Alabama / Arkansas postgame comments ... druidcityonline.com your guide to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the Deep South
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posted 9/15/03

Game Over ... Hogs Rally Over Tide 31-34 In 2 OT

Costly mistakes in overtime allowed Arkansas one final chance to win the game

Our members can read interview transcripts from Coach Mike Shula, Coach Dave Rader, Anthony Bryant, Shaud Williams, Anthony Madison, Brian Bostick, Brodie Croyle and guest analyst Jim Dunaway. For the complete interviews, JOIN THE HOME GAMES 2003 SEASON

These are a few of the post game comments we gathered following the Arkansas game ... ENJOY !

Mike Shula (Alabama Head Coach '03)

We’ve got to put this one behind us, which will be tough to do, and get focused on next week. Because there will be a lot of talk about why we lost. But it’s done now and there’s nothing we can do about it other than learn, get the corrections made and move forward. And that’s what this team has been about is moving forward. And that’s what we will continue to be about.

Shaud Williams (#21 Sr. TB, 5-8 191 lbs. Andrews, TX - Texas Tech transfer)

We had all the momentum on our side. But they’re a good football team. You’ve got to give them credit. Good football teams can go on the road and when things aren’t going they’re way, they make plays and get momentum back on their side. That’s what they did, and you have to give them credit.

Press Pool - Is there anything you have to do mentally to put this behind you after obviously what is one of the tougher defeats a college player can go through?

The sun is still going to come up tomorrow. It’s not the end of the world. Eventually the hurt is going to go away, and the pain of losing a game like this is going to go away. It’s over and we can’t let it keep us from doing what we want to do. There’s a lot of football left and we don’t have time to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. I mean heck, we have to go to Georgia next week and we all know what kind of team they are. So we don’t have time to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves.

CBS kept showing your folks. How special was it for them to drive 15 hours to watch you play.

It’s pretty special. My parents mean a whole lot to me. They don’t get to make it to a whole lot of games being so far away. They’re missing work to come down here and watch me play. They mean a lot to me. I tell them I love them everyday, and I talk to them 2 or 3 times a day. They’re my heart and soul, and they’re the reason that I’m here. Those two people are my motivation. Every time I step on the football field I think about my Mom and Dad.

Brian Bostick (#22 Jr. PK, 5-10 213 lbs. Cullman, AL - Cullman High)

Press Pool - Can you talk about the field goal kick there in overtime? What happened?

There wasn’t too much out of the ordinary on it. It was a good snap, good hold. I just pulled it a little bit left when I kicked it.

That was a career long you hit there at the half. Talk about how good that felt and compare it with the overtime.

Night and day.

Anthony Madison (#9 Jr. RCB, 5-9 180 lbs. Thomasville, AL - Thomasville High)

speaking about Brian Bostick ... He’s done a great deal for this team. We all thought he was going to make it, obviously. We have a lot of confidence in him. But he didn’t make it. It was one of those things, you know. But we still should have won the game.

Press Pool - Can you talk some more about the interception?

I went up to press the guy and I knew that they would try to throw it over my head. So I gave a little ground on the ball. When the ball was in the air, I turned around and looked for it. When I saw it, I tipped it to myself and tried to make a play on it. It was good to get my first interception, but it really doesn’t mean anything because we lost. I just wish we could have won the game.

guest analyst Jim Dunaway - (sports director NBC 13 Birmingham, host of Mike Shula Show)

Home Games - What was your feeling on the unsportsmanlike conduct call? It’s one of those rules that are left to the referee’s discretion.

You grow up in this state and up try to remember old Bear Bryant quotes ... one of them is “Act like you’ve been there before”. I think there’s a happy medium between showing no emotion and then running to the sideline compared to some celebration. I’ve seen it on tape and they were not taunting the other team, which in my mind is unsportsmanlike conduct. But they were celebrating. At that point it’s a judgment call by the official. Was it an unsportsmanlike or a celebration penalty? They called it an unsportsmanlike penalty.

Home Games - Brian Bostick was in some serious emotional pain after the game.

What a gutsy guy. He comes out and faces us and still does interviews and stuff. I remember the guy (Ryan Pflugner) who missed the field goal in the 2000 Orange Bowl (loss to Michigan 35-34) did the same thing. You know, it was a tough kick, but you’re up three touchdowns in the third quarter … it shouldn’t come down to an overtime field goal. I’m sure Brian Bostick feels bad he didn’t win the game for Alabama, but by no means did he lose the game.

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