Post-Game Quotes From Louisville-East Carolina Football Game
October 19, 2000 | Football
Oct. 19, 2000
Louisville Head Coach John L. Smith
"I thought we got down in the first half and we just turned over the ball too much. I thought that our defense did a good job in the first half. We turned it up in the second half and had a chance to win but we couldn't get a play called and had to down the ball."
(on Ragone's right collarbone) "We had it x-rayed at the end of the first half, the x-ray was negative but I made a decision to put Mike Watkins in. There are too many games left in the season to put Dave back in and mess up his shoulder for the year."
(on going for it on fourth down at the end) "We considered kicking a field goal. But kickers are fragile. If he had banged the first one through, I might have considered it."
East Carolina Head Coach Steve Logan
(on staying in the C-USA championship race) "Well, it's just one game at a time. Now next week is big, and then the next week is big. You're just living on the edge now. It's going to be very, very tense, but it is going to be exciting and we'll see if we can respond."
(on the game) "We had to get turnovers off of their offense because you can't really stop them. They spread you out and do a great job offensively. We got turnovers which we talked about all week long. We had a chance to put the game away. We were playing beautifully on offense, but missed two touchdown passes. As it ended, we had to win it on defense, plus our punter (Kevin Miller) won the game for us. He flipped the field on them on that 65-yard punt. It was a complete victory - offense, defense and special teams."
(on QB David Garrard) "He was humming along there. He would have had an exceptional night had he hit that one out and up late in the third quarter. That would have broke that game open. He pulled the ball down and ran with it when necessary. He is becoming more of a complete player all the time."
Tony Stallings, junior, running back
(on the ECU defense) "I really can't explain it. As far as I go, it seemed that whatever move I made, they were calling my play. It's like they were keying on me. We had to go to some other things to get some plays going."
(on the loss) "Any time you lose a game you're just more upset about the loss. It was just like any other loss. You just hate to lose. We don't want to make a habit of it. We just need to come out and get some more wins."
(on QB Mike Watkins) "Mike came in and did a great job. He was saying in the huddle 'we can win it.' It is the first time he has had a chance to play and he was trying to make plays. He did a very good job and I was proud of Mike."
Mike Watkins, senior quarterback
(on his play) "Although I came in and made a couple plays, I thought we were just a few plays short of turning this thing around. It's a game of inches and we ended up on the wrong side."
(on the last series) "We were driving down and made the first down. Then I just lost track of the clock. We got the play in but did not break the huddle quick enough. You always have to be aware of where the clock is in clock situations. On the third down play, we got it (the play) in a little late and I did not hurry up the call enough."
Deion Branch, junior wide receiver
(on catching passes in the middle of the field) "The middle was open all night. They played a soft 'cover two' so the middle stays open regardless. We got a couple of big plays out of it."
(on the slow start) "This game was basically the same as last week. We came out a little slow in the first half last week, improved in the second half and went ahead and won the game. This week we did the same thing. Our defense playedreally good throughout the whole game and now we just have to get ready for Tulane."
(on if short week affected the slow start) "As far as the short week, I doubt it. We went out and practiced hard all week and had the same game preparation. We just have to go out and put it on the field and we just came up a little short tonight."
Dave Ragone, sophomore quarterback
(on the shoulder injury) "Right before the third interception, I was rolling out and I got tackled on it and rolled into it."
(on the slow start) "We came out slow and the defense had to pick us up a little. In the second half, the defense played well and we just came up a little short."
(on the three interceptions) "The first two were dumb luck. I kind of laughed about it because there was not thing I could really do about it. The third one, I was trying to make a play and I guess I just underthrew it a little bit."
(on chances of still winning the conference) "We have to take a different path now. As long as we win out and everyone has a loss in the conference, you can figure out all the tiebreakers. Our goal is still intact, this is just a little setback."
