University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss - Louisiana-Lafayette Postgame Quotes
8/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 30, 2008
Head Coach Larry Fedora Post Game Quotes
Opening Statement: "Offensively we did some good things tonight, we did turn the ball over a couple of times and the ball was on the ground a few times as well, but we were able to recover. That shows the effort was there and the hustle was good. Defensively we created four turnovers and that is huge, if we can do that we will win some football games.
We gave up three or four big quarterback runs which is not something we wanted to do and we have to continue to work on that.
I thought the kicking game was solid. We did not really get to return a punt opportunity and I was really hoping we would break a kickoff return. I was disappointed we missed an extra point.
Overall, I was pleased with the guys effort. We over came some the adversities that happens in a game, you are going to have those in every game. Overall, I was pleased with the effort."
On the First-Game Experience as a Head Coach: "It was different. It was different being back on the sideline, I almost did not know what I was doing, I was trying to control myself most of the time. I was happy for my family; this was a big win for us moving down here and all the sacrifices they have gone through. It was special because my dad was able to be here and see this game. I was really just overall happy for this football team because they have worked extremely hard to get in this position."
On Quarterback Austin Davis' Performance: "I was really pleased. He threw one interception, but I thought his decision making process was really good tonight. If we are able to run the football the way we ran it tonight by spreading it out it will make it a whole lot easier on Austin. He did some really good things tonight and I was pleased he played football.
On Running Back Damion Fletcher: This was my first game with him. We have seen him in practice just how good of a back he is, he can do some phenomenal things. If the guys up front take care of him and let him get in the secondary big things can happen."
On Freshman Wide Received DeAndre Brown: "I felt like he was going to come in and make a few plays and he did. He is a very talented player. We have been spoon feeding him the offense, giving him a little bit as we go. He will continue to grow in the offense and get batter as we go."
On the Offense Being Able to Respond after UL scored: "That was very important; we have talked about making sure we answered. They put together a couple of long drives that gassed the defense there for a while. We knew we needed to answer and I thought the guys did a great job of that. Also coming out at halftime getting three points on the first drive, I am never satisfied with three point, but at least we got three, I was glad we took the ball down there and put points on the board."
On The Rain Shower that Fell After Halftime: "It felt like it was practice out there because we have practiced so many days in the rain. The guys all started smiling when it started raining it was like they knew it was just a regular day."
On the First Game Communication: "For a first game it was great. I do not even know if we had any communication problems, which is pretty phenomenal when you go to this offense and do it in your first game. Those kids did a great job of really paying attention. I think we had to call time out one time because we could not get a receiver over in time."
Post Game Press Conference- Players Southern Miss v. Louisiana Lafayette August 30, 2008
Austin Davis:
"It was a blast; first of all I want to thank my Lord and Savior for giving us the opportunity to go out there and play, and all of these guys with the talent to play to play the game. We went out and had a good one tonight."
On when he found out QB: "Really we just prepared all week, I was taking reps with the ones, but they never officially told me I was going to start, me and Te (Martevious Young) were getting ready to go in the game and they told me I was going to get the call.
On Fedora before game: "He told us to go out and have fun, we have played this game of football, it's the same game we have played all our lives. He just told us to go out there, fly around, and have fun."
On first game since high school: "I had been looking forward to it, last year I red shirted, I was ready to get out there and play the same game I have always played, the same game I love."
On running: "I'm banged up a little bit, I guess that's better than throwing the ball down field during coverage, Coach just said to be smart with the ball, and if it's not there then hopefully you can get five yards, and hand it to Fletch (Damion Fletcher) the next play, he is liable to score."
Damion Fletcher:
On touchdown play: "It was just one of those crazy plays like last year, just something that happens."
On game: The O-line proved that they can get the job done, I just ran hard and did the things we do in practice, we had some mistakes, a little bit of things we have to clean up, I fumbled. We just have to get those little things handled and get ready for the next game."
On quarterback: "Austin (Davis) came out and worked hard all fall and all of camp, and I knew he was going to come out here and handle himself. I just wanted to go out there and be a leader since I was the veteran on the offense. But I think he handled himself well tonight I think he did a good job."
Bubba Kirksey:
On first game at Southern Miss:
"That feeling right now is just unexplainable. Watching USM as a child growing up and then getting to play in front of thousands of fans, and score a touchdown, it's a feeling like nothing that can be described."
Gerald McGrath:
On first game this season: "It feels good, real good, there were a lot of unanswered questions going into the game, people asking questions about change, and how things will go. I think today's victory settled some of those questions for now. It is always a good feeling to go home and get your first win, and get that behind you. Especially after a hard working summer and camp. A good victory shows all the hard work paid off in the end."
On spotlight from defense to offense: "To be honest the spotlight never left, Coach Fedora made that clear when he stepped on the campus. I think the slogan attack speaks for itself. He expects just as much from the defense as he does the offense. But at the same time it's also good to have the offense working together like that. In the end football is still a team game, offense, defense, special teams, all guys working together to make the big picture work."
On Coach Fedora's emotions before the game: "He just let us pick up the emotion, there was really no need for extra emotion. You can't get pumped up on your own before a game, especially here at the Rock, I think the fans alone will get anybody pumped up, let alone we have a new start, a new coach, a chance for a new identity, new guys on the team."
DeAndre Brown:
On first game in college: "It felt good, it was a lot of fun, the game is a lot faster, I had to just catch up, coming from high school to college playing was a big transition for me."
On first touchdown: "The guys gave me a lot on the sidelines for tripping on that one, so once I caught it; it really took a lot off my shoulders."
On offense: "I think the offense is going great, it is going to do big things this year. All of our coaches push us every day to work hard and keep working. It paid off tonight, and hopefully it will throughout the season.
Ricky Bustle Louisiana-Lafayette Head Coach
"I expect them (the players) to respond to it."
"I don't see any lack of effort out of this team. I feel good about this football team."
When asked if he saw anything that they weren't expecting: "No, not really. They tossed it up to the big guys a few times, but nothing else besides that, I think."
"I don't think we tackled very well. I don't know that they tricked us with anything we weren't prepared for. We've just got to look at the film and see what mistakes we made."
"I thought their backs ran really hard. We've just got to tackle better. We tackled worse as the game went on. I don't know if we got tired or what happened.
"I thought our offense got untracked a little bit. You turn the ball over twice in the first quarter at midfield, and that's a short distance for anybody to have to travel"
Southern Miss v. Louisiana-Lafayette August 30, 2008 Louisiana-Lafayette Player Quotes
#4 Daylon McCoy LB
Where did the game break down at?
"As far as effort I think everyone gave a 100% effort, but fundamentally we weren't too good. We missed a lot of tackles and we were breaking down. We weren't getting enough turnovers and tackles. The beginning of the game was kind of fast and we really weren't expecting that".
"As far as our game plan we were following it. I think just fundamentally we weren't sound enough".
How do you bounce back from a game like this?
"We have a couple of weeks to prepare for our next game so we just have to watch tape and learn from it".
Feeling on the game....
"A lot of hurt, especially when you give a 100% and the end result is you get beat by 30.
#41 Antwyne Zanders LB
On game tempo...
"There is nothing that we saw that we didn't expect. The fact that we didn't play as good as we wanted too is what is the really disappointing part. Not to take anything away from Southern Miss, because they ran their plays and they won the game. We should have played a lot better, that is the really disappointing part.
Where did things break down at for you guys?
"All of the mental bust that we were having, that really kicked us in the back. The defense fought back and didn't just give up and let them run the score up. We wanted to come out and try to give our offense good field position and a couple of times we did that. We have to get ready to play better football and work on tackles and causing turnovers."
#6 Michael Desormeaux QB
Were The Seniors pretty emotional tonight?
"It's hard when you put so much into it. This summer I saw guys doing some amazing things and everyone was working so hard. I have been around this program for five years and we had guys putting it out there all summer and all spring. To come out here and perform this poorly it is an emotional drain for us. You can make 100 excuses but the bottom line is we didn't get it done tonight."
