September 26, 1999

LaVell Edwards

General comments about the game: "Well, it's really a tough one. We really thought we had a shot there at the end, but didn't get the job done. The thing that's disappointing is how we began the football game. The first quarter, I don't know what was going on. We didn't play like we should be playing. I told them I admire their courage, the way they came back and fought, got back in it, had a chance to win it there at the end."

"That's a very unfortunate holding call that decided it, because we had second and one."

"You just have to credit Virginia -- we knew they were going to be good. They run the ball very well, and they're a very physical team."

About the absence of Rob Morris: "It affected (the defense) big time, there's no question."

About Thomas Jones: "I've said all along, he's one of the best we've seen for a while."

About adjusting to Virginia's 3-8 defense in the first quarter: "We started to run the ball a little bit more, and we thought we could have done that earlier on. We got a little frustrated at the beginning and tried throwing downfield, and it turned into some interceptions. They did a nice job of coming up with that three man front, but once we adjusted to it, we handled it well."
 

Rob Morris

About Dan DeCoit, who played middle linebacker after Jeff Holtry left with a concussion: "Dan plays hard, but he's not as experienced. He doesn't get as many reps in practice, so it's harder. I've been playing every down for two years, and I get confused at times. Dan's a stud -- he did his best. But I still think we're a good defense, and a good team."

About watching the game from the sideline: "It was one of the low points of my career. It was kind of like pulling teeth -- I felt helpless. I was trying to do things to help guys, but I kept thinking, 'I need to go get dressed and get out there,' but I don't want to throw away the rest of the season. I think it was a realization that I'm not invincible. You always just think that when Saturday comes, you can play, but Saturday came and I couldn't play."

About the possiblity of playing next week: "It's day by day. I want to play, and I'll do everything I can to play, but I'm not going to throw away the rest of the season for this one game. I'm going to prepare like I'm preparing for the last game of my career. I think I'm making progress. There have been some setbacks. It's been a little worse that I thought it would be."

About when the decision to hold him out was made: "I could have told you on Saturday, two days afterwards, that there wasn't a snowball's chance in. . . Salt Lake. . . of playing. I thought I'd go with things, and see if I was able to play, but I went out today, and I wasn't even able to jog."

About sitting out: "I haven't completely lost my mind yet. If I sit out another week I may or may not have completely lost my mind."

About his injury: "It's in a point where it affects a lot of different areas, lower groin, abdominal. . . it hurts when I sneeze, it aches all the time."

Kevin Feterik

About the botched lateral play: "That play's designed as a forward pass. To me, it was a forward pass. I don't know, I didn't really watch the replay, I'd like to see what really happened."

About being down 21-0: "We stayed confident and played. We lost the game, but we didn't lose our pride. We played a good game and tried hard."

About running twice when faced with 1st and 16: "I don't know. That's a tough call. We ran the ball well, and that play was working, but then it didn't work. It's a tough call."

Brian Gray

On leaving during the third quarter after aggravating his groin injury, and then returning to the field: "I felt like I'd reinjured it again, and it hurt, so I came out and they looked at in the locker room, and they worked on it and tried to warm it up. I felt like I had to get back into the game -- I needed to give it everything I had. I feel like I left it all on the field tonight."

Byron Frisch

On the difference of not having Rob Morris: "He was very missed. He's a leader on the team. He brings leadership, he brings motivation, so it's more than just losing a great tackler."

On facing Thomas Jones: "He's right up there with the best. He cuts well and has great moves and runs with speed and power. He's an excellent runner."

Luke Staley

About why he went to the locker room in the 3rd quarter: "I've been playing with a bruise in my shin bone, and I had a pad there that was hindering more than it was helping, so we just moved it around a little."

About his 41 yard TD run during which he broke several tackles: "We just had a lot of good blocking, and there was nobody there until five yards down, and Pittman was blocking well on the outside, so I just basically had to run." 

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