Opening Statement
“It’s a great opportunity for our team, and I would like to keep our team motivated by the positives of the opportunities that they have. I think that everyone needs to keep in mind that this makes for great competition. Not only does our team have a great opportunity, but the two teams that we are playing have good opportunities as well when it comes to winning the division.”
“I think that it says a lot about the (Southeastern Conference) West and how no one team has come out and been the dominant team. That’s probably the reason why there are four teams that still have a chance to win the division championship.”
“We’re pleased that we still have an opportunity to do it, and I think that our players have had a very positive attitude during this bye week, even before they knew what their opportunities might be. They were geared up and focused to accomplish the goals that we have and there is just one more goal that we have the opportunity to accomplish.”
“I think that the most important thing for our players is that we play best when we play aggressively and we play best when we don’t worry about the circumstances and the situations in a particular game. We’ve always played better when we’ve been focused in play-to-play and we’ve been able to overcome adversity and to do what we needed to do in order to be a competitor. That’s certainly going to be the approach that we continue to use with our team.”
“I think that at every turn, if you look back throughout the season, the team that has all-of-a-sudden started thinking about winning the division, based on the position that they were in, went out and lost their next game.
I’ve seen it happen time-and-time again and when you watch them play, they don’t seem to play the same. It was just like I don’t think we played the same against Ole Miss, Ole Miss didn’t play the same against Arkansas, and Auburn obviously didn’t play the same against Alabama.”
“Maybe the anxiety created by what people think their opportunities are effects their ability to compete and play with the same aggressive, free-spirited style that you really need to play with when you have these kind of challenges. When you’re trying to climb a mountain, you don’t look at the mountain top, you better look at the next step or it could get pretty treacherous.”
“I think that everyone who has been in this situation has experienced it somewhere along the line this year, so now we feel fortunate to have the opportunity and hopefully we will be able to stay focused on the next step like we need to in order to play the type of football that we are capable of against two very good football teams.”
On Arkansas
“Arkansas is playing as well as any team in the SEC right now in terms of the wins that they have and how they are playing as a team. This is a team that competes well together, they play hard and they don’t really have anything fancy about them.”
“They utilize the personnel that they have very well. The two quarterback system has served them very well offensively, to be able to incorporate a little bit of the option when one guy is quarterback and to be a little bit more conventional and to be able to throw the ball when (Zak) Clark is playing quarterback.”
“Their defense has played extremely hard and aggressive and they’ve been giving some people some problems scheme-wise with some of the things that they do. They have not given up a lot of points and they have kept them in a lot of games this season. They have also been able to win a lot of close games down the stretch.”
“This is a team that has been very opportunistic in taking an advantage every time that they have had a chance to, and we’re going to have to play a pretty, pretty good game, especially from a competitive, toughness, and playing-hard standpoint to match the way that they (Arkansas) play. There is nothing fancy about them. They are old-fashioned in a good way, in terms of how they compete and play in the game.”
On the team’s practices during the bye week
“Our team has practiced well during the bye week and they practiced well yesterday. We seem to be focused and prepared for the game like I feel we need to be and we’re relatively healthy. Having the time off and practicing only twice last week, and by giving the team four days off to heal up has helped us to get healthy.”
“These are the kinds of games that you coach for, and these are the kinds of games that I hope our players came to LSU to play. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
On how to keep the players focused on each game and not the expectations
“I don’t look at is as expectations. I look at it as an opportunity. We have a lot of goals that we can accomplish during the rest of the season, like winning eight games, getting into a New Year’s Day bowl and to being in the top 25, but now the goal that we have at the top of the board (an SEC Championship) is still possible because of what happened this past Saturday.”
“We’re just trying to continue to focus on being an aggressive team that is just going to compete on a play-by-play basis and be relentless. I think that is the number one thing that we need to do, and I think that the expectations have created a lot of anxiety for this team and I think it’s created some negativism, relative to our supporters and fans. This is because our players would certainly not only like to please all of the coaches and the people in the organization, but all of the people who support them.”
On Arkansas’ confidence level after winning so many close games
“Whenever a team is on a roll and has won six games in a row, they will have a tremendous amount of confidence. My concern is not about how their players feel, but about how our players feel and what we do on the field to change the way that their players feel about the game, how it’s going, and who’s controlling the game.”
“This comes down to the people who play with the most toughness, the most aggressiveness and who do the best at playing together as a team and executing as a team. It will be a test to both teams’ wills to see who can persevere for 60 minutes in the game and make the plays that you need to make in order to be successful and get the kind of outcome that you will like to get.”
Coach Nick Saban Quotes
Coming soon.
Player Quotes
Norman LeJuene, SS
“Everything is exciting now with the teams we needed to lose, losing. Saturday was exciting to watch the games unfold. Now we have the opportunity to sneak in the back door and go to Atlanta. We are focused on Arkansas. We’re not worried about the consequences of winning or losing with the SEC title game. We’re taking it one day at time right now.”
“We’re mature about the fact that we know that Arkansas is more important than Auburn right now. We have to win this one first or else the second game doesn’t mean much as for as the SEC Championship game goes. We need to focus on being aggressive and playing dominant football. We need to focus on winning Friday.”
Bradie James, LB
“We need to prevent the anxiety from being overwhelming and keeping us from taking care of business.”
“Both quarterbacks (Matt Jones and Zac Clark) are dangerous for Arkansas. We have to prepare for both of them. No. 17 (Clark) creates a passing game for them and No. 9 (Jones) creates a running game for them. They can run a dangerous option and they can throw the ball when they need to. It’ll be a big challenge for the defense this week.”
(On the 1999 season finale)
“We had gone through a whole lot that year. When Rohan (Davey) stepped up in that Arkansas game and led us to a big win it almost healed the wounds of a rough season. He established himself in that game and it was a great day for us.”
(On LSU, Arkansas and Auburn having a chance to win the SEC West)
“It was a sense of excitement for the entire wild, wild, west. It’s not just exciting for us, but Arkansas in the same situation as us. They can win the west by beating us Friday. So both teams have a lot to play for. We play the game for the right to be champions. I think all the teams will practice this week that much harder because we all have a chance to win now.”
Chad Lavalais, DT
“I feel the same as I felt last week. One of my friends called me yelling about how we have a chance to win the west now. I don’t want to jump ahead. It’s just another SEC opponent. It’s important that we don’t put any added pressure on this game. Arkansas beat us last year and now we have to beat them. We have to prepare well and play well in order to win.”
“We’ve lost two SEC games at home in a row. We need to address that and regain home field dominance. There is no reason for us to play poorly at home. We just have to worry about this game, we know we control our own destiny.”
“Their (Arkansas) offensive line is big and physical. They are a lot like Tennessee. We’ve seen physical offensive lines all year long in SEC play. This game will be no different.”
Josh Reed, WR
“We are glad those things happened (Auburn and Ole Miss losing), but we still know what we have to do. Everybody seems to be a little more upbeat this week. Everybody is more excited. We’ve gotten a second chance and you don’t get very many so we better take advantage of this one.”
“We have to go out there and play hard but still have fun. You can’t take the fun out of it. Arkansas has a really good defense. Last year we struggled moving the ball on them especially through the air. We need to do better offensively this year in order to win.”
Robert Royal, TE
“If we continue to do the things we did these past two weeks which is practice hard, play well and have fun then we will be alright. It another opportunity for us. We don’t want to get sidetracked by looking at the big picture. We need to focus in on this game and this game only.”
“Fans don’t take the boot seriously, but it does mean something to us. Two years ago when it was the only thing we accomplished it meant something to us. Holding that boot was like winning a national championship. It was disappointing to give that boot to Arkansas last year.”