Postgame Quotes

Nov. 23, 2002

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Ole Miss Head Coach David Cutcliffe
Opening Statement
"First, let me just say that it was a tough loss for us. The players played extremely hard and we made a lot of plays that allowed us to maintain the lead for a big part of the game. Give LSU credit. They made the plays when they needed to make them. They were big plays and it was a hard-fought ball game."

"We have very little time to get ourselves ready for our next one and we have no choice but to pick ourselves up and move on."

On the turnover inside the 10-yard line
"Well, we called a real conservative, little flat pass and the player never looked and it just bounced off of his head. Their player made a good break on the ball and I knew that the points were big, the three points, even though there was still 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the way that the game was going, we just wanted a conservative call."

"That's just the way that our season's gone. Whatever could possibly go wrong does go wrong."

On Eli Manning and the hit he took to his throwing arm
"It was a tough, tough game and he got beat up pretty good. He has a pretty good bruise on his throwing arm and elbow. I kept checking with him and we'll just have to see what the night brings and how he is tomorrow."

"They (LSU) did a good job with their pressure package I thought. They did a good job of keeping the pressure on him (Manning) all night long. On that one particular play he got hit pretty good."

On if Eli Manning wanted to come out of the game
"No, he didn't. I mean, he's a competitor. He's not looking for reasons why, it just didn't work out. Some throws didn't work out the way that we would have liked them to work out."

On the importance of LSU's crowd and its affect on the game
"It's a great crowd down here and I'm sure it affected LSU's team. I thought our team handled the crowd well, but it's a great atmosphere to play and they have great fans."

Quarterback Eli Manning
"I took a hit on the elbow. I will see how it goes tomorrow, and hopefully I will be able to practice tomorrow. It was early in the third quarter, and we were driving down. They did a blitz and I got a helmet on the elbow, and we kicked the field goal to make 13-7.

On the two interceptions
"The first one had a little flood package to the tailback, and I saw him and I thought he was open and I saw the corners were kind of sitting out and I did not see the guy behind him. I just threw it, and it hit him in the helmet and it popped up. It was a bad decision, and it was a situation where we just needed a field goal. We needed some points, and it was just a bad play by me. I didn't see the guys. I should have kept rolling and made sure that the guy was open before I threw anything."

"The next one was late in the game. I had a post to Chris (Collins), and their safety really dropped deep in strong. I had him open and Chris was behind him. I had him, but I just did not get enough on the ball. The guy just caught it. It was a bad throw." On the his injury

"It was not hurting. I felt fine throwing the ball. I was throwing the ball on the sideline 30 yards on a line. I just threw a bad ball. I did not put enough on it. It was badly under thrown. The guy made a play. Chris tried to knock it down, but it was just too bad a thrown ball."

"It was kind of hard to squeeze the ball at one point. It just takes time to get your strength back. I am kind of lucky that they had a long drive, and I kept throwing on the sideline, and my strength just came back."

Flanker Mike Espy
"There was not an individual moment that cost us the game. We had ample opportunities to take care of LSU and put this game away. We had a couple of mistakes here and there that just killed us."

"During our losing streak I think that we have let a lot of them slip away. This one hurts though. We had those guys right where we wanted them, but they took care of business."

LSU Head Coach Nick Saban
"Well first of all I would like to say that I am extremely happy for the senior players on our team, the 22 seniors who were introduced before the game and played their last game in Tiger Stadium. It was certainly a great atmosphere out there for them to finish their career in and the crowd did a fantastic job of helping us win this game. We needed the emotion that we played with in the end to overcome a lot of adversity which they (Ole Miss) had a lot to do with. I was extremely, extremely happy, as happy as I have ever been because we have a great bunch of seniors, guys that have been here for three years and have had a lot to do with turning this program around. They are responsible for getting us to where we are today relative to winning a championship last year and being a part of a season so far where at least we have an opportunity to play for the championship again and win the West. I was very pleased and happy for all the seniors on the team. I think it was a great team win. We wanted to re-establish our identity out there and compete in the game for 60 minutes tonight. If that happened, no matter what the circumstances were, which I thought was the trademark of our team this year but wasn't the last three weeks and I think our players did that."

"To intercept the ball on third and six inside the 10 or whatever and getting out of that situation was big. To make the interception at the end of the game and to make the play before the half were important. Marcus had two drives today which were both no-huddle drives and did an outstanding job. I was really proud of how our players competed in the game and a lot of guys did well. We made a lot of mistakes in the game, there is no doubt. We fumbled the ball five time and lost three which all hurt us. We had one other interception but had three on defense and we probably got our hands on a few more balls. I was really pleased with how our team competed and I was happy we were able to win the game. Ole Miss played a really good game and I am just proud of how our players competed in the game today." LSU Defensive Player Quotes

Strong Safety Norman LeJeune
"It took us coming together as a team to come out with a win. The togetherness on the field helped us out a lot. We pressure the quarterback a lot. You have to take your hats off to our defense. The offense got into the endzone when they needed to. It was just a team effort. I think we came together tonight and did it for 60 minutes."

"Our backs were against the wall, but primetime players make primetime plays when it is time to make them. That was something we wanted to do to find ourself and we found ourself tonight. We want to continue that and be a dominant defense in the next game."

"I just gave it my all tonight, knowing it was my last night in Tiger Stadium. I gave those guys 110%. Whatever was going to happen, happens. I played a good game and thank everyone this season. It feels good."

Middle Linebacker Bradie James
"We had to answer the question tonight about what is our identity. Before the last few games, we had our identity and that was a dominant defense. We were able to be dominant tonight, but Ole Miss came in and played well. We were able to overcome all the adverse situations and keep playing. We wanted to make plays tonight."

"It hadn't really hit me yet that I played my last game here. I haven't really thought about it because I am still playing. I really won't miss it until it is all over with. As long as the season is still going, I am going to still be trying to win the next game. Tiger Stadium has not only been good to me but the rest of the seniors. To go out with a bang like that is what we needed."

LSU WR Michael Clayton
On the touchdown
"It's called a whip-out. You fake like you're going to run the slant and then you stop. I read that it was wide open, so I just sat down and Marcus (Randall) made a good throw. I turned around and the outside receiver had run his guy off and I just dashed into the end-zone."

On wanting the ball
"I wanted the ball in my hands. I think everyone wants it. It's just a matter of who gets it and when they get it, they have to make a play. We did that tonight."

On the defense
"The defense was awesome tonight. All week we've been preaching of overcoming our mistakes. In the past, we just kind of shut it down a little bit and tonight we decided we weren't were going to shut it down and we were going to fight for 60 minutes."

LSU QB Marcus Randall
On not starting
"By not starting, I got to sit back and see what the defense was doing. I was out there and I was still focused and in the game. I knew I would get my chance and when I did, I had to take advantage of it."

On running the two-minute offense
"I like the fast pace of a two-minute offense. Between the plays, you don't have such a big break and you keep moving. You stay more active during the plays and during the game, and it helps keep me focused and in the game."

On being told he wouldn't start
"This past week we practiced really hard. Rick (Clausen) and I took the same amount of reps, and it was really just going out there and playing. When coach Saban first told me (he wasn't going to start) I was down a little bit because I knew it was the seniors last game and I wanted to contribute to that aspect. I knew I was going to get my chance to play and I just had to stay focused during the game and just come out and play."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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