University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes for Southern Miss-UAB game
11/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 19, 2006
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. -
Southern Miss Head Coach Jeff Bower
Opening Statement: "We made this game interesting; there's no doubt about it. Give them credit. They scrapped and hung in there. I thought we lost our attention defensively. I thought we lost a little intensity, and when you do, you miss tackles. We missed a ton of tackles. We let them run around and make plays. Offensively, we had four turnovers. You're not normally going to win when you turn the ball over four times; we were lucky."
On fumbles:"We've got to hold on to the ball. I'd rather have a lot less yards rushing and no turnovers."
On the effects of finding out about Rice: "We were ready to play. It doesn't matter what would have happened in that ball game. We were probably a little more excited when we heard the score, but the team was ready to go."
On switching quarterbacks: "We felt like when he (Reaves) got in there, he moved us better."
On controlling their destiny: "I'm proud of our team. I thought we played with good effort and intensity. It was a good win for our football team, and I think we got ourselves into a bowl. It's our 13th winning season in a row. We have an opportunity to take another step next week."
Tokumbo Abanikanda, LB
On the intensity late in the game:"Against East Carolina, we gave it up at crunch time. This week we knew what we had to do and we weren't going to let that happen again. The crowd had a lot to do in that last series. They kept us into it."On seeing the backup quarterback:"We didn't expect to see him at all, because you never really think that you will see the second quarterback."
On the defensive play:"We just played our defense. We beat ourselves on the plays that we struggled on - those big plays. We knew that we grind it out in the end, and we knew it was going to be on us. We didn't want to let that happen again."
Damion Fletcher, RB
On the last fumble:"It was just one of those things where you run to the hole and he caught me on the side of the helmet and I dropped the ball."
On the running game: "The offensive line did a great job tonight. We came in at halftime and said that we were going to run the ball more in the second half. We came out and did it. It was a great job by the offensive line."
On knowing that Rice beat East Carolina: "We found out before the game, and that gave us a lot of energy. It definitely affected the way we played tonight. We knew we had to get this win."
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UAB Head Coach Watson Brown
Opening comments: "We hung in there. That's all I can say. Southern Miss' line of scrimmage again was tough, especially on our offense. I thought their defensive front controlled us. We fought hard and had a shot at the end, but just couldn't do anything with it."
On what the Southern Miss defense did: "Whipping us. Whipping us. Controlled the clock completely until we got going with a bit in the second half, got some play-action passes, but we never wrapped the ball well the whole game. The whipped us. To me the difference was their defensive front, which they've been doing the last 5-6 weeks. They're just very strong defensively. Technically they didn't really do anything, they just whipped us."
On the team hanging in late in the fourth quarter:"All I can do is ask this bunch to do that, and they do -- every week. We lost seven more players tonight. I can't even name them all."
On Joe Webb's performance: "Fantastic. The kid's going to be a heckuva player. For him to come on in this atmosphere, against that defense, keep his poise and do that. I thought he was great until the last 2 minutes. I think he had been out there time within two minutes this year. He didn't know how to handle that very well. You've got four shots to do what you need to do. He's tough, he's poised, I didn't think he lost his cool, has great vision when he moves around in the pocket. He's gonna be a great football player."
On what they had to do on the last possession:"Stop them. Kick the extra point and stop them."
Kevin Sanders, Defensive Back
On the Loss:"That is the way it has been going for us all year. All we can do is play hard and give it all you've got. You don't want to be the one who slacks off; who takes a play off."
On the Comeback:"The game is never over. I was encouraging everyone, trying to keep everyone up. (After the fumble return) Let's go make a play. I knew we had to back on the field, and I wanted us to get another turnover."
On Webb's Performance at QB: "He did well. Coming in against this good of a defense, one of the best in our conference - I think he did an outstanding job."
On Next Week:"To be honest, I'm sick right now. I feel bad for the seniors because I hate for them to go out like this. For the juniors and sophomores and young kids, we just have to play hard, and let them know what it is going to be like next year. We're going to work hard in the offseason. We're going to get stronger, faster and more disciplined."
Joseph Webb, Quarterback
On His First Appearance: "When I first got out there everything was so different than high school. I was just trying to adjust to the speed of the game. Everything was moving so fast. After a couple of series I got used to it. I calmed down and everything got a little bit slower."
On the Comeback: "I never give up - anything can happen. I just tried to keep my poise. We had a chance to win it at the end, but we just didn't pull it out."
