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Read these selected comments gathered during postgame interviews with Coach Shula, Coach Kines, Shaud Williams, Tyrone Prothro, Charlie Peprah and analysis by Mike Raita.

Too Many Tigers ... LSU Beats Alabama 27-3

LSU showed why they were #3 in the nation. The Million Dollar Band and the Alabama Yell Crew stayed til the end.

These are a few of the post game comments we gathered following the LSU football game ...
For the complete interviews, JOIN THE HOME GAMES 2003 SEASON

Mike Shula (Alabama Head Coach '03)

Coach Mike Shula … It’s difficult when you don’t play well against a good football team. And they’re good. They’re very deserving of their #3 ranking. They’re big and strong and fast. We talked about getting off to a good start, and then we didn’t get off to a good start and lost some momentum. Offensively, we couldn’t make a first down early in the game. They got up on us with 10 points, and then at the half we made some plays on some underneath route, but just couldn’t get any points out of it. The beginning of the third quarter, we got the turnover from Charlie Peprah. What a great play on his part. And then we don’t get any points out of that because we didn’t get a first down and then missed the field goal. That took the wind out of our sails a little bit. But our guys fought hard. It’s disappointing and we’re not going to make any excuses. Again, it starts with me. So we’ll continue to work as hard as we can to get things fixed.

Press Pool … Can you talk about the variety of blitzing they used and what you tried to do to counter act that?

They have a bigger variety than most teams. Last week, we saw some blitzes where they were bringing a lot more than we could protect. But on the third play of that game, we get the ball out quick and it’s an 86 yard touchdown. This week, we had some chances against some one-on-ones where we didn’t quite execute it. We made some mistakes when they weren’t blitzing everyone too. They’re good at it, and that makes you make mistakes. Brodie hung in there tough, but just didn’t execute well in the passing game. We talked to our guys about continuing to fight. If you hit a play against the blitz then you’re back in the game. Obviously, we didn’t.

Tyrone Prothro kind of stepped into the spotlight tonight. Is he becoming one of your go-to guys?

Yeah, he’s a true freshman that’s making plays. Even when he makes mistakes, he still makes plays. He let that short kick drop, but then picked it up and breaks about three tackles. We’ve got to find ways to get him the ball. He’s still in the learning process, but watching he and Brodie work together made you feel god about their future together.

Joe Kines (Defensive Coordinator '03)

Can you talk about some of the numerous sophomores and freshmen you had playing tonight?

We’re getting baptized right now, and that’s fine. We’re taking our lumps, but we’re getting a tremendous amount of playing time for some guys that normally wouldn’t be in the mix. I couldn’t be more proud of how our sophomore and freshmen are playing. We’re going to get better. You just have to have a little faith and perseverance to hang through the tough times. It’s just a play or two from being where we are and being really good. When that comes, we can all enjoy it.

What are some of the things they’ve been learning throughout the year?

The one thing I noticed on tape is that we never quit. Sometimes we run out of gas a little bit. But this bunch has never backed down and when you call on them on the sideline, they respond. There’s going to be a day when that’s really important. So they’re learning how to do that and to play hard. We made some plays tonight, but we just didn’t make enough.

Derrick Pope laid a couple of big hits tonight. Talk about his play.

Yeah he did. Derrick plays hard every game. We missed him when he was out those couple of games. He’s back in there now though. He’s like a heavyweight boxer; he’s going to come from left field on you. He’s not a jab and puncher. He’ll try to knock you out of the box every single snap. He’s a joy to coach and be around. It kills him to lose. You don’t ever want to get used to losing. That’s the thing you like about this crowd is that they are fighting and clawing, and we’ll fight our way out of this.

You guys get in the red zone and then stall out. Do you know what the problem is?

No, I really don’t. I know you can’t win ballgames against good teams if you get down in the red zone and don’t come away with any points. There’s just no way you can beat a team like LSU doing things like that.

Is the offense so simple that you have to just go out and beat the defense … so simple that you can’t out scheme anyone? All that because you got such a late start offensively?

I don’t think so. Going into every week, the coaches tell us every man has to win their battle. When you have more guys not winning their battles than are, it’s going to be tough. I’m not trying to single anyone out. I’m not trying to point the finger at anyone. I know I need to look at myself first and question what I need to do better to help this team. But it comes down to winning your individual battle. Here lately we’ve had a lot of guy getting beat on individual battles, including myself. We just have to find a way to get tough and win those battles. If we can do that, we’ll have a lot better chance to win some ball games.

Which game at Bryant Denny Stadium will you remember the most?

The one I will remember the most is probably the Oklahoma game. That’s the loudest I’ve heard it here in a long time. The atmosphere and Oklahoma coming to town, it was just a great atmosphere for college football. That’s the game I’ll probably remember the most.

Tyrone Prothro (#4 Fr. SE, 5-8 173 lbs. Heflin, Cleburne County High)

Press Pool … You had some good runs tonight on punt returns to put the ball in the position to score. But then you guys couldn’t get anywhere.

When the ball came to me, I was just trying to make a play. They kept kicking it to me so I just kept on trying to make plays.

What about that long pass and run there in the second half?

I just ran a little route crossing the middle. Brodie ended up having to scramble, so I just ran back and put myself in position to catch the ball.

Obviously, a tough season for you. In high school, you were used to winning all the time. Talk about that.

Even though you had a decent game, it’s hard to feel good about it.

It feels good just to know that you made plays. But it would feel a whole lot better if it would have come with a win.

Charlie Peprah (#26 So. LCB, 5-10 189 lbs. Plano, TX - Plano East High School)

Charlie Peprah (on the fumble recovery) … I just tried to knock it out, just tried to do something because I knew we were down. So I knocked it out and thank goodness it stayed in bounds. I just tried to get over there as quickly as I could before it rolled out. I snatched it right before it hit the sideline.

Can you describe you interception and the run afterwards?

The interception was easy. I just had to wait on it to come to me. We were in a zone. I pushed my man out of bounds and then started sinking back a bit. I don’t know what happened, but I was sitting back and the ball started floating in the air and it came right to me. I just had to catch it.

Can you talk about some of the younger players like yourself who have had to step up their games this year?

Prothro is a guy I really like. I talk to him all the time and tell him he needs to step up into a leadership role. Some people just have it, and he has it. You just have to get him the ball. He’s Prothro. DeMeco Ryans is a great player. Darby is a good one. There’s just so many and them getting experience now is going to help them shine next year.

Where has Prothro been all year … hiding out in the wings?

He’s been there, but he’s been waiting his turn I guess. He never complained and knew that he’d get his chance to shine. That's what he’s starting to do now.

You guys clinched the four losing season in 45 years tonight. How much does that hurt right now?

It hurts bad. Anytime you lose, it sucks. Especially, now. If we win out we still won’t have a winning season. That’s tough to have a losing season, but stuff happens man. There’s nothing we can do about it now except win out and get ready for next year.

Mike Raita (Sports Director, ABC 33/40 Birmingham)

These comments came during a post game interview with ABC 33/40 Sports Director Mike Raita ...

Tide Home Games … Alabama clinched a losing season tonight. What were your impressions of what happened?

Mike Raita … Well, they got totally manhandled by LSU, but I don’t think that was totally unexpected. LSU after all is the #3 team in the nation and Alabama had been struggling. They have some injury problems and a quarterback who is playing with one shoulder. There are a lot of excuses and Shula doesn’t want to make any. But the truth be told, Alabama is probably achieving what they should be right now.

The offense once again struggled.

They have a patchwork offensive line. They had a lot of injuries there. Any time you’re working with guys and mixing second and sometimes third teamers in there, you’re going to struggle. LSU is so quick defensively and they’re front four are so good that they just laid their ears back and came after Brodie Croyle and put him under duress.

I counted at least 20 freshmen and sophomores that got significant playing time tonight. What do you think that says about this team?

It says they have a lot of injury problems and not much depth. If you heard the ESPN commentators, every time they televise an Alabama game they talk about how Mike Shula came in to a very difficult situation and this season is not on him. This season comes down to the fact that they don’t have a lot of depth and didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. They had a hundred recruits at this game tonight. So they’re trying to build some depth with recruiting classes, and it’s going to take a year or two. But I think that Shula is on the right track.

Do you think it hurts to have a hundred recruits see a game like tonight’s game?

I think it can work both ways. If a recruiting class comes in and sees a team get totally dismantled, they could say “Oh man, I don’t want to go there. That team is awful!” But on the other hand they’re thinking, “I can go in there and help this team right away.” I’m sure that’s what the coaches are telling these young kids because that’s what they want to hear.

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