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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss vs. The Citadel Postgame Quotes
10/8/2005 | Football
Oct. 8, 2005
Final Stats | Notes | Quotes
Head Coach Ed Orgeron
Did you see any improvements?
"I saw a lot of improvement this week. We had some confidence coming back from the Tennessee game. Our practices were better, and our team meetings were better. Our attention to detail was better. We are continuing on a positive path. We have to continue this way and move forward. Obviously we have a big game next week against Alabama. They will play very well."
On putting Robert Lane in to start the second half.
"We needed a jumpstart on offense. We wanted to give him a shot. It was such a close competition at the beginning of the year. We looked stagnate on offense, and we wanted to give Robert a shot. Micheal came back and competed and obviously looked pretty good."
On the quick touchdown to open the second half.
"I think it gave the team a shot in the arm. We've worked hard on coming back in the second half and being fired up. As you saw, we forced three turnovers."
On Viciente DeLoach.
"He played ok, but I'll have to look at the film. We had an injury to Corvelli Haynes, and we didn't want to play Chris Bowers every down. So we were going to give him a couple of snaps."
Talk about improvement on the offensive line.
"It looks like we created some holes for Mico (McSwain). Their defensive line was not in the backfield as much as they were in the first half. I was disappointed at halftime that we couldn't run the ball.
Defensive adjustments made during the second quarter.
"We identified some of the struggles we had in the second quarter. We looked at why we were breaking down. We will continue to get better in the second quarter.
On the return of Mario Hill
"He had a great day with a couple of big third down plays. Obviously he is our leading receiver, and he gave us a big boost."
On the turnover to start the second half.
"It was great. That is what our defense is about, flying to the football. It came at a great time. I am looking forward to seeing it on film. I am excited that we were not only able to cause a turnover, but that we scored. It gave our team a big boost. Our defense cannot have a bad day."
On Patrick Willis
"He is the heart and soul of our defense. He means a lot to us. In the past I have had several players like him. In my opinion, he is probably the best player we have on the team, and he showed it today."
Ole Miss Player Quotes
Quarterback Michael Spurlock
On the game
"Well I just have to contribute it to the o-line. That's the only way we'll be able to get the plays off. It all starts with them up front and the defense kept giving us the ball back. In the second half we came out and put a couple of drives together."
On the strong second half
"Yeah, Coach Orgeron told me in the second half he was just going to let me watch because that's when I come out and play better, so I did that and I watched. Sometimes I rush myself, and I was waiting on the receivers before the receivers even got open. So I just really just stepped back and slowed down and as an offense I think we did a good job. Mico (McSwain) got in there and Antonio (Turner) ran the ball well."
On his left hand
"Yeah, we're trying to heal it and the doctor looked at it after the game. But it doesn't bother me at all. I've got my new friend with me which is the cast so I'm probably going to keep it on during the rest of the season and just go from there."
Defensive Back Travis Johnson
On the fumble return
"Well the whole time coach told us to `stay on your man and don't try to do too much when you're out there,' so I stayed on my man, the quarterback flipped and I had my eyes on the ball the whole time, picked it up and scored."
On his interception
"The interception at the end we had to go out there and still play hard. The game isn't ever over, so I was still in coverage. We had a zone coverage called and the quarterback overthrew him a little bit and I was in the right place at the right time."
On not allowing a first down in the second half.
"That's great for the defense because we've been working hard everyday in practice to really show what we can do as a team, so I think if we've go out there like that every week we've got a better chance to win."
On next week's game
"Alabama is a great team. I love playing against Alabama. They've got a great quarterback and a great group of receivers. We're just going to have to go in next week, focus in practice and try to get everything right, and when the game comes just play like we know we can."
Running back Mico McSwain
On his second 100 yard game.
"It was mostly my offensive line really coming together well. I'm using them as my blockers and trying to cut off them and make plays."
On running in the open field.
"Yes, it's basically just reading a player and how their bodies leaning. Really I think of what I would do in that situation and I make plays off of what they do."
Linebacker Patrick Willis
On the game
"Obviously we got a win and that's the biggest thing. We just kept fighting and kept fighting and played for sixty minutes."
On their play in the second half.
"We've been trying to establish our defense and stay on top of things defensively. Regardless of whether they're Division 1AA, we just want to go out and get plays and do our job in a fundamentally sound way with tackling and doing the right thing. We knew if we didn't do the right thing they could have scored just like anyone else could. So we just went out there and tried to play a technically sound game and be 100 percent in everything we did."
On his injured hand.
"It's doing pretty well. It's a little swollen, but we got a win and that's all that matters."
The Citadel Head Coach Ken Higgins
On the first half.
"I thought it was an outstanding job by our defense. We held them to three points in the first half and created some turnovers, but we could not capitalize on our opportunities."
On the Ole Miss running attack.
"We knew McSwain could run the ball, so we wanted to key on him. That is why Ole Miss' play action worked so well, because we keyed on the run."
On the play of Justin Knox.
"It is so difficult for a back-up quarterback to make his first career start against a team like Ole Miss. They have outstanding team speed and unfortunately this was his indoctrination.
#18 Shawn Grant
On the similarity to the Florida State game.
"It was similar, but we have a good team and we need to continue to play hard, keep moving on. We need to continue to work on offense and defense.
On what the defense has to do when the offense is struggling.
"We have to step up, that's our job. We are a team, there's no one part, no defense or offense. It's a team effort. When our offense is down, our defense has to step up and have their back."
The Citadel Player Quotes
#6 Avery Dingle
On his interception
"I give all my credit to the coaching staff, they have trained me all year to read 3-step and 5-step (drops). I saw the 3-step drop and I broke on it and made a big play.
On starting the 2nd half with equal momentum.
"We didn't change our game plan, we just tried to keep it like the 1st (half). We came out real strong. We need to finish better against a top opponent."
On establishing their identity of their defense.
"I think we have established ourselves as a really good defense. People have said that we have a weak secondary, because we didn't have big people that didn't know how to match up. Our linebackers and defensive line are coming along really good.
On stopping the run game.
"We give all the credit to Coach (Pinilla) and the defensive line, they fill the gaps and allow the linebackers to come through and make big plays."
