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Payback! Rebels Routed 28-7
Todd Bates (#56 LDE Sr. 6-4 263 lbs. Helfin AL, Cleburne County High School)

Todd Bates and the Alabama defense kept Ole Miss off balance with frequent blitzes

These comments came following the 2004 Ole Miss game as Todd Bates answered questions from the press pool ...

Todd Bates … This win just means so much to me. This is the first time I've started off 2-0 since I've been here. We're just going to keep on working hard, pressing hard and just focus on the next game.

Talk about how much last year's loss was motivation going into this game.

I think last year might have hurt me a little worse because I wasn't there. I was sitting home watching it on TV and was thinking about some of the plays I could have made if I'd been in there. So, we knew they whooped us last year. We just tried to return the favor and came out tonight and were able to get our job done. The scoreboard speaks for itself.

When you see Ray Hudson make a move like he made on that defender ... as a defensive guy, do you feel sorry for the guy that just got his jock faked out or do you say "Good move Ray!"

All you can say is "OOOoooooo!" The whole defense was on the sideline imitating that move because he really broke him down. Ray is an outstanding running back, as well as Ken Darby and Tim Castille. We know those guys are going to make plays, and they came out tonight and showed they could make those plays.

Do you feel that after a 2-0 start, expectations have somewhat changed for this team?

We still have the same expectations that we had in the winter workouts. We expect to just focus on the next game, and come out to play hard on every down, and try to win every play. We'll be on the up side of the scoreboard if we can get our jobs done.

Do you think you got in (Ole Miss QB Micheal) Spurlock's head early on?

Well, he wasn't able to sit back there all day. Mark Anderson was getting some pressure. Roman Harper hit him and made him fumble. He was a little shaken up. We were able to get to him a couple of times and they pulled him from the game.

Western Carolina is next week ... do you wish there was another SEC team next week since the team is playing so good?

I kind of like the way we have the schedule set up. We got our first SEC win. Now we've got Western Carolina and we have to come out and play them ... not tae them lightly ... play them like they're the best team ever. I haven't even gotten to see these guys on film yet. But we have to play them the same way we played Ole Miss. Just take the field the same way every time and hopefully we'll come out with the same results.