University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss coach and player quotes, Sept. 13, 2003
9/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss coach and player quotes, Sept. 13, 2003
Head Coach Jeff Bower Quotes
On the game:
Probably the biggest difference in the game was turnovers. I thought we really played good on defense, especially on the 99-yard drive right before the half. I thought we played hard on defense and created a lot of turnovers in the game. We had short field all night long. We had a lot of opportunities to get some points on the board, but we didn't convert. We were very inconsistent. On that last touchdown, we were persistent on offense. I saw us do some things well, but we were still inconsisitent on offense. But is was a good team win. I think we played a good football team and played them hard. Marvin Young's punt return was major.
On Micky D'Angelo:
He got hit in the head. (The doctors) are going to do some tests on him this week. That is all I know. He competed and played really hard. In the second quarter, he missed some checks and got some formations wrong, but I am sure that had something to do with it. It is unlike him to do that.
On Dustin Almond:
I thought he did a good job. He made a couple of big plays, and that is what Dustin can do. He can move around well. He put us in good position quite often. I don't think he made a mental mistake out there.
On Luke Johnson:
He was really good. We did well on our pooch punts, and I think we got all but one of them.
On the defensive effort:
I thought we did better. We flew around more. We gave up a few big plays, but we got six turnovers in the game and that's good. I just thought we did very well on defense.
Southern Miss player quotes:
Rod Davis:
On tonight's performance:
"I feel we played with more enthusiasm and just had fun out there. I felt real good about what we did. I am glad we won and did whatever it took to win. Once we have fun and play with more enthusiasm, we do well."
On the crowd:
"The crowd was good for us. We knew what we had in front of us, and we took it on ourselves to step up to the challenge.We did that tonight."
Luke Johnson:
On his improvement this season:
"It is just practice and you hope you get better. Two years ago, I didn't think I would be kicking the ball as well as I am. I thought I would be the kicker. But I just learned what I could from guys like Marc Haulman. You just get confidence doing that when you work hard."
Michael Boley:
On being physical:
"Before the game, that is what we kept talking about because this is the 'black and blue' game. We werefocused on coming out and stopping the run. We wanted to do that, and that is what we did."
Marvin Young:
On the punt return for a touchdown:
"They called a middle return, and I felt like we were one block away all night. On the punt, everyone got their block and when I got the punt, I just took the seam and the rest is history."
