commments
We are very satisfied with the effort of our football team. Our concentration for the majority of the football game was good. It's very disappointing that we didn't concentrate the entire game. There were two or three plays where we had a lapse in concentration. You have to give Ole Miss a lot of credit. They came out and played well in the second half. We established some momentum in the third quarter coming out and forcing them to punt right away. Then we took the ball and drove down to Ole Miss territory. We got a penalty and weren't able to overcome it. We had some lapses there. I don't think our football team lost because of ability or heart. We lost because of lack of focus, plus Ole Miss' ability to capitalize on the mistakes that we made. I want to make sure you understand that when I say lack of focus, I am not talking about the two turnovers. There were mistakes made by every position that were due to a lack of focus.
Do you continue to feel encouraged by your team's performance?
"We are 1-0 in conference. I told our football team in the locker room that everything between now and next Saturday has to be in preparation to beat Middle Tennessee. We have a serious challenge on our hands. We are going on the road and have to win a conference game. There are no excuses. We have to step up and play a big game next week."
On the running game during the first half compared to the second half.
"They made some adjustments to what they were doing up front. They also played very well with their hands and they blocked up front. We have to give them credit for that. We were banged up on the offensive line and had to put some other guys in there. We are not sure how they played, but they gave it all they had. Penalties and turnovers at critical times, and mental mistakes and lack of concentration mistakes cost us from having opportunities in other points during the ballgame."
Did you have plays designed for the quarterback to get a lot of yards running?
"I can only think of two plays that were called for him (Nick Noce) to run the football. Two of the plays that were called were quarterback runs. The rest of them were just his ability to make plays."
Talk about the defensive effort.
"After watching them (Ole Miss) run through Wyoming last week, I was very concerned with there ability to put the football on the ground and through the air. They were able to do that on us today. Most of the time, especially throughout the first part of the game, we were able to make some key stops. When they got in the red zone we forced some field goals, which is something we've been good at this season. I was pleased with the way we adjusted and played defense."
ARKANSAS STATE PLAYERS
Defensive Back Tyrell Johnson
On ASU's Defense
"I felt our defense played the best we have played all season, we really stepped up. We knew coming in that they were going to run the ball and we were going to blitz. We were close to winning the game, but we made some key mistakes. It hurts, but we have to bounce back. The game came down to two or three plays that could have changed the outcome, but we didn't finish."
Quarterback Nick Noce
On the game
"I thought we played well, our defense played tremendous. They put us in great situations, we just didn't capitalize. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot, but now we have to move on to conference play. The game was very physical, but I have to be tough and expect that in the game of football."
On throwing the interception
"The lineman (Jayme Mitchell) made a great break for the ball, and it cost me. This season is far from over, we have to learn from games like this and move on to conference play and win some games."
Wide Receiver Jerome Stegall
"We have to give Ole Miss credit, but we beat ourselves mentally."
On last year's game compared to this one
"It really wasn't that much different. It hurts, because we want to come in here and get a win. Now we have to be ready for conference play."