Ole Miss at Mississippi State Postgame Quotes

Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes

OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE:
"I don't feel like this is a time for me to be very philosophical. We just got whipped tonight. We showed flashes in all phases of the game, but we have to get better on offense, defense, and in the kicking game. We just have to get better to win."

"I did not think we played very well in the first half. In the third quarter things just got worse and that is my responsibility. We just have to get better."

"I was pleased with the effort. We played hard, fought hard. We just have to execute better. We fought back after we were down late. If we had played better in the third quarter and the early fourth quarter I think we would have been in a better position to win at the end of the game."

"Kevin Fant is a good football player. We knew that coming into the game. They have a lot of good football players on their team."

"I thought Eli played well in the first half. He could have played better in the second half just like the rest of the team. He is no different from the other guys, he has some things that he needs to improve on."

"I wish I knew exactly what we need to do to fix everything. Right now we are just not a very good football team. I am glad that we have one more game to try to turn things around. As a competitor, you always want to have more games. The thing is there is not a whole lot more time to get better."

OLE MISS PLAYER QUOTES

Eli Manning, QB
"We got beat today. They played a lot better than us. We have been struggling over the last couple of weeks. We are not making plays, our receivers are dropping passes and I'm throwing bad passes. This game ranks as one of my worst."

Chris Collins, SE
"We played good, but just not good enough. We made a couple of mistakes throughout the game. We just came up short. The effort is there, but we must execute."

Terrence Metcalf, LT
"We prepared well for this game. We knew that they were going to be fired up for this game. We came out flat in the second half. They took the momentum and capitalized on our mistakes. We couldn't get in a groove on defense. We just couldn't stop their offense."

MISSISSIPPI STATE POSTGAME QUOTES
MSU Head Coach Jackie Sherrill:
"To put this into perspective, we could be 8-2, 9-1 or 7-3, but we started the season having to overcome some obstacles. I'm really proud of our team considering we haven't been able to hold on in some close games this year. Our guys showed a lot of character and pride tonight. This game was for all the marbles the next 365 days if you live in this state. You have to give Mississippi an advantage, but our players came back well and didn't quit.

"Korey Banks and Darnell Jones both played really well tonight. Darnell played every single snap. Dicenzo (Miller) and Dontae (Walker) both played really well tonight. Both of them were not willing to come down. Kevin (Fant) did everything he was supposed to do. He played very steady tonight.

"The defensive line played well. We put pressure on them in the second half. Mississippi couldn't beat us running, and we had our best game in terms of balance on offense in many years."

On the Win:
"This heals a lot. I would have liked for us to have played like this at the beginning."

On Kevin Fant:
"Kevin (Fant) has a lot to him. He's tough, and he doesn't care who gets the credit. He just does what he asks him to do."

On the Defensive Effort:
"We put pressure on Eli (Manning). Give Korey Banks a lot of credit. He made big plays. I thought we had a couple more, but we didn't get them. Anytime you get pressure on a quarterback, you can get the ball out of his hands quickly. That might be the most he's been hit all year. We had three guys in the secondary and one linebacker who didn't play tonight."

On Momentum in the Second Half:
"I can't say we had momentum the rest of the way, but the home field advantage did help. We did our job on the field, and that made the home field advantage even bigger."

On Justin Jenkins:
"I'm very happy for Justin Jenkins. He's a class young man. With some of the things he went through this season, he could have shut down mentally. He hasn't done that, and you have to give him a lot of credit."

On the Game:
"You have to stop the run, and that's what I told our guys. They are very dangerous when you can't stop the run."

On the Game Plan:
"We ran the ball well, and I told our players that if we ran the ball, we would win the game. We put a couple of wrinkles in there. Darnell Jones did a great job blocking their linebackers. Our offensive line did a good job putting their hats on the right people."

On the Rivalry:
"This is a 365-day win. In the state of Mississippi, a lot rides on this game. There's a lot of emotion. The game last year stayed with us 365 days. The football teams at both schools carry a heavy burden. We're the best 3-7 team in the country. The excitement and suspense is tremendous. It was an exciting game all the way through. ESPN has been very good to us, and we give them exciting games."

MISSISSIPPI STATE PLAYER QUOTES
#8 WR Justin Jenkins
"We played really good tonight. A lot of people expected us to fold, but we didn?t."

"We wanted to come in and spoil their season like people did to us early on."

#2 CB Korey Banks
"We started gambling more in our coverage in the second half, and it paid off."

"I knew we could hold them those last two minutes. We knew when we threw him off of his rhythm, we were in good shape. We just attacked him like no one else had this year."

#16 QB Kevin Fant
"This win feels great. I just wish the season went a little better. But beating Mississippi tonight makes it."

On the offense:
"We all played together and everyone did their job. The offensive line played great. All of those guys were fired up before the game."

On his level of excitement:
"I treat every game the same. I?m just an excited player."

#12 RB Dicenzo Miller
"Our whole offense came together tonight. As a team, we played good enough to win the game."

"This was my last Egg Bowl. I wanted to go out a winner. It would have been better to win last year, but 3-1 for a career against them is nice."

#48 LB Kamau Jackson
"We knew he was a good quarterback, but we knew if he was pressured, we had a chance. Once we started hitting him, he wanted to get rid of the ball faster."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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