Vanderbilt Postgame Notes

The 38 points scored by Vanderbilt were the most scored by the Commodores
since a 4238 win over Duke (10/27/01). It was the most points scored against
an SEC opponent since a 4330 win at Georgia... The 464 total yards by VU
were the most since a 5630 home loss to Kentucky last season (11/16/01) when
the Commodores tallied 542 total yards... VU had two players Kwane Doster
and Norval McKenzie 101 yards apiece rush for 100 yards for the first time
since Rodney Williams (155) Lew Thomas (123) achieved the feat against Duke
(10/27/01). It was the first time against an SEC foe since Jermaine Johnson
(177) and Ronnie Gordon (126) rushed for 100 yards apiece for Vanderbilt
against Georgia (10/15/94 )... For the third game in a row Jay Cutler tied a
career high with 11 pass completions. He ended the day 11 for 21 with 207
passing yards and 34 rushing yards on 19 carries with one rushing TD.

Doster and McKenzie Data
Freshman running back Kwane Doster tallied ran 15 times for a careerhigh 101
yards and a touchdown. Doster also set a Vanderbilt singlegame record for
return yards. With 50 second left in the third quarter he returned an Ole
Miss kickoff 95 yards to the UM five yard line. It ranked as the
fifthlongest kickoff return in VU history. Doster also registered his first
collegiate rushing touchdown at the 6:29 mark of the second quarter. Norval
McKenzie rushed nine times for a careerhigh 101 yards. Doster's and
McKenzie's rush total against Ole Miss was the most by a Commodore since Jay
Cutler ran for 107 against Furman (9/7/02).

Garrett Surpasses 100 Yard Mark
WR M.J. Garrett caught four passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. It was the
first 100yard receiving game for Garrett since he posted 219 receving yards
against Middle Tennessee last year (8/31/01).... At 7:37 in the second
quarter, QB Jay Cutler hooked up with Garrett for a 35yard pass reception.
It was Garrett's first catch since the season opener and longest of the
season. With 5:54 left in the third quarter, Garrett's 49yard catch of a
Cutler pass resulted in his first touchdown of the season.

Stricker Moves Up SEC and Vanderbilt Charts
WR Dan Stricker moved into 19th place on the SEC career receptions list with
151 receptions. He passed Auburn's Karsten Bailey and USC's Jermale Kelly
each with 150. Stricker's sevenyard touchdown reception at the opening
moments of the fourth quarter moved the senior into a tie for second place
on the VU career touchdown receptions list with 18. Stricker tied former
Commodore Allama Matthews (198182). Stricker ended the day with three
catches for 29 yards and a TD.

VU Pass Break Ups Thwart A Pair of Ole Miss Drives
Twice in the first half two Ole Miss scoring drives stalled near the red
zone when a Commodore defender broke up a pass attempt by Rebel QB Eli
Manning. On the Rebels' first drive of the game, Vanderbilt cornerback
Rushen Jones deflected a Manning pass on 3rd and six from the VU 22. Ole
Miss settled for a 40yard field goal from J. Nichols. The final drive of the
second quarter for Ole Miss saw Commodore defensive tackle Brett Beard
tipped a Manning pass on 3rd and three from the VU 10. Again the Rebels
settled for a field goal from Nichols. This one from 28 yards.

VU Digs Hole Early with Turnovers
For the second consecutive game, Vanderbilt was adversely affected by
turnovers. In the first half, two Commodore fumbles resulted in 10 Rebel
points.

General Notes
With 7:31 left in the first quarter, Cutler converted a fourthandnine with a
10yard completion to senior Dan Stricker. The 5:17 drive ended
unsuccessfully when Greg Johnson's 47yard field goal hit the uptights. It
was Johnson's longest effort as a Commodore... Johnson's 20yard field goal
in the third quarter was his fourth of the season, matching the 2001 season
total... Vanderbilt's first penalty of the game, a fiveyard delay of game
infraction, came with 3:04 left in the third quarter. VU ended the day with
two penalties for 10 yards a season low.

Noting the Starters
The Vanderbilt starting lineup included a pair of true freshmen making their
first starts in a Commodore uniform. On offense, guard Mac Pyle of
Adairsville, Ga., started in place of sophomore Brian Kovolisky. Chris
Booker, a native of Brandon, Miss., earned his first start at defensive
end... Senior Brandon Walthour made his second consecutive start at weak
outside linebacker. He replaces redshirt freshman Moses Osemwegie in the
starting unit.

POSTGAME QUOTES
VANDERBILT HEAD COACH BOBBY JOHNSON

(On being down 35-17): “We knew we had to keep playing. We had plenty of
time. We just needed to execute. We started playing sound defense at that
point. We played hard and wanted to see what we could do. We played a
courageous game. We had some good throws and good runs. Not a lot of
mental mistakes and I am very pleased with that. We executed well.
Sometimes called the right play called and Ole Miss just executed well.

“We hung in there played hard and should have won. We allowed too many easy
plays. Eli killed us. At times we made him throw too quick but we also
gave him too much time. I thought the front four had good pressure at
times. We hit him a couple of times. ”

(On the two first half turnovers): “Those two turnovers were caused. They
got the snot knocked out of them.”

(On the last drive): “There was no concerted effort to get the ball to
anyone player. We wanted to get the ball where we thought it would work.
We did look for Dan Stricker on the first play and with a little more time I
think we would have gotten it to him. We just had trouble keeping Ole Miss
back at that time of the game. Our offensive line played 70 plays and I
think they are in great shape.

(On post game locker room) “I told them that if they thought I was going to
come in talking about how well we done, they had another thing coming. I
think we had ample opportunities to win the ball game. I see promise which
makes us work all that harder to prevent this from happening. We are doing
that in practice and need to get it in the game.”

“Ole Miss has quality receivers. They got open and Eli hit them. That’s
what you want from your QB. He knows where to throw them and he’s good at
it.

OLE MISS HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE POSTGAME QUOTES

“The first thing I’d like to say is that we were really fortunate. When you
get beat in the physical part of the game, there’s obviously a physical war
going on out there. I thought that in the second half, Vanderbilt
controlled that. I give them credit. They did a good job on both sides of
the ball”.

“For our team to be at its lowest point and for it to comeback and do what
it takes to win the game really was encouraging. There are a lot of heroes.
This was a game of big plays on both sides. There are a lot of things
we’re going to look at that we need to correct and fix. There are a lot of
things were going to build on that we did extremely well after we look at
this tape. But it’s a lot better looking at it from this side of it than
the other.”

“We were fortunate to win, but we did what we had to do at a critical time
and we made the big plays. The injury situation is not encouraging,
particularly when you see seniors go down. It’s something we just live with.
Doug Ziegler is probably going to undergo surgery sometime this evening with
his leg. I don’t know any details. Lanier Goethie is probably going to
undergo surgery. I don’t know completely the details. Robert Williams,
from what I understand, has a high ankle sprain. But we’ve got to evaluate
this week where we are. We had some people step up when we needed and
that’s just what you do.”

OLE MISS PLAYER QUOTES (OFFENSIVE)

Eli Manning, QB
On his play:
“It was a good day. They were stopping the run pretty well. We were able
to hit a couple of big ones to start the second half. I thought the
receivers played hard and the line did a good job of protection.”

On his touchdown pass to Mike Espy:
“It was the same play that we ran earlier when I missed him in the endzone.
The safety sat on the tight end running a curl route. I stayed in the
pocket, Espy ran a good route, and he got open.”

On being 1-0 in SEC play:
“It feels good. You can’t beat that. You have to win these games, and
there are going to be some tough ones. Everyone is going to come out and
play hard, so we have to come out and play harder.”

Chris Collins, WR
On his touchdown reception:
“We picked the play out for that situation. We saw that they were stacking
up against the run. We picked out the play and it worked. The defensive
backs were sitting on some of the routes we ran, so we had to come up with a
new route.”

On the offensive line
“The offensive line did a good job in the running and passing games. They
really stepped it up and played well.”

On Eli Manning:
“Eli came around today. He got in his rhythm and did a really good job
today. He hit us on all of our routes.”

Vashon Pearson, RB
On replaced injured RB Robert Williams:
“I knew I had to come in and make some big plays. I saw that he went down,
and I had to come in and fill his shoes.”

On the offensive line:
“They blocked really well. They cleared the way for me to get into the
endzone.”

On the Vanderbilt defense:
“They were crashing down on the ball a lot. They did a good job of keeping
us inside.”

LP Spence, LB
On his fumble recovery:
“We never gave up on the play. I saw the ball pop loose and I went for the
ball. The ball came my way, and I recovered it.”

On the Ole Miss defense:
“At times, they were able to run the ball on us. We let our heads get down
a little, but came together as a team in the end and we pulled through.”

On the open date and preparing for Florida:
“We lost a lot of players on defense today. We have to come together as a
team and see what Florida is going to bring at us.”

Matt Grier, DB
On the Ole Miss defense:
“We had a couple of blown coverages. There were some missed tackles, but
basically we did our job.”

On getting the first SEC win:
“It’s always good to get an SEC win. No matter how you get it, it’s still a
win.”

On the open date and preparing for Florida:
“We have to correct the mistakes we made and practice hard.”

On defending the option:
“I felt we did a good job in practice against the option. When you practice
well, that carries over to the field.”

Jessie Mitchell, DT
On the Ole Miss defense:
“I think we played poorly, but I give Vanderbilt a lot of credit. We had a
lot of busts and missed assignments. A lot of people were missing tackles.
We were in the right place at times, but we didn’t make the plays.”

On defending the option:
“I thought they were going to run some more option plays than they did, but
we played it well. They hit us with a couple of formations and couple of
plays that we hadn’t seen at all. That threw us off, but we made some
adjustments and came up big.”

On getting the first SEC win:
“It feels good. Whether you’re at home or on the road, it’s a battle every
week. You have to make all of them count. We have this one under our belt.
Now we have to just keep on the right direction.”

VANDERBILT PLAYER QUOTES

QB Jay Cutler
(On the game)
“We played well for the most part. We came out a little slow in the first
quarter and left our defense on the field too much. In the second half, we
played well and gave ourselves a chance to win the game. We just didn’t come
through in the end.”

(On his comfort level in the game)
“I felt really good coming in here after last week. Last week, we played at
Auburn, and the atmosphere here is not as big as it is at Auburn. Our
offensive line played well for the most part. Ole Miss’ defense got through
the line, and they got some open looks at me and they took them. But I felt
more comfortable this week.”

WR Dan Stricker
(On the Ole Miss defense)
“Ole Miss runs a unique scheme (4-2-5). I was getting double and triple
teamed on most plays. We were able to take advantage of the running game and
make some big plays with our receivers because of that aspect of the
defense. It was good to see so many other players come through.”

(On the attitude of Vanderbilt players)
“The mentality here is definitely different with the players. I have got to
give the coaches a lot of credit for that because they really harp on that.
The biggest part of football is the ball can bounce anyway at any time. You
have to keep fighting because you never know when it may be your time.”

(On the rivalry with Ole Miss)
“We have played them tough every year since I have been here. I was sitting
in this game thinking about our game here in 1999 when we came back and tied
them and then won the game in overtime. It’s a fun game to play for me, and
it’s a good rivalry. I enjoy playing this game with them very much.”

RB Kwane Doster
“This game today inspires me a lot. Some plays later in the game I felt like
I could have done much better. You get fatigued as the game goes on, and I
wasn’t able to do as much as I might have had the opening come earlier. I
gave all I had, and people don’t expect a game like this from a freshman. It
makes me feel good.”

LB Hunter Hillenmeyer
(On stopping Ole Miss’ running game)
“We knew when a team has a quarterback as good as Manning, they are most
likely going to focus on the passing game. We have not had success stopping
the run until this week, so we expected them to try to run the ball on us
some. We were able to contain them and keep them from making the big plays.
They had success passing the ball, so there was no need to look to run until
they got a lead later in the game.”

(On the defense coming into the game)
“We had missed a lot of tackles last week at Auburn, and we weren’t happy
about that. The coaches emphasized this week that we needed to really focus
on eliminating the mistakes that help you beat yourself. I think we did a
lot of that today.”