Gator Country

Coach Meyer: “I’m disappointed with the way the game started. We dug ourselves into a hole, and we have to get tougher to get ourselves out of situations like that. I was disappointed after the game because I felt we could have played so much better."

On the game:

“We’re going to go back out there Monday and do it much harder. We can’t start off another game like we did tonight. We dug ourselves out of the hole, and the defense kept us in-tact all night.”

On the play by the freshmen:

“We played a bunch of freshmen, most notably Percy Harvin. He’s got great speed and played very well.”

On the 4-and-13 decision:

“I just didn’t feel like we were going to make a 47-yard field goal, but I felt like we were going to make the first down.”

On Andre Caldwell’s performance:

“One thing we’ll never have in this program is a play maker and not have him touch the ball. We want to try to get the ball to our play makers, and Bubba falls into that category. We have to continue to get the ball to him.”

On the play of Chris Leak and Dallas Baker:

“They have practiced better than they played. Chris and Dallas are two players that you have a really good feeling about.”

On making big plays:

“We gotta have some hits from this offense – 29 yards was our longest reception, and we are Florida. We just have to have bigger hits.”

On Ray McDonald’s performance:

“He played hard tonight. He’s a premier guy, and after another week of practice, he’ll play better again.”

Senior Quarterback Chris Leak

On Southern Miss

“Southern Miss is a great team. We have to give them credit. They came in here and played hard.”

On the receiving corps

“Jemalle (Cornelius) is a speedy guy. He ran a wheel route and with his speed I just hung it up and he went and got it. He is a great player. Florida receivers have always been blessed with speed. We always have threats down the field.”

On spreading the ball around

“I am definitely looking to spread the ball around to all of our receivers this year. We have depth at receiver and it is important to utilize that depth.”

On touchdown strike to Dallas Baker

“Dallas and I needed to make a play. The safety gave Dallas some room and I got the ball to him.”

On Percy Harvin

“He is a real shifty guy. We are going to get the ball in his hands because we know he will make plays.”

Freshman Wide Receiver Percy Harvin

On starting in his first game

“All week we went through our walk through with the normal personnel. It did not include me, but during the play they called my number and I just ran out there. It’s a great feeling getting out there and play with these great wide receivers.”

On his end around

“Aw! I should have scored on that play. I was looking straight ahead. I wasn’t looking to the side. I wish I could have that play back.”

On the team starting out slow

“Their defense gave us some crazy looks and we were a little confused, but we came out in the second half and put the game away.”

On getting back onto the football field

“I have been inactive for a long time. I sat out basketball and track season last year. I was just anxious to lace up my cleats and get out there.”

Junior Linebacker Brandon Siler

On the early Southern Miss touchdown

“They got an early break with the interception. They happened to get into the end zone, but we battled back. After the early touchdown, we battled back. A key to football is to learn to bounce back and our defense did.”

On the defense’s emotion

“One thing I feel our defense is lacking is emotion. I felt our emotion wasn’t high. That takes away from our defense and it showed. The defense is the emotional unit. The offense feeds off of us.”

Senior Wide Receiver Dallas Baker

On chemistry with Leak

“Chris (Leak) and I are really building a rhythm. On my touchdown I ran the wrong route, but he found me in the back of the end zone. Chris and I hooked up a couple times, but we still have a lot to work on.”

On his performance

“I was surprised when I heard I had nine receptions. I was really just looking to score.”

On Harvin’s performance

“We tease Harvin about being Reggie Bush. He is so talented. He will push the older guys to be better. That should really help this team.”

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