ULM Head Coach Todd Berry
Opening statement:
“Congratulations to South Alabama and Joey Jones. Joey's really done a good job with their program. His kids played extremely hard and executed well. They made a lot of plays and the ball game came down to making plays.”
On his thoughts on why Louisiana-Monroe was unable to come up with the big plays:
“I've got to do a better job coaching. We've got to tackle better and intercept the ball better. Those kinds of things. That's on me. I've got to do a better job of getting (our team) to do those things right. I just wish we could have played more plays. We were in position to make plays and we couldn't make them. I have to find away to have our players make those plays.”
On what South Alabama did defensively to cause Louisiana-Monroe problems:
“Offensively, we're just guessing right now. We're just out of bodies and so right now we're just trying to put together something. Until the fourth quarter, everything we saw on in the first three quarters, we haven't done before. It was the first time we've ever done those things. (South Alabama) did a good job responding to it. We didn't do quite as good of job executing a few things as I would have liked to have done in terms of making a bad read, but that's on me again in relation to having to put in an offense over an off week. That's hard to do and hard to get our players to know. That's on me.”
On his thoughts on getting South Alabama's play up front:
“We got man-handled on both sides of the football up front. A little bit of the reason was because of the offensive line not giving us enough time and the play of the young receivers. You've got some guys out there that are trying to play football at receiver and their not always in the right position. Our offensive line was a little bit piece-mill. We have an illness going through our team right now and unfortunately, it hit a couple of our back up offensive linemen and they weren't able to play, so we had some guys out there having to limp around. I was proud of Joe Treadwell. He fought through something, even though he probably didn't need to be out there, but he fought through some things to try to stay out there on the field. We got very tired and South Alabama kept rolling fresh bodies in and made a lot of plays on us.”
South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones
Opening statement:
“First of all I want to say how proud I am of my players, the staff and everyone involved in the football organization. It takes a lot of people to have success in a game like this. But what I'm most proud of is the fact that we've had to fight through so many things this year. I can't tell you how much these guys mean to me, because they've given everything they've had to make this program go. A lot of players and coaches would quit when you get beat in close games throughout the year like we have. So my hat's off to those guys for how they fought through it and just kept getting better. We played a good game tonight against a really good opponent, and my hat's off to the players and staff.”
On the defense:
“I have never seen them play quite like that. They had a look in their eyes before the game. I knew they were going to be ready to play. The defensive staff did a great job preparing them. You have to get after the quarterback to beat a team like ULM. (ULM quarterback) Kolton Browning is an unbelievable player. He just never felt comfortable the whole night, and I thought that was the difference in the game.”
On winning all four quarters:
“I feel like we did, and I thought our kids came out to do that. We started off really well in the first quarter and just kept playing. I was a little worried about us having a little lull, but we kept playing and that's something we talked about all week long. We just kept fighting and that's what this team is all about. They have heart and soul; I'm just so proud of them.”
On Ross Metheny's performance:
“He had a great game. Ross is a great player, and he is great because he prepares himself. He cares about this team. He is an inspirational leader, and is a guy who can throw and run the ball very well. He is a true dual-threat quarterback, and that really helps our offense be successful.”
On the magnitude of the win:
“We have hope. Every person needs hope in their life, and we have hope now. We have a chance to play for a bowl game, and that's all you can ask for. That's something I've been praying for for these young men. We've been through a tough time. I think our guys have learned a life lesson, because they have had to fight through so much adversity. To come back and be successful through that is a testament to those guys and what they've done. There are a lot of guys who would have given up. And not only did they not give up, but they fought through the adversity, played extremely well and just had a great attitude throughout the whole thing. I think they've learned a lot about lessons in life during these last three or four games.”
