Sept. 26, 2006
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Head coach George O'Leary
"We had a lot of opportunities to do some things. We cannot give up 10 points with a field goal and a fumble on the one-yard line going on [to the endzone] to a team like Southern Miss. I thought we played hard. You cannot give up 10 points like that. We gave up three points on a botched snap. Overall, there is 13 points that we should have been involved with and I thought they played better than they played last week. I told them to keep their heads high. I think when we have opportunities to go in, we are not the type of team to get a long strike. When you get the ball at the one, you have to put it in. The field goal was big because it was a great momentum deal. They came back and scored right after. I thought defensively we played better than we have been playing. You just continue to work with them. It is a long season."
Thoughts on wide receivers' performance:
"I thought the receivers dropped a couple of balls that were key plays. I thought they got better. Overall, we played a good football team that we cannot give up points to. I did see progress. I saw kids playing better, playing hard. We have to continue to work harder in a lot of areas."
Execution on blocking and what Kevin Smith means:
"I thought we sustained blocks better. Obviously, Kevin [Smith] is the difference out there. Kevin made a lot of yards on his own. You hate to see the play where he fumbled out there. When we have opportunities to make plays, we have to make them. We cannot take sacks when we have no time left."
Senior wide reciever Mike Walker
"We again came out and played hard. We played together, but we did not play smart just like last week. A lot of plays hurt us real bad like fumbles and bad snaps. We also had a lot of miscommunication."
How to prepare for next week:
"We have to go out and eliminate those mistakes we made. We are a pretty good football team. We do everything right it is just a few plays that hurt us. We just have to find a way to eliminate those few plays and we will be alright."