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Here’s what a few notable head coaches said after Saturday’s key games:
BRET BIELEMA following the Razorbacks’ second straight shutout of a ranked team, a college football first: “The thing I like about our defensive players is that they just shake things off. They make a mistake, and they’ll lineup and play again. Those two turnovers, they let them get all the way down into the end zone and then made the big play.”
NICK SABAN who wasn’t happy after Alabama started slow during a 34-point win over Western Carolina: “I don’t think that we started the game out the way we’d hoped to or how we planned. We wanted to maintain focus, and I thought the players did a really good job all week of practicing well and preparing for the game. It’s really up to me to make sure that the guys have the right psychological disposition when we come out and play a game.”
GARY PINKEL following Mizzou’s 10th straight road win: “I’m very proud of our football team. You never know what’s going to happen. You know, there’s certainly things I’m disappointed in that I think created a lot of the drama at the end of the game. But, I’m responsible to get those things done. You talk about a team that battles and a team that makes plays and works off of each other, and we’ve been doing it more, probably the last 7-8 weeks, than we had at the beginning.”
DAN MULLEN on Mississippi State’s home crowd during an unbeaten slate in Starkville: “First I want to thank all of our fans this year. We’re 7-0 at home. We talked about it and if you want to compete in the SEC and compete for championships you have to win home games. We were able to do that this year. These fans that have helped build this with the expansion, the noise and believing in us and giving us that home field advantage.”
HUGH FREEZE after Ole Miss lost for the third time over its last four games: “It was a tough one. They put it to us pretty good. I was concerned all week, for whatever reason, that we weren’t locked in totally. I think that showed in the beginning of the game. That’s my fault, I’ve got to make sure our kids are, but it just felt like a weird week for whatever reason. It was disappointing that we didn’t start better.”
A surprisingly upbeat STEVE SPURRIER after South Carolina’s lackluster win against South Alabama: “I told the guys there’s another team who is bowl eligible, and it’s the South Carolina Gamecocks. It was a big win for us; it really was. The South Alabama team is a pretty good team. With all the turnovers we had, it gave them a chance. And fortunately our defense really came to play the second half. We shut them out the second half and held them to field goals in the first half.”