Coaches' and Players' SportsNotes & Quotes from the first game of the University of Louisiana's 2003 football season ...
The 89 yard return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown by Patrick Lamy of Louisiana on the final play of the first half may have been the longest ever return of a blocked kick against the Gamecocks. The last blocked kick returned for a touchdown against South Carolina was a nine yard return of a blocked punt by Florida in 1996
Louisiana Head Coach Rickey Bustle
"I am really pleased with our effort tonight. I told the kids not to hang their heads, they played hard and they played well. I don't like to talk about moral victories, but tonight was one of them."
"Our defensive unit played their hearts out. They did a great job tonight. Our defensive staff is doing a great job. We have a little more depth this year on the defensive side. Our secondary played very well."
Jerry Babb played well, especially for his first football game. The 80,000 fans were really quiet tonight, with the exception of a few plays. It's always tough to start your first game, let alone in a place like this with 80,000+ fans yelling and screaming, but it didn't seem like 80,000 tonight."
"I was very pleased with our running game. Offensively, our guys worked very hard. We had a good effort on our line to open up some holes for our running game."
South Carolina Head Coach Lou Holtz
Louisiana [] had a nice game plan. Their coach had a nice game plan. Their back out of the backfield caused us a mismatch.
Our secondary, played well.
We just couldn't get the running game going. We had some people open in the first half, and we had a lot of drops in first half.
We did not have a lot of running room. It could be the reads. I'll have to look at the film. We didn't run the ball well.
On the blocked field goal: Either it was a slow snap or a slow kick. The concern I had was Josh Brown is a three-step placekicker but a two-step punter.
We never go could get them in a one-dimensional game.
QB Jerry Babb
"We wanted to make sure that we were not put in bad situations."
"Good game plan. They didn't show too much that we [did not] expect."
"USC is a good team."
"Defensively, they had a really good game plan."
"They [the fans] were loud. It made it tough on us."
RB Travis Smothers
"I just tried to execute [the] plays to the best of my ability."
"I'm still learning the offense."
"I have to give credit to the offensive line. They opened up big holes for me all day."
"I just went out and tried to play hard."
DB Michael Adams
(Blocked field goal at the end of the first half)
"Well, we had the block right play on. I was in because coach [Coach Bustle] knew I could get off the line quick."
"Everything thing in my head said 'I had to make a big play', because I'm not going to get in a lot. I'm only a freshman."
"It felt great to play in front of 80,000 people. It was a great atmosphere."
"We felt we had a win under our belt."
S Patrick Lamy
(Returned blocked field goal for touchdown in second quarter)
"My job on that play is to make sure there's no fake."
"I think USC is a good team. We fell short but it still feels good. It gives us a little confidence, but we still didn't win."
[USC]Jamacia Jackson
"We played real hard. They (UL) played really hard and they never gave up. They are not a slouch team - they gave it their all."
The attendance of 82,227 was the fourth largest opening game crowd in Williams-Brice Stadium history.
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