Ole Miss Post-Game Quotes
10/7/2006
OLE MISS VS. VANDERBILT October 7, 2006 Postgame Quotes
OLE MISS HEAD COACH ED ORGERON
“We are happy with the win. Our team found a way to win. It went down to the last play, and obviously Charles (Clark) made the interception. We are very pleased with the play of the special teams and the turnovers. That won the game for us today. I am really happy with the way we stopped the spread offense, as far as the running game. Obviously we got beat sometimes and had some missed assignments. Our team won the football game, and that’s the most important thing. BenJarvus had over 100 yards rushing, although we did not perform the way I expect us to on offense. The key is, we found a way to win, and we hung in there until the end. The team competed. We hung in there and made the play when we had to.”
On Charles Clark’s interception “We just found a way to win. It was a big turnaround for the team, just finding a way to win on the last play. We found a way to win on defense and special teams today. I like that.”
On quarterback play “We are not getting anything out of it. They are not playing the way we want them to. We are not doing much.”
On the special teams play “You have to give credit to Coach (Chris) Rippon. When I hired him, I knew he was the best in the nation on special teams. He has done a tremendous job. You go back to the Georgia game, and that was the first time they had a blocked punt against them in five years. I think that is going to be a weapon for us, and we have to use that. I am proud of that.”
On Rory Johnson’s forced fumble inside the 20 “It was a great strip. He was just competing. Things didn’t look so good right there and our guys took the philosophy that we are going to get the ball. It showed up today. That philosophy of going to get the ball helped us win the game today.”
On Johnson’s play “He played well. There were some mistakes he made. He’s very inexperienced out there, but he’s a good athlete. He’s starting to show it out there.”
#40 RB Mico McSwain
“I’ve been waiting on my time to shine and it finally came. I just did what I had to do.”
On the kick return “It was really big. It reminded me of my high school days. Coach gave me an opportunity to go out there, so I did it. Unfortunately it took one of our players getting hurt for me to get the chance. We are going to keep him (Dexter McCluster) in our prayers.”
On the running game “We’ve improved a lot. It’s not just about one player. Everybody is stepping up, and we are doing our thing right now.”
#6 RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis
“We went out and executed pretty well. They (Vandy Defense) were doing a lot of stacking, so we just tried to do a lot of iso (formation) and reverse play-action.”
#35 DB Cassius Vaughn
Forced fumble on the punt “It was big. Coach always tells us to make plays. That’s what I do. I go out there and try to make plays for the team.”
On the defense maturing “After the Georgia game we knew that we could play defense in the SEC. We are playing as a team, we are one big family. It’s everything we are doing as a team. You see us playing good, because we are playing as a team.”
#48 LB Rory Johnson
“It feels good to finally get a chance to play on the big-time level, and I love it.”
On fumble recovery and the stripped ball “The quarterback had the ball sitting out there, and I had to take it. It feels good. Everything just felt good today. It feels great to get a win. It’s the best feeling ever.”
On coming from junior college to the SEC and the difference “The first game I played in, it went so fast, but now it seems to be slowing down for me. It’s just like junior college now.”
#86 DL Greg Hardy
On the Vanderbilt quarterbacks “The first quarterback (Chris Nickson) had moves like I’ve never seen before in practice, so I just wasn’t ready for it in the beginning. We were expecting a passing game with the other guy (Mackenzi Adams), but he came out and ran the draw, so we adjusted and played hard.”
On the difficulty of playing that type of offense “The first couple of times we had trouble with the spread offense. Coach (Chris) Rippon came up with some schemes that he had used at his previous school, and we executed it pretty well.”
#49 LB Patrick Willis
“We had fun together today. We carried the momentum from last week into this game. We went out and we executed. Everything wasn’t perfect, but we got the win.”
On the game saving interception by Charles Clark “Coach talks about making the big play all the time. It could be the first play of the game or the last play of the game. That’s how we play. We are determined to go in there, and we don’t know who is going to make the play. It was big for Charles, with him being a senior, playing in his last homecoming game. That is something he’ll never forget.”
On his forced fumble in the first half “It felt great. I have been talking to coach, saying I don’t know when my big play is going to come. He told me to be patient and don’t worry about it, just play my game. The best way to get a fumble is to put a hat on the ball, and that’s what I tried to do.”
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