Oct. 26, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – Notes and quotes from USC football camp: Here are excerpts from Coach Lou Holtz’s Sunday teleconference: (on the play of the defense) “We gave up too many yards after the catch. We tackled well for the most part, but we were late getting to the ball and out of position. At the end, they took a six yard pass and turned it into a 26-yard gain because we were out of position…” (On the continued solid play of redshirt freshman Chris White along the offensive line) “I’m not surprised with the way Chris White is playing. We knew he was a good football player when he came here. The entire offensive line played well. We played eight linemen who played at least 20-25 plays …” (on taking the team on the road to Ole Miss) “The best thing you can take on the road is speed, speed, speed. You also want to take experience and maturity …” (on Blake Mitchell trying to simulate Ole Miss’ Eli Manning this week on the scout team) “We’ll ask Blake to run our Kodak team, because that’s the team you try to imitate on film. We’ll ask him to run the offense as close as he can to Ole Miss’ …” (on the physical state of his defense) “We have three defensive starters who are hurt this week (Marcus Lawrence, Jason Capers, Dunta Robinson). We’re having to ask Jeremiah Garrison and Moe Thompson play too many snaps. I think our players are a little sluggish right now …” (on the play of Ole Miss, who leads the SEC Western Division with a 4-0 record) “After they lost to Memphis and Texas Tech, they re-grouped and took on a different approach. They are playing more physical now. When they won at Florida, they gained confidence and changed their entire outlook on the season. They are getting great senior leadership from Eli Manning. Nobody wants to play this team right now, especially in Oxford.”

Injury update: DL Jason Capers (low back strain); LB Marcus Lawrence (low back strain); CB Dunta Robinson (concussion); RB Demetris Summers (right elbow bruise).

What’s next: South Carolina travels to Oxford to meet #20 Ole Miss this Saturday with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m.(eastern time). The game will be televised by the Jefferson Pilot Sports network as the SEC Game of the Week.

On Monday – Head coach Lou Holtz will have his weekly press conference at 12 noon in the Lettermen’s Lounge. At 12:30 p.m., Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe will have his press conference in Oxford. We will dial into that conference following Coach Holtz’s press conference. At 12:50 p.m., Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning will be available via the teleconference.