Oct. 19, 2002

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SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH LOU HOLTZ QUOTES

Opening Statement
“We lost to a football team that played one heck of a football game tonight. They didn’t have a turnover. They didn’t make many mistakes and I thought that their tailback and their quarterback were outstanding. They tackled very well and I think that’s attributed to their defense. We didn’t cover very well, but I think that’s attributed to their offense.”

“I thought that in the first half, we played an excellent football game. I thought that we played a nice football game offensively. We dropped one touchdown pass which was critical. I thought that in the first half we could mix it up offensively between run and pass for some success, but once we got behind the eight ball and they could bring it, that’s the thing that you can’t do. We couldn’t play catch-up against them and we knew that.”

“The dropped pass just before the half and then the drive of 80 yards just before the half hurt us, but we went into halftime and I said ‘Hey, if I would have told you that we would have been winning 14-6, you would have been excited.’ There was just something missing.”

“I’m disappointed in myself. We came out in the second half and we couldn’t cover kickoffs. Our kickoffs and our kickoff returns were an absolute disaster, but I thought that our punt game was excellent. We had some great punt coverage tonight.”

On how LSU stacks up against the other teams that they have played “I think that LSU is very talented. I think that they are very well coached and I think that they are very good. I don’t think that there’s any doubt about that. They have some tremendous runners and I thought that their quarterback Randall did a great job. I congratulate that young man. He stepped in and played one heck of a fine football game. He really ran the team well. They had good chemistry and I think that they are an excellent football team.”

QUOTES FROM SOUTH CAROLINA PLAYERS

NT Langston Moore
“A couple of key plays really got us off our rocker. We can come out and stopped them on second and third down, and we got a pass interference and gave them some momentum back. Then we ran into the kicker. Instead of giving them three points we gave them six. That really got the crowd and the momentum behind them that young team and they just got going.”

“We came out being 14-6 going into the fourth quarter everyone was excited. Every body thought that we would not have to pour it on them, but this is the defending SEC champions and they poured it back on us.”

About the end of the 3rd quarter “That final run where we had a blitz going our way, and he shot right pass me and there was no hold call. I couldn’t get off and I just knew the momentum was theirs. I knew the game was lost, all you could do was keep fighting and try to hold the score down.”

“This is a well coached team and they are at home. LSU is capable of doing this to anybody. This is not an indicator of anything. This is just one night.”

QB Corey Jenkins
“We played Carolina football in the first half. We went into the locker room and didn’t feel real good about the first half. But, I did. I felt that we executed pretty well. We just knew that is was going to be a sixty minute game.”

“The third quarter, what happened? I do not know. This place got crazy and momentum changed and it was 30-14.”

“We did not know what was missing, but I felt pretty good about the first half. I felt like we were taking it to them and hitting them in the mouth. They saw a team like, ‘oh my god’ that was pretty good. I tell you what. That was the number one defense in the country and in the second half they showed why. When you don’t execute well against those guys, they make you pay for it.”

Safety Rashad Faison
“Number 12 had an excellent game. Who would have thought that he would come in and play as phenomenal as he did. There is no excuse. They played a great football game, and we made some mistakes that we should not have.”

“I had no negatives cross my mind. I have been in this position before, and we have come to fight. Who cares if the crowd is in it? We have to understand that it is time to get tougher. The only people on the field that could get the crowd quiet was us.”

LSU HEAD COACH NICK SABAN QUOTES

“Well I would say that was a nice third quarter and one of the best I have ever been around. I think it is a real tribute to our players because we didn’t play extremely well in the first half, I thought we were doing a good job on offense we just were not putting up any points. Defensively we looked as out of sync as we have probably all year. I think we got a little bit confused by some of their formations, they basically had three wide outs in the game and went regular people, so we were back and forth in terms of what we were doing and we probably did not do a good job of preparation by us. That is not something that they got our guys out of sync a little bit and we did not play very well. They hit us with some trick plays and some big plays in the game, some things that we had guarded against.”

“I thought Marcus Randall did a phenomenal job out there today as a first-time starter. I think the experience that he has gained in the few games that he has been in this year obviously helped him some, but I thought he played an outstanding game. Not once did he ever lose his composure in the game. He played through and mistakes that he made and made a lot of very good plays. I thought Domanick Davis did an outstanding job of running and playing with great character. Our offensive line obviously for us to put up over 400 yards and over 200 rushing did an outstanding job as well. I am really pleased with the total team effort, I think special teams did a great job in the second half because they never really had any good field position ever in the second half. I think it was all contributed to the good play of kickoff coverage and other special teams. We made some big plays on defense, I think the score and then to come right back with the turnover and then another turnover probably was a momentum changer for us in the game. The drive og the game was to take the ball in the second half and go right down the field and score, and I think that was a real key.”

“I think the coaching staff did a really good job of making some adjustments at halftime that probably put us in better position, especially on defense, and I am just really pleased with the effort in the second half. I think there is a lesson to be learned here that South Carolina is an excellent football team and in this league, as I told the team, if you are not ready to play every game and every game you are going to get yourself in trouble. We got ourselves in trouble in the first half and thank goodness that we were at home because we had a great home crowd. The momentum swung for us in the third quarter and it was a great third quarter for us.”

QUOTES FROM LSU PLAYERS

Cornerback Corey Webster
“We got off to a slow start, and wanted to pick it up going into the third quarter. We needed to start playing LSU football and that is what we did. Coach Saban told us at halftime that we were not playing our style of ball that we were capable of. We came out in the second half and focused on fundamentals and technique.”

…on the play of Marcus Randall
“Marcus (Randall) said he was going to keep us off the field in the third quarter and that is what he did. He played well tonight. I am best friends with him, and I knew he was going to do well.”

Cornerback Demetrius Hookfin
“We came in at halftime and Coach Saban told us we needed to work harder. While we played sloppy in the first half, we came out and dominated the second half and kept our heads up. We had a lot of players stepping up and making big plays tonight. The hard work in practice has paid off. Our execution in the second half showed that.”

…on his second interception
“I read the receiver when he was going to crack the linebacker. I saw the tailback staying in the backfield, so I just read it and picked it off.” Defensive Tackle Chad Lavalais “We were all calm at half time. We knew we had another half do get the job done. I think we were a little nervous in the first half. They gave us their best shot in the first half, and we knew we were capable of playing a lot better. We made a few corrections at halftime and played our style of football in the second half.”

“We were blitzing them constantly in the first half. We made a change to play more of a base defense and come after them only on third down. That made a big difference in the second half. Their quarterback got a few big runs on us and played well. We got after them a little more and wore them down in the second half. It felt good to hold them down like we did in the third quarter. Monday, we will meet and get ready for next week.”

QB Marcus Randall
“The game turned out just like I figured it would. We came out and moved the ball well. We practiced well all week and prepared for this team. The team did a great job.

“At halftime we were down. We had moved the ball well, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties. We knew we could come back out, move the ball, establish the line of scrimmage, and that’s what we did.”

“The field goal right before half was a big turning point in the game. It put us down just one score with a two-point conversion and we knew we were going to get the ball back after halftime. We knew we were going to come out put it in the endzone and go for two.”

WR Michael Clayton
“When it comes right down to it, you just have to make the play. I feel that every play is a clutch play and you have to treat it all the same. You have to keep your eyes on the ball and make the catch whatever down it is and whatever play it is.”

“We (the receivers) were totally back Randall tonight. We tried to let him know we were there for him and that we were going to run our routes to perfection. We told him all he had to do was deliver us the ball and we were going to catch it. We did that to perfection tonight.

“Every game we have someone step and make big plays and that’s a sign of a great team. We’ve had some guys go down in the past but LSU hasn’t lost a step. We have that ability to make the big play. We had that at the beginning of the season and now it’s just slowly coming around. Now things are popping and we’re asking for a war and week in and week out we’re getting one.”

“We knew he (Randall) was going to play well. I have said in previous interviews that we weren’t going to lose a step because Marcus is a mobile quarterback and he can deliver the ball as well as run the ball. Teams haven’t seen him and they don’t really know his ability and that works to his advantage.”

RB/KR Domanick Davis
“The boy (Randall) did a great job. He was real confident coming in. He had a great week of practice. I knew he was going to do a great job. After he got a few plays under his belt, he was real relaxed and showed great leadership in the game.”

“When you have somebody on the team go down you just have to step up and fill the shoes. You have to do your best to help the team win and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“The flow of the game felt the same to me. Randall did a great job. He showed a whole lot of leadership, he was very confident.

“It feels great when you go out there and execute on all your plays. It’s a good feeling. The line, the offense, everyone is doing a great job.”