Ole Miss/Alabama 10/19/02 - Santonio Beard druidcityonline.com your guide to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the Deep South
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Druid City Online's unique coverage of Alabama football brings you up close and personal with players and coaches after every home game. Click below to read pieces
of their post-game interviews ...

Santonio Beard (#34 Jr. TB, 6-1 225 lbs. Nashville,TN - Pearl/Cohn High School)

Tailback Santonio Beard acheived a Crimson Tide
single-game milestone with 5 rushing touchdowns

These comments came during postgame media interviews ...
Santonio Beard on the offensive line …
They did a great job this evening. They just opened up holes. I only had to make a couple of guys miss and I was in the zone.

Reporter-Was it the best all around offense this year?

Yeah, I think so. Rushing and passing-wise, I think we were great, but I don’t know the numbers. It was the best this year, so far.

What about Lane Bearden coming out there kicking punts … did that inspire you?

Yeah, wow! You can’t say enough about Lane. That’s tough. The guy has a torn ACL, as he’s at practice punting. A lot of guys are looking at him like “Lane what are you doing? Why don’t you go ahead and have surgery and get ready to tryout for the NFL?” But you know, he tells us all the time he wants to play. He’s a part of this team, he’s a senior, and man, that’s toughness right there. You’ve got to give him the game ball.

Does this win give you big momentum going into Tennessee?

Oh definitely, it gives us big momentum. We want to end their (winning) streak. And this gives us great momentum going into the Tennessee game.

After the Arkansas game, you said Brodie was as cool as a pack of Kool cigarettes. Would you say that about yourself today?

I was pretty cool. The line opened up holes. I hit them, broke a couple of tackles and scored. It was a dream come true. You know every running back lives for games like this. This was a big one. I tied the record. I didn’t do it alone. The offensive line, the fullbacks the tight ends, everybody played a part in me doing it, and it just feels great right now.

Do you always run like this or did something special happen?

Yeah I do, but I was determined this game. I’ve been very determined ever since we lost to Georgia. We practiced during the by-week and then the next week’s practice, and there was just a determination. I mean, that was embarrassing to come to our home stadium and not be able to run the ball like we like to do it. It was kind of embarrassing, so everybody just took it upon themselves to get the job done.

Can you talk about your relationship with Shaun Alexander while you two were on the same team?

We had a very good relationship. When we were down at the Orange Bowl, me and him hung out. He gives me a lot of wisdom and tells me a lot of things that I need to know when I was just a young guy, a freshman, coming in. He was great. Most guys in his position don't really have to talk to a young freshman. He’s about to go on to a NFL career, but he took time to talk to me, show me things. I really appreciate that.

What was the most valuable thing he taught you?

Being patient out there on the field. Every run is not going to an 80-yard run, that’s basically one of the key things. Take 5 here, 10 there, 15 there and the big one will come.

When you got your fifth TD did you realize you had tied the record?

Man! On my! I just … man! I don’t have any words for that. When I heard it over the loudspeaker it just brought chills to my whole body. This guy is setting records in the NFL, and I just tied his record at the college level. It’s just amazing.

Do you think he’ll call you?

Yeah, he probably will (laughs).

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Click on the name for parts of their post-game comments ...
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Dennis Franchione (Head Coach)

Les Koenning (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach)

Carl Torbush (Def. Co-ord./LBs Coach - prev. HC@UNC 98-20, HC@LBC 88-97)

Lane Bearden (#44 Sr. P, 6-2 198 lbs. Helena, AL - Pelham High School)

Gerald Dixon (#4 Sr. LCB 5-1 190 lbs. Burtonsville, MD - Paint Branch High School)

Santonio Beard (#34 Jr. TB, 6-1 225 lbs. Nashville,TN - Pearl/Cohn High School)

Dre Fulgham (#3 Jr. WR 6-1 209 lbs. Montevallo, AL - Montevallo High School)