Post-Game Quotes From Louisville-Army Football Game
November 11, 2000 | Football
Nov. 11, 2000
Louisville Head Coach John L. Smith
(on his team's habitual better play in the second half) "I think that's a tribute to our coaches. They make good adjustments. And it's a tribute to our kids for accepting those changes and making them work. We were not very emotionally in particular in the first half. We tried to turn it up a little in the second half. We came with a litte more pressure at them. I think that payed off in the second half."
(on the methodical patience of Army) "We talked about it all week long. We're not going to get a cheap one out of these guys (Army). They're very patient, so you have to be patient, too. We did get the one, though (Deon Branch's 53-yard TD). We wanted to get the lead. You get up by 21 and they're still going to do the same thing. They don't bury. They have a lot of patience."
(on winning today) "It sets us up for next week. That's for what we've prepared for for a long time. Everything we've done so far doesn't mean anything. It's what we do this week that counts. We have control over this one. We had four goals for ourselves this season: beat Kentucky, send our seniors out as winners, win the Conference USA Championship and put ourselves in a position to go to a bowl. A win this week gets us all four of those goals."
(on Arnold Jackson's NCAA career reception record). "Thank goodness that's over. What do you say about that? Regardless of how long you hold that record, it means you are special. But we don't like to talk about individual awards. Now that we've got that one out of the way, let's concentrate on our team goals."
Army Head Coach Todd Berry
"Every week we hope to run the ball to win. If we need to throw to win we will, but we felt we could use the run today. Our whole idea is to score touchdowns, not keep the ball away. You can only play so-much ball control for so long, but you need to score touchdowns to win."
"The third quarter started to snowball for us. We let them take away the momentum. Against a team like Louisville, you need to play a perfect ball game. They have great athletes and really spread the ball well.
(on Arnold Jackson) "He's a really good player. Whenever you have a player that records that many receptions, he has to be a great player. I probably would have made my guys do the same thing (throw to Jackson). That way you get their minds off the record and on the game."
Donovan Arp, senior defensive tackle
"(on Arnold Jackson's record) "That is big time for him and it is great for us as a team. We are all very proud of him."
(on next week's game at Houston) "We have got to go down there and win. We knew that if we beat Southern Miss (last week) that we still had to win the rest of our games to win the conference. Houston will play us tough. We just have to play well to win."
(on the defense's performance in the second half this year) "It seems like we have more fun in the second half. We just start making plays and doing a better job. We seem to play at our opponent's level in the first half, and if they do not roll over, then we pick it up in the second half."
(on Army's offense) "We knew what they were going to do. We knew they were going to run the ball. Whether they were successful or not, they were going to keep running the ball, and that is what they did."
Arnold Jackson, senior wide receiver
(on breaking the record) "It's a big achievement, and I'm very excited to get home and celebrate with my folks who are here for their first game here. The entire year was about running the offense and the catches will come."
(On the celebration following the record breaker) "I tried to hold it back, but that was a big achievement and the guys told me before that if I didn't do something they would give me the old freshman thing in the locker room.
"I was recruited by coach Cooper and it was all about special teams because I really wasn't part of the offense...when coach Smith came in it was a different story."
"I had no idea I would have this big of a college career because I was so small. I just thought I would come in and be a back-up player, but I guess the coaches saw something in me."
Dave Ragone, sophomore quarterback
"The win was a total team effort. In the first half they were trying to stall the ball against us, and it worked, because we only had four possesions and we were forced to make the most of those possesions."
(on Arnold Jackson's record) "Chris (Redman) did majority of the work, but it's always good to be part of something like that."
"Everyone thought this was going to be a rebuilding year, and we were out to prove the critics wrong, using that as motivation every day. We could be a good team without the superstars and all the hype, we could just go out and play as a team."
