Southern Miss-Marshall Postgame Quotes
9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 20, 2008
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Southern Miss Head Coach Larry Fedora Postgame Quotes
Opening Statement "Give Marshall a lot of credit. They were the better football team today. Their coaches did a great job of preparing them to play at our place, and they beat us. We were outplayed and outcoached in every phase. We have a lot of work to do as a team."
On the Fourth-and-Inches Penalty and Penalties in General "It was pretty big. We had a number of penalties in crucial situations and on some judgment calls."
"The plan was to go deep (on third down) and if we missed it go for it on fourth down. We needed six inches, and any football team ought to be able to get six inches on fourth down."
On the Weather "I don't think it was a factor. We practice in the rain what seems like every other day. It played no bearing on the game in my opinion. Our guys don't even think about it."
On the Overall Performance of the Golden Eagles "They beat us in all three phases. We didn't do the things we needed to do on defense. It seemed like all we did on special teams was commit penalties, and on offense we were so inconsistent we did get anything going."
"We continued to play hard. We put ourselves in some bad situations, and we continued to play hard. That is the one good thing I think I can say, the guys are still playing hard."
"We're going to continue to get better. We're not anywhere close to where we need to be, on offense, defense or special teams. There is still a learning curve, and we need to keep working."
Marshall Head Coach Mark Snyder Post Game Quotes
Opening Statement: "We did not play great, but we played well enough to win. We have a lot of improvements still to be made, but we found a way to win. I said coming in I thought we matched up very well (with Southern Miss), they have good players and we have good players. Our kids played hard and we made enough plays to in the game.
"We handled adversity and made some big time plays when they needed to be made. We had some silly penalties and a couple of turnovers we need to get rid of when you go on the road, but again we found away to win."
About the speed on the field today: "We have a lot of team speed, just like they (Southern Miss) have a lot of time speed. They (Southern Miss) are a very good football team, they are very fast and I thought we matched up very well with them."
On Southern Miss being a very good second half team: "They are (A very good second half team), that's what their offense is. They get a feel for you and try to exploit you. That is how that offense is built."
On our (Marshall) running game in the second half: "Any time you start running the football you wear people down. I felt like we might have wore them down a little bit, a couple of guys left with injuries and we just kept trying to pound the rock"
Southern Miss Player Quotes: Marshall
Defensive Back Chico Hunter
On the frustration of losing: "It's so frustrating. I think we're a better team. Defensively, we've got to step it up. I don't care if we have to be on the field the whole game. We have to be able to do that."
On Marshall's changes in the second half: "We knocked them off their game plan. We got them off script, but they countered. We knew where the play was going, where the ball was going, but they had a counter-play ready."
On week-off preparations and workouts: "We've got to work on a lot. Pursuit drills, tackling drills, we'll do it all. Everything we messed up in this game, we'll make sure we correct for the next game. We've got to come out and grind hard. Get them off track and off script."
Quarterback Austin Davis
On the running game's effectiveness in the first-half: "Anytime the defense takes away something, it's real hard to be a one dimensional offense. We got it going a little bit better in the second half, but we have to put together two halves."
On the team's confidence after DeAndre Brown's big touchdown: "You have to feel (like it's going to be a good game) at that point. We took a shot, lost some momentum, and it just seemed like it started to go downhill from there."
On feelings after regaining momentum but not winning the game: "It's very frustrating. We put so much time into it all summer and game week. It's frustrating when you go out there and you don't get it done when we had the team to do it. They outplayed us today; give them the credit. I know we didn't come out and execute like we can, but that is something we are going to work on and get better at. We aren't going to take `No' for an answer. This team is going to get better. We're going to win a lot of games. That's my job to keep those guys' heads up. We're going to be a good football team. Maybe not today, but it is coming."
On the chance at the final drive to put the game into overtime: "There was never a point in the game where I felt like we couldn't get it done. The whole time I was just thinking to myself, `If we just calm down and do what we do, we can win this thing'. Sometimes the other team plays harder and they outplayed us today."
Linebacker Gerald McRath
On losing before an off-week: "I think any loss sits bad. This hurts a little extra because you have a week longer to think about it, but you have to come in to watch film, have a short-term memory, take criticism, and take coaching. You have to improve and move on to the next game. I hate losing games, and I don't think there is anyone in that locker room who worked as hard as they did to come out to lose a game, especially the way we did today. We just have to come in tomorrow, watch the film, and take constructive criticism and coaching. Now we just have to push forward for the rest of the season and the next game."
On stopping the run in the second-half: "It really didn't seem like the run was killing us. I think it seemed more like the 3rd and longs. You stop a toss, and they might get 5 yards. Maybe we were stopping them at 3rd and 2, or 3rd and 17. Just the 3rd down conversions it felt like, `Wow, can we get off the field?' I think the front line played their hearts out. They got the first sack on the kid, first time this year he's been sacked. I give credit to those guys. I give credit to the offense. I give credit to the whole team, the way you battle. Yea, you want to play better, but it is football. You're always going to have adversity the whole game. It's all about who handles it the quickest and most efficiently."
On the Marshall receiver scoring on an 80-yard run: "I take the blame for that one. I just got knocked down by the running back. He blocked me up high, and I just tripped and fell. I think someone said I knocked down Eddie Hicks who is supposed to be the safety to come down. That play should have been a tackle for a two-yard gain, if not a tackle for a loss. A long run like that will kill you."
On the defense's emotions after stopping Marshall in the finals minutes: "That's what Southern Miss is about, not to give up. If I was to go down on the sideline with my head down, that won't happen. The game isn't over until the time has run out to all zeros. They could be up 21 points and I'm still sitting there on the sideline saying `I believe.' The defensive line is saying `I believe." The offense is saying `I believe." You never know what's going to happen or which way the ball is going to bounce. All you can do is be ready for that opportunity and make a positive gain on it when it presents itself. To be honest with you, I thought we were going to overtime, plain and simple. I thought we were going to have a big stand, and we were going to win this game and go home happy. It didn't happen that way. I think everyone felt that way. I think the crowd felt that way. The ball didn't bounce the right way. That's football. That's why it's the greatest game."