2007 UCF Football Postgame Quotes
Game 14: Mississippi State (Dec. 29)
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Mississippi State 10, UCF 3
UCF Head Coach George O'Leary
"I think it was a well played game. Obviously, it wasn't a big offensive fest. I think both teams played great defense. You can't turn the ball over four times and expect to (win). Actually, the score is a lot closer than it should have been when you turn it over four times."
"Again, I think those missed field goals were big momentum breakers. Give Mississippi State credit. They fought hard and didn't turn the ball over. That usually means you're going to come up with a close win like that. Again, it's a disappointing loss. I think it was a good college football game. A good game for the Liberty Bowl."
"I was going to kick the field goal. Mike's (Torres) had such a good season this year. I was disappointed he missed two. I think that was momentum, but I never gave second thoughts on whether I was going to kick it or go for it. If we got that situation again, I might have."
"I thought it was a wider scrimmage game. I thought we weren't probably finishing a lot of things we needed to finish up front from an offensive line standpoint. I think when you look at it neither team did a lot on offense. I think basically it came down in the second half to field position, especially when you turn it over; you give automatic field position."
"I was proud of the way the defense went out there, especially with the pick and getting the ball at the five yard line and stopping them and making them kick the field goal. Other than that, I'm disappointed we didn't execute better on offense."
Junior safety Sha'reff Rashad
"We knew it was going to be a very physical game when we went out there and I think that's exactly what it turned out to be. It was a line of scrimmage game like coach said and we were fighting hard out there. Give credit to Mississippi State they were fighting hard as well. I think the defense did well for the most part. It's unfortunate that we lost, but we just went out there and gave it all we had."
"I think the coaches did a really good job during the week preparing us as far as tendencies go. A lot of things that they were doing during the game we had seen a lot of during the week and that's probably the reason we were able to do so well on defense. On the reverse they caught us out of rotation a little bit, it was unfortunate I was just proud that we could go out there and play hard."
"I don't think confidence was ever a thing that we lacked as a team. No matter who the opponent is, we know that we're able to compete with anyone. We know what we do in practice and the coaching that we receive. We went up against some really good opponents this year in really good conferences and I think that we were able to compete very well. Unfortunately, we weren't able to win, I think it shows the confidence that we have is legitimate and that we are able to compete with anyone."
Senior defensive tackle Keith Shologan
"I think the younger players are good and we have a good group of them coming back. They just have to come back and work hard in the off season. They have a good group of coaches to teach them the right fundamentals. They have to build up mid season during conference time and they'll come out strong."