Arkansas/Alabama Postgame Quotes
Alabama Football vs. Arkansas
Bryant-Denny Stadium
Sept. 24, 2005
Alabama24, Arkansas 13
Post Game Quotes
Arkansas Head Coach Houston Nutt
“It was a tough first half and we played hard. We’re definitely a good team and we played our heart out. This defense is too good to get behind in the count. We’ve got to get better. We’re a good football team but we’ve got to get better.”
On Arkansas’ Offense:
“We didn’t play well. Our offensive line had illegal procedures and mishaps.”
On Arkansas’ Defense:
“Our defense deserved to win the game. We played well enough but it takes both phases.”
On Darren McFadden:
“He brings speed and elusiveness. He’s a homerun hitter. We’re never afraid to get it to him. When he scored, that’s when the game should have been won.”
On comeback toward the end:
“It showed a lot of character. We don’t like to lose. Losing is not fun. This shows us how good our team can be.”
Arkansas Player Quotes
Robert Johnson:
“This is a team game and as a team we made a lot of mental mistakes that we should not have made. We have to re-group and correct those mistakes.”
“One problem was that we did not execute like we were supposed to.”
“Their defense is very good. They play very fast and very hard.”
Marcus Monk:
“Our confidence is up. We won’t let one loss get us down. That will just make things worse. We’re going to stay confident and bounce back.”
“We’ve got two weeks to prepare for our next game. That’s enough time to get everyone healed and get back on a winning track.”
Sam Olajubutu:
“I think our defense got a little better today. We just let them make big plays and we let them score.”
“We have to keep fighting. Our defense did get a little better but there are things we need to work on. This loss is frustrating. You just have to be alert and you have to make the big plays which we
didn’t do today.”
Alabama Head Coach Mike Shula
“It was a big win for us. It was an emotional Arkansas team that really seemed to play well today. Physically they did a lot of good things. You know our guys fought hard and found a way to win the
football game. We made some plays when we had to. We made some mistakes but we were able to overcome them.
“I thought our defense did a good job except for the blocked punt which was major miscommunication. I’m sure we can correct it. It could have been extremely costly.
“Overall it feels good to win. We’re going to build on the good things we’re doing because we’re getting better. We’re going to correct the bad things because we’ve got to play a lot better if we
want to keep winning.”
On the broken play where Hall scored:
“I let the cat out of the bag on the radio (CTSN) so I think I might as well share it with you guys. We had a draw play called which probably wouldn’t have worked. I’m honest. It was great. They
were actually in a different defense when they broke huddle and they just didn’t quite adjust.”
Alabama Player Quotes
#12 Brodie Croyle
On the last touchdown pass:
“It was supposed to be a run play. We had seen the same play in the scrimmage. I gave him a nod and he tapped his head to let me know he was open, and it worked out.”
“We were struggling in the first half. We’ve got to get better at adjusting quicker. The defense kept us in the game, and we scored our goal of 24. They were a tough physical team and we got their
best today.”
“This is the first day that we haven’t dominated at least a half. We seemed to fight all day and still scored 24 points, that was huge. It was good to see that we can’t dominate all the time.”
#35 DeMeco Ryans
“(Arkansas) runs the ball. They lined up and ran right at us. We had to bow our necks and stop them.”
“Two years ago, we couldn’t have performed like we did today. We took it one play at a time, not looking back on plays, but on the play ahead.”
On Simpson’s interception:
“We needed a big play and (Juwan Simpson) showed up right on time and gave the offense a chance to win.”
#34 Kenneth Darby
“They were more physical than South Carolina. We knew coming in that they would be aggressive and would be after us after their loss last weekend.”
“We had to fight for every yard. We relaxed at the end and settled down and played our type of football.”
