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Tide
Stuns Razorbacks 41-38
DJ Hall scored two touchdowns and caught 6 passes for 172 yards as he
breaks Alabama's all-time receiving yards record
read and interview with DJ Hall from the
Houston game after breaking the all-time catches record
These post game comments came as
Press Pool ... (question inaudible-"Could previous versions of this Alabama football team pulled off a fourth quarter win?"
DJ Hall ... This football team is just different. You can tell from the whole staff and the players. I mean there were certain situations ... like when we kicked that last field goal, Coach Saban asked the defense if they thought we could get the ball back. Everybody was like "Yeah!" I mean stuff like that shows how confident they are. When you've got a coach like that you've got no choice, you're like "He's got all this confidence in us, we ain't gonna let him down." We got us the ball back and our biggest thing on offense was "Just give us one minute." If you give us one minute we're going to go down the field. That's what we did and Matt Caddell made some great plays for us.
Press ... Talk about the improvements from the Vandy game where the passing game wasn't so good. Tonight it seemed like one bomb after another.
Hall ... Yeah, we worked on that a bunch in practice, especially since we knew they were such a man-coverage team. The biggest thing was if you could get off the jam, then you'd have a pretty good opportunity to get the ball ... and that's what we did.
How big is this for this team?
It's indescribable man. It's been a long time since we've been in that kind of situation and came out on top so it feels great.
What does the record mean to you?
It means a bunch. That's also indescribable because anyone could have been in that situation, but I was just blessed enough to have the opportunity to do it. Ozzie Newsome was such a great player and then you look at him and say "Man, I broke his record." It's just gives you stuff to build on and gives you lots of motivation.
You had (6) catches for 172 yards (and 2 touchdowns). That's a season for some guys. Talk about how you've been able to have such big games.
It's just what I said earlier. It's just all about technique. Everybody knows they are a man-coverage team and they play press. What we emphasize all the time is getting off the jam. I mean if you can get off the jam that means the DB is behind you. So that's pretty much what we worked on all week and did a good job with it today.
DJ how long were you lobbying to get back in the game (temporary removed due to potential quad injury)
(smiles) The first play I got out. I hate being on the sideline. (smiling) There's no room for me on the sideline, I need to be on the field with my team, supporting and just giving them adrenaline. But the coaches are smart and they know what they're doing and they don't want to risk anything. I just appreciate it.
Was it your role on the final drive to maybe be a threat on the field, maybe almost as a decoy? Were you the primary receiver in some of those situations?
Every receiver we have on the field is a primary receiver. Not one person on that field is a decoy. Anybody could get the ball at anytime. It's all a matter of how the defense is playing. They doubled me up a lot today and left other guys open. But that's what happens. We got other guys that will come in and make plays.
DJ, you said it'd been a long time since you won a game like this ... what's the last win that felt this good?
The last win I remember that felt that good was probably Tennessee my sophmore year. Oh that felt good kicking that field goal. It's been awhile man, so that's what makes this win so exciting.
Are ya'll ready for a scoring battle after this game?
Man, we're ready for whatever. We've worked so hard man, the sky's the limit for us.
Was it a little redemption tonight to kind of get back at them after last year?
Man, that felt good. It's undescribable because we work so hard during practice. Guys just pinpoint the small things they need to get better on and the coaches do such a good job of telling us what we need to do to win the game. If we execute, we CAN win. The biggest thing for us that last drive was "Don't Give Up". We do this everyday in practice and guys just fought through it.
What was your mindset coming into the game ... did you want to take it over the way that you did?
Yeah, that was the biggest thing I mean. All week all we were hearing about was "They're going to press you up and lock you up." And we're like, "OK." We worked on it alllllll practice .. getting off the jam and quick releases and it worked. It paid off in the long run.
Talk about Matt Caddell on that last drive and what he did.
That was bigger than he could have even possibly imagined making those catches that he made. Some of them were tough and he just kept fighting through. You make that many catches back-to-back you get tired. But he fought through it and then that last catch he made ... it was just amazing. I mean I'm so proud of him.
In terms of breaking that record, did you envision it happening on a play like that?
I don't envision records man. (laughs) Ya'll know me, I just go out for the team, but it's exciting now. I just want to go out and celebrate with the team.
Has it set in with you yet, that you're the all-time leading receiver?
No it hasn't. It actually hasn't. It hasn't hit me yet. I'm waiting for it to really sink in though.
How proud are you to have that record ... Ozzie Newsome is a Hall of Famer and a legend here.
I'm just so proud to be on the list of guys like that because they were such great players here at the University. Mainly, I'm just really blessed because I've had a few things in the past and a lot of distractions. To be able to come out and perform like that and just be with the team. It's exciting for me and I'm just blessed.
What were you thinking about on that last drive?
Score, man, score! That's all we were thinking about. We do that every day in practice ... the 2-minute drill. In practice, we complain about it because we're tired but we see know that it pays off.
Are you disappointed you won't get to play Arkansas any more ... you had some big games against them.
(laughs) No I ain't disappointed man. I'm just glad to be moving on.
What about Caddell tonight ... he's been a guy that hasn't made a lot of plays his career. But tonight he came up big for you guys.
Matt's always been capable of making big plays. He just never really had the opportunity to show what he could do. And tonight ... we told him, "Hey man, that whole drive was all on you." He made some big catches for us. I'm just so excited that finally got a chance to show what he can do on the field. That last play was such a great catch. I'm pretty sure it should be Top 10 on Sportscenter.
also read post game interview transcripts from ...
Nick Saban (Head Coach)
DJ Hall (#22 WR Sr. 6'-2" 195 lbs. 3VL ... Choctawhatchee High School, Ft. Walton Beach FL)
Matt Caddell (#11 WR Sr. 6'-0" 187 lbs. 3VL ... McAdory High School, McCalla AL)
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