Nutt's transcript

HOUSTON NUTT'S OPENING REMARKS:
We played a good football team today, and you've got to give South Carolina a lot of credit. They did a good job, and they've got a good team. They've got a good back, a good quarterback. They executed and they're a good team. We're not good enough to give gifts on the punts and the penalties. You can't do that. We're not good enough to overcome that kind of thing. In the first quarter, I thought we were right there, neck and neck. If we could have just got on the board, it might have been a lot different game. But we never could establish something, the rhythm. And then we think we're getting just about everybody healthy, and you have a blowout at quarterback. It's a tough deal there.

COACH, WHEN YOU MADE THE DECISION TO TAKE ROBBY [HAMPTON] OUT IN THE SECOND HALF, I SAW HIM LIMP OFF THE FIELD IN THE SECOND QUARTER. WAS IT AN INJURY OR SOMETHING ELSE?
Dean [Weber, Arkansas' trainer] thought it was a pretty good injury. First the knee, he couldn't put any weight on his left foot. And then the thumb on his throwing hand was swollen. They got some ice on it. Early in the third quarter, we thought it would be better just to put a thrower in there that could hand off and mix it. We had to come from behind and put your best thrower in there.

DID THEY DO SOMETHING IN THE PASS RUSH IN THE FIRST HALF THAT SURPRISED YOU AT ALL?
A lot of new twists. I saw a couple of new twists and stunts, nothing we shouldn't have picked up. But we get in the speed of the game when they know that you're throwing it, that makes it very difficult.

COACH, THE DIFFERENCE IN THIS SOUTH CAROLINA TEAM FROM A YEAR AGO?
We knew that coming in. A lot different from last year. They get the ball up [the field] this year. They're doing so much better defensively, taking the ball away. Interceptions and fumbles, they didn't have any of that last year. And then offensively, they're helping their defense because they've got a great back [Derek Watson] and [quarterback Phil] Petty understands the offense ... and has the chance to throw it to big, tall receivers. So they've got a good package."

AFTER THE LOSS AND WITH THE INJURIES THAT YOU HAVE, IS THE OFF WEEK NOW SOMETHING YOU'LL ENJOY USING?
We need this off week. We need this off week really bad. Take advantage of it and get some people well, get everybody back on the football field that we can. There's still a lot of football left. You're about halfway. Four and two, a real good record. We've got a chance to do some things, accomplish some goals. I thought they handled the crowd pretty good early on and played extremely hard. I'd just like to have that punt back, the one fumbled punt we had.

IS THAT [THE FUMBLED PUNT] THE KIND OF THING YOU WANT HIM [RICHARD SMITH] TO STAY AWAY FROM?
It's a hard decision. We tell him all the time to catch everything, everything, then you get one that's 20 yards up and you come sprinting. It's a tough decision, but you've got to make good decisions back there when you're at that spot.

IS THIS LOSS MORE ENCOURAGING THAN SAY THE GEORGIA GAME?
It's totally different in my mind, a totally different effort. I think we used so much effort for the Alabama game that we didn't know much about Georgia. Hadn't played them in a while. I thought our guys really had a great week of practice and they were focused ... and for the most part played hard.

WHEN ZAK [CLARK] WAS IN THERE, IT SEEMED TO BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT. WAS HE MAKING DECISIONS QUICKER?
Yeah. He was just turning it loose. He's got a great release. Snaps that ball off. We were just giving him one-two reads, just basically throw it to A or B and that's it. He did some good things.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU SEE A TEAM IMPROVE THAT MUCH FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT?
They deserve a lot of credit. Coach [Lou] Holtz, he's always done it in his second year. Our first year, we turned this program around. Had two back-to-back 4-and-7s. We didn't have an 0-11, but we turned attitudes, we turned effort around. We started believing. When you get on a roll ... and that's what they're on right now. They're on a very, very high-confidence roll, and they think they're going to win, especially here in front of 84,000."

THEY SWITCHED TO THE I IN THE SECOND HALF, AND THEY HADN'T DONE MUCH OF THAT ALL YEAR. DID THAT THROW YOU OFF?
No, I just thought they were going to use some clock, let their big backs run.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT [FRED] TALLEY'S PERFORMANCE?
I thought he did a good job for having that much of a layoff. I thought he really came in and sparked us a little bit. I thought Brandon [Holmes] is still running hard and good. I wish he wouldn't have fumbled, but he's young and hasn't been playing. Fred Talley hasn't played since I don't know what game. It's been a while. Alabama.

WAS [GARY] HOBBS BEAT 1-ON-1 BY NO. 55 [KALIMBA EDWARDS]?
I don't know exactly what play you're talking about, but there were a couple of times when he did beat him. They moved 55 around, which is a pretty good deal for them. They can move him around to different positions. He's a good enough athlete he can play a lot of positions and creates a lot of problems.

DID IT SURPRISE YOU THAT CAROLINA WAS DETERMINED WITH THEIR RUNNING GAME?
I know deep down inside Coach Holtz wants to run the ball. I know that. I was expecting him to run the ball. Now as far as getting in the I, that surprised me because they hadn't done that all year.

This article was published on Sunday, October 15, 2000

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