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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State Postgame Quotes
11/27/2004 | Football
Nov. 27, 2004
Ole Miss Head Coach David Cutcliffe
Opening Comments
First off, it's good to get a win in a rivalry game and it's certainly good to get one in what was such a team victory. I thought all three phases (offense, defense and special teams) played well. Our defense set the tone early. Offensively, and in the special teams area, everybody did their job as a team. I told our team that it is amazing what can happen when everybody plays together. This was a solid sound performance by our team. I'm really proud of them and our staff."
On the defensive performance today.
"Mississippi State is a good offensive football team and they have some playmakers. We were able to keep them from ever getting into a rhythm. We handled the line of scrimmage. That was obvious and it helped. We tackled better. We got pressure on the quarterback and did the things you have to do to be successful."
On the play of Patrick Willis.
"He is a heck of a fooball player. He has explosive speed. He is certainly a playmaker on the defensive side. He finds a way to make plays and usually when you see the ball he is somewhere around it."
On the play of defensive linemen Michael Bozeman and McKinley Boykin.
"I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage better than we have been. Michael and McKinley are good football players and I thought they did a good job of establishing early that they were going to be a presence."
On Robert Lane's play
"We converted some third downs one way or another, whether it was running the ball or throwing it with him. Robert is a tough competitor. He still has a lot of things he can improve on but he loves to compete and has the potential to be a playmaker."
On Robert Lane establishing himself going into the spring.
"I think he's on that track. He is going to compete. I expect all of our quarterbacks to compete. I think Robert is starting to establish himself as a guy who can make plays both throwing and running. He needs to get better throwing the football."
On Lane's touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
"He didn't tell anybody that he was going to keep the ball. He was the only one who knew he was going to keep the football. It makes for a little better fake."
On Lane elevating the play of others
"You hope so. I think the other players on this team have a lot of confidence in him. If you ask his teammates, `if they have confidence that he is going to make plays?' I think the answer would be yes."
Ole Miss Players
Robert Lane (QB)
Thoughts on game.
"We played a very good game. I thought we executed very well and managed to put together some lengthy drives, which kept the Mississippi State offense off the field."
Thoughts on preparing for Mississippi State.
"We knew that they had improved from earlier in the season. We had a great week of practice, and we were motivated to end this season on a winning note."
Thoughts on the running game.
"We ran well today and that's because we really clicked as an offense. We had several guys get quality carries. We wanted to control the football, so we knew we had to run the ball effectively.
Mike Espy (WR)
Thoughts on the game.
"This was a fun week. We knew that this was the final game of the season, and we wanted to prove something to them (Miss. State). I'm proud of our seniors with the way they handled the adversity of the season, and I'm happy that they were able to go out as a winner."
Thoughts on win as a building block for next season.
"We always want to end a season with a win. After playing as well as we did today, we'll have something to look forward to for next season. We'll improve in the off -season, and we're already looking forward to spring drills."
Vashon Pearson (RB)
Thoughts on game.
"We played a great game. I thought we controlled the ball really well. Our offensive line really created holes for all of us today, and we hit those holes running hard. Overall, we executed well, and I thought we pretty much dominated throughout."
Thoughts on next year
"This game will help motivate us. We'll remember that we came out and played well, and that will help us get moving in a positive direction. We're going to focus on the positive aspects of this season, and carry them out to spring practice."
Patrick Willis (LB)
On closing out the season with a win.
"It feels good. It's great for the seniors to close out the season with something positive and beating their rival. They won three out of four against Mississippi State while they were here. This game was all about closing out with a positive for the seniors."
On holding Mississippi State to three points.
"We knew coming in that the key would be to stop Jerious Norwood and Omarr Conner. We knew in order to contain Conner we had to get pressure on him and make sure he didn't get comfortable."
Travis Johnson (DB)
On his interception.
"All game I was trying to keep containment on my side. I saw he had been going to my man a couple of times, and I knew if I stayed on the receiver (the interception) would happen."
On his strip and fumble recovery.
"That came from running Rebel Circuit (strip drills) in practice all season. Nobody had made a play like that (the strip) all season. When he caught it and I started chasing him, I had already decided that's what I'd do (strip the ball from behind)."
On building confidence for next season.
"It's been a bad year and not what we wanted, but stuff like that happens. Next year, we have a great team and some great players coming back, although we will miss the contributions of the seniors. We'll go into the spring and summer and work hard throughout the offseason and be ready for next year."
Defensive Lineman McKinley Boykin.
On the win over Mississippi State.
"It feels good to finish the year with a win. We've had a lot of ups and downs this season, but this was a great win for the seniors."
On stopping Norwood and Conner.
"Basically we just blitzed a lot and attacked their offensive line. They have a good offensive line, and we knew we'd have to attack them from the start. We watched film this past week and had a good idea of what they'd do. That gave us a lot of confidence and assurance as a defense. We came into the game ready and came out on top. It was all about executing our game plan."
Mississippi State Head Coach Sylvester Croom
Opening Comments
Congratulations to David (Cutcliffe) and his team. They played hard, and they definitely played well enough to win. Bottom line, they had opportunities to make big plays and they made them. We didn't.s
How surprised are you about the running game?
I am surprised. I thought that we could run the football and do a good job with our play action and running game. They beat us up front. They didn't do anything different. They had the same fronts we had up front. They just beat us. That is what the game came down to. We couldn't run the ball and we couldn't throw it. We couldn't protect on the pass and, when we did protect on the pass, we couldn't catch the ball.
Is your defense tired after being on the field so long?
They are very tired. They were still fighting though. I'll give them that. They gave us opportunities early, and gave us opportunities in the third quarter. The offense didn't get anything done.
On the offense.
We didn't play well offensively at all. In the first half we didn't even show up. Fred Reid made the plays for us and put us in the position to make something happen, and we just didn't make the plays one on one, when we had the opportunity to. The frustrating thing is that we were not able to establish any consistency in the running game.
Where did the problems start?
It all starts with the line. Jerious Norwood did not have one of his better games either. That is the problem. If we can't run the football, we are going to have problems. It definitely hurt us because he was one of our captains. His leadership and experience all went away, and that hurt us. Still, defensively, we came up with turnovers. The worst part of the defense was that 99-yard drive. With the turnovers we should have had at least 12 points.
Mississippi State Players
Omarr Conner (QB)
(On getting only 3 points off four turnovers) "We didn't come out like we did last week (against Arkansas). We had a lot of busted plays. Ole Miss played good defense. Their defense flew to the ball and their linebackers and line had a nose for the ball."
On understanding playing in a rivalry game
"Coach Croom did a great job (of explaining how we had to approach a rivalry game). We didn't come out like we were supposed to. Ole Miss came out pumped up and stayed in the game. I didn't make the plays like I was supposed to."
Fred Reid (RB)
On Ole Miss
"They came out and played had and they wanted it more than we wanted it. We came out and didn't execute. They wanted it more, that's why they won it."
On the offense
"We had a lot of errors on offense. Ole Miss' defense played excellent. When a defense is playing like that, you can't have minor mistakes. Everything has got to be on time. They flew to the ball and were working the whole game on being there. They played as a team."
David Heard (CB)
On Ole Miss' Offense
"They had big gaps from their offensive line. The linebackers and secondary had to come up to help on that and make the stop. We should have done better than we did."
On MSU's defense
"We played poorly. We should have been better on defense. You can't let them have a ninety-eight yard drive. With the exception of the naked bootleg on the touchdown, we'd prepared for everything they ran."
Willie Evans (R)
"We had missed assignments and they took advantage of it. They knew the draw was our weakness and they ran it and hurt us a lot."
On the 99 yard touchdown drive
"That was a big drive. It took a lot out of our defense. They made some big plays at some big times out there. They are a good team. You can't hold them down forever. We were tired, but it came down to who wanted it most. They wanted it more."