Sept. 10, 2005

Recap |  Final Stats

Barrick Nealy, QB
On Delta State (adversity) "Adversity was something we've been preparing for, and we knew it was going to happen. But, we felt like we just had to weather the storm and we did a good job but we still have to work on it."

"We're going to have ups and downs but we have to stay together.

"They're a great football team. They're Division II, but they can compete with any team in the Southland Conference. They beat the No-1 or No.-2 ranked team last week, Pittsburg State. From what I saw tonight, they're not going to have many problems getting through their conference.

On the penalties... "We didn't play the perfect game, but for the most part it was the first game of the year and we knew it was going to be up and down. We knew we'd make mistakes but the main thing is we got the win. We can go back and look at the film and try to correct those mistakes that we made tonight."

On the receivers.. "We had injuries all through camp, and those guys have stepped up and proven themselves. They were looking for an opportunity to do that and they got that opportunity tonight. They stepped up and made some big plays. All it takes is one big play. After Stan made one play he came back to the huddle telling me to throw him the ball.

On the long 3rd down completion... "They had two deep safeties on the play so I figured they were in Cover-2 Man, I was just hoping that Damian could just split the linebacker and the safety. The inside linebacker dropped back 15 or 17 yards and I was hoping Damian could get in behind him and between him and the safety. That's exactly what he did. He broke between those guys and it was perfect timing. If we were one second late on that it would have been an interception. That's something we've been working on, timing routes. All that credit really goes to coach Herman and the rest of our offensive coaching staff."

Derwin Straughter, DB
"We knew that we could take things from Sam Houston that we played last year and also Southeastern Louisiana. We had been prepared for a team that throws a lot. Coach made sure that we were conditioned and we also wanted to be technically sound all night. We knew we were going to give up passes. They throw the ball a lot and their quarterback has a great arm. The game plan was to stay sound on technique and we knew if we could do that we'd make some plays."

HEAD COACH David Bailiff
On Delta State QB... "We were able get pressure on him early. We sacked him a couple of times and harassed him. He took some big hits out there and got up every time. That's the reason he's a pre-season All-American. He's a quality quarterback that will go to an NFL camp next year."

"We were able to roll in about ten young men on the defensive line, and the offense was out there for only 36 minutes to the defense's 23. That helped the defense to stay fresh since the offense was able to control the clock."

"We had too many penalties tonight. Two of them kept drives going and I know at halftime they had about 62 yards of offense but 90 yards in penalties. Those penalties keep drives going but our coaches will fix that this week."

"This game made us check our character, it made us check our senior leadership and these young men fought back. I'm proud of them for that. I just don't like the fact that we had that many penalties.

On the 3rd & 21 late... "You just can't count on that (play by Barrick). You hate the fact that we're in a 3rd & 21, and we just can't count on that. We can't rely on converting against McNeese or against Northwestern."

"We're excited any time we can get a win, but we have to have a big learning curve this week. We won't be able to beat Southern Utah making those kinds of mistakes.

On Nick Session... "I'm so excited for that senior. He's waited his turn for five years, three head coaches, two positions, it's so great to see a young man work hard like that. He's taken his role as a back-up tailback and all he's done is come out every day and work. He got his chance and took full advantage of it. You'll see him some more."