Sept. 20, 2003
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Post Game Quotes
UAB vs. South Carolina
September 20, 2003
South Carolina Head Coach Lou Holtz
“We are so thin at offensive line. … The first half, we played very well except placekicking. The offense took control of the game, put pressure on them to make them a one-dimensional team. .
I credit UAB, they never gave up.
On giving up late touchdown: When you’re in the game, you have an obligation to be where you are supposed to be. … We didn’t come out in the second half all that inspired.
Field goal kicking is really a dilemma for me. I can’t explain. It’s like having a yip on a putt. Looks like Billy Mayfair. … I am proud of Dondrial Pinkins. He bounced back. Demetris Summers had a tremendous game. … We have a lot to correct and go from there.
On two backs: It was Skip’s decision. We felt at the end of the Georgia game, when we caught a screen pass, we made some things happen. Demetris has good peripheral vision, he has good eyes, he played exceptionally well.
Preston Thorne got blocked from behind, out for year, ACL. Chad Walker has a dislocated knee and possibly and ACL. We are really weak in the defensive line, we’re thin in the offensive line also. We have to keep progressing.
On placekicking: I just don’t know. Can’t explain it. We make it in practice consistently.
On ejection: No explanation. John Strickland told me it was a bad call. I got to look at film.
On Pinkins: Our problems were not all at quarterback. He needed some help. Other than one bad decision, he had a good game.
On Whiteside: We thought about redshirting him, but he is a real talent, and we have a lot of tough games coming up. Also, he will be our No. 2 punt returner. We will be tested with Colquitt this week.
On Tennessee: I know how hard it is to play in Gainesville. I just want to get out with a win. We’ve got to improve or we can’t play a team like Tennessee. Tenn just plays well. They are tough, physical, on both sides of the ball.
Summers took big step with a screen pass against Georgia last week. He took another big step this week. For a freshman, he’s coming on. He’s a wonderful young man. He’s pleasant and easy to coach.
The linebackers played well. One time we let them out. Overall, I’m worried more about the pass rush. Too many times, the quarterback had open areas to throw. We really thin there.
South Carolina Players Quotes
Taqiy Muhammad
“Tonight we went out there and did whatever Coach Skip called for us. We did a good job of executing. The tempo was much better tonight and we cut down on the penalties on offense. Our tempo was much more upbeat, we were more into it and were able to play younger players as well. We moved the ball, moved the chains.”
Troy Williamson
“We came out and played our game. Our tempo was much more upbeat. When you score that gives you more confidence.”
Dunta Robinson
“I finally got one – a score. It felt good. I have been here for four years and finally scored one. As soon as I caught the ball, I figured it’d be six points. (the interception). He’s a very good quarterback, Hackney, he rarely gets sacked and we were worried about him all week. He’s a good quarterback.”
Demetris Summers
“I just did what I had to do to get yardage. The offensive line did a good job of blocking. I waited patiently for the holes to open up and then just went with it. (on his 54 yard touchdown run): Once I got some room, I saw Troy Williamson who made a block and I just kept running.
We will practice hard this week and get ready to play a very good Tennessee team.”
Offensive Coordinator Skip Holtz
“I was pleased with the offensive line and the way we moved the ball. We were able to move the ball effectively and that makes things easier for our quarterback.”
Na’Shan Goddard
“We knew we had to protect Dondrial better. The offensive line hasn’t done a good job of helping him this whole year and we did a better job tonight. We want to show we are a top 25 team.”
Hart Turner
“It’s good to see that Demetris can break runs like that – he’s special. Tonight we executed. The wide receivers did a good job of catching the ball, the running backs blocked and caught the ball well and the offensive line did a good job up front. It takes a lot of pressure off Dondrial Pinkins when we all work together. It’s good for the team and good for all of us.”
UAB Head Coach Watson Brown
“We’re really disappointed. We are a lot better than that. South Carolina has a really good defensive team. They are outstanding. Quickness is the main element in that.”
“I thought we were tight and nervous tonight, especially in the first half. We relaxed a bit in the second half. We have a lot of maturing to do – we’re a young team. We played hard and our kids are down. We were not relaxed and not ready to play. We’ll get better from this game. This is a young team and they just couldn’t handle it. We still have some problems – fumbles, dropped balls, etc.”
“South Carolina played well. Anytime they ran right at us, they ran right at us pretty good. When they want to run the ball, they run it well. They looked good and controlled the line of scrimmage, especially in the first half. The strengths of South Carolina are 1) their defense and 2) their running game.”
“We will take something from this. Our kids know that we can play better than that.”
UAB Players
Darrell Hackney-QB On playing at Williams-Brice:
“It was a regular game for us, we didn’t play our game. In the 1st half we didn’t do much. We have to come back and play hard we have conference play in two weeks so we need to bounce back. A game like this you can’t come out and make mistakes this is an SEC team.” What they expected from South Carolina:
“They did everything we expected. They were at the right place at the right time. I blame myself. We got things moving in the second half, we can play better than this.”
Carlos Hendricks- CB
Teams attitude after losing the ball on fake punt:
“When we fumbled it was like ‘not again.’ My personal opinion, I thought it was a big turning point in the game.”
On Demetris Summers:
“He is pretty strong, broke a lot of tackles. We saw some of him on film but didn’t expect him to play that much. He was a big factor and is a big power back.”
Parker Mullins-Punter On fake punt:
“I couldn’t hear the call so I made my own decision. No one was covering our wide receiver. Luckily he caught it, unluckily he fumbled it.”
