University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss And NC State Postgame Quotes
9/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery
Head Coach Jeff Bower Quotes:
Opening Statement:
"It was a pretty good win and I think we really played well. I think that we played a complete game and did a lot of good things on offense. We've got a back who rushed for almost 180 yards and Jeremy was good with the ball in his throwing game. We just had that one turnover when Larry got knocked out. I've coached a long time but I don't think I've ever coached a game where you've never punted. Our offense did a tremendous job of going out and moving the football. I thought we should've had some more points in the first half but we didn't score in the red zone. The third quarter was really impressive. I think that we played a good game defensively as well. We gave up that one big play in the first half. We played the run well and we played the pass well. The kicking game was better. I was disappointed that we had the penalty early in the game on the long punt return. It was a good game and I'm really proud of the players."
On Jeremy Young:
"He made some good throws and he got out of some jams. We ran the quarterback draw a few times and he had some good plays there. He pulled it down a few times. There were a few negatives that you wouldn't see. We forget to put a guy in motion to make a play and I don't know how that happens. He did really well."
On Damion Fletcher:
"He's got good feet and a good bounce. He can really accelerate. I think that his greatest asset is his vision."
On The Offense:
"A really good job. We moved it every time we went out there. There was never a three and out. I don't think we even got stopped on downs."
Southern Miss Player Quotes:
Damion Fletcher, RB
On His Performance:
"I think I had a good game tonight against an ACC team. The offensive line did a good job, and I just ran hard. I wanted to play hard all game. I think I came out and played to my abilities tonight."
On Anything Special That The Team Worked Hard On For This Game:
"We just wanted to work hard. We talked about winning the second half this game, because last year, they came out and beat us in the fourth quarter."
On The Offensive Line:
"The offensive line did a great job tonight. Some of those holes were big enough to drive a truck through them."
Jeremy Young, QB
On How His Game Has Improved:
"I watched a whole lot of film over the last few years playing behind Dustin and watching some of the things he did. Things have slowed down a whole lot for me now."
On The NC State Game This Time:
"One of the biggest changes for them is that they lost some of there better players on defense to the NFL, especially the defensive ends. We came out tonight and dominated. We were able to establish the run, and that helped open up the passing game. We got some completions and made some big plays."
On Starting Conference USA Play Next Week:
"I'm looking forward to my first conference game as a quarterback, and I just hope I'm ready for this challenge."
Jasper Faulk, DB
On The Defense's Performance Tonight:
"It was a big challenge for us. Our coaches did a great job of getting us prepared with what they would bring to the table. The biggest part of our defense was that we were prepared. Before every snap, we knew what they were going to do. (Andre) Brown had a great game on us last year, and we knew we had to stop the run for us to be successful. We did that and made them one-dimensional. They started throwing the ball, and we took over after that."
On His Interception And Big Plays:
"We always come out and expect to make the big plays to give us an opportunity to put the dagger in them. We wanted to take the momentum away from them, and that put us in a good position and we took over from there."
On Playing With More Confidence:
"I think we are playing with a certain swagger as a defense. We are playing confident, and we know what kind of potential we have. But we have to play like that consistently."
N.C. State Head Coach Chuck Amato Quotes:
Opening Statement:
"When we had that field goal at the end of the first half, 13-10, the first possession of the second half is so very, very important, and they took it 77 yards in four plays. We would have been in a position to get back in the game. We had probably the biggest hit since I've been here cause a fumble, and we go in and score there, we're right there. But we lost our poise. There was a period of time, in the middle of the 3rd quarter, to the middle of the 4th quarter, where we just lost our poise. We had two penalties in the first half, no turnovers. We had eight penalties in the second half, and boy, were they critical. There were eight penalties that took away first downs, took away field position, took away momentum, took away big plays, and they were huge. Absolutely huge. We got waxed. They came out and they hit us pretty good, we hit them too, but there was a chance. We start a new season this year. We're going into the ACC, and we've got a new season going, and that's something we've got to look at, and say, `Hey, we've got a chance like every other team in the ACC has.'"
On If This Loss Was Harder Than The Loss To Akron:
"They all hurt. There isn't one that hurts more than the other. They absolutely all hurt. Every one of them hurts, there's no doubt about it."
On His Expectations At The Beginning Of The Season:
"I thought we had a good team, and I've got to tell my players, we know that we had a lot of rebuilding to do. We understood that. There's a lot of young kids out on the field. The season's not over. We've got a lot of games left. I'm a believer, and those kids are believers. I'm a dreamer, and those kids are dreamers. We go into the ACC, we start a new season."
On What Was So Costly In The Second Half:
"It was penalties. It was penalties. Penalties and turnovers. And again, the penalties were so costly. At times, when we had just made big plays and first downs, and it really hurt us in field position. We put it in, it's a one score game. Say what you want, we got our fannies slapped. We put that in, we were real able to make it interesting."
On What Made Damion Fletcher So Hard To Stop:
"Poor tackling. Couldn't control the line of scrimmage. They knocked us silly. We were putting young kids in, kids that were a little tired. Poor tackling. And whipping people up front. Whipping people up front."
NC State Player Quotes:
QB Marcus Stone
On The Game Plan:
"We wanted to come out here and pound it down their throat and that didn't happen. We had to pass it around, and started a little slow, but we felt like we had it going pretty well right before the half."
On The Interceptions:
"We wanted to take a shot. It was one-on-one coverage. He tripped and the corner made a great catch. Things like that happen in the game of football.
"On the second one we were just trying to make a play in the red zone and they did a hell of job on defense."
On The Outlook For The Rest Of The Season:
"Our goals and dreams are still in front of us. We start the ACC next week and we're going to be ready to play. No one has their head's down and our spirits are up still. It's tough losing, but we'll come out next week ready to play a good ACC team."
LB Patrick Lowery
On Golden Eagle Running Back Damion Fletcher and the Southern Miss Running Game:
"He was better than we saw on film. What can you say? It's a credit to their offensive line."
On Playing With Emotion:
"That first drive was kind of like last season. They basically went down the field. We made some mistakes, and they hit us right where we made those mistakes. On defense it takes 11 people on the same page."
On Tonight's Game:
"After last week we focused on keeping that edge defensively. There were times tonight we fell back a little. I don't know how much of it was us starting slow, or them coming out fired up. We're going to have to have short term memories. We have to do better than that; that was embarrassing."
