"It's been wonderful. I really do feel like this was coming home to play a game and it was exciting for me even though I didn't say it (earlier). It was exciting to be back in Tiger Stadium and I feel really great that our team did a nice job to make us proud of how they played."

"It's safe to say he's going to be out for, probably, a couple of games, I don't know."

"One game a season doesn't make."

"Personally, I hate to release any of the guys. I feel like this is our team. These guys have been here. They've worked hard. They've all made a tremendous commitment and sacrifice to trying to make the team. I have a lot of respect for what they've tried to do and feel badly that every guy can't, maybe, realize his dreams."

"We don't have to have a reason to bring anybody in. Sometimes, you have to gather information (in case) we need to."

"We didn't get any information back, so I can't really report what the [problem] is with him, what the issue is, what we'll have to do to deal with that, if anything, in the future,"

"But what does it really mean? ... What are you trying to get from it? Basically, what you're trying to do is push people to a limit, not [to] ever harm them in any way, and get them to manage the 'bottom half,' the hard part of it that we all have to deal with in our life."

"We want to support every player, and I think every player knows he has a responsibility for what to do and what not to do. As a coach, I also feel a responsibility to put a player in the best situation possible so he can have success."

"The Pac-10 obviously did pretty well against the SEC this past week, ... Our players need to be aware of that and know that our league is nationally-known and when we go play places people are anxious to play us."

"One of the most difficult parts of my job is having to release players, and the past week has emphasized this fact. This is especially true when those players made significant contributions to the success of the team in the past. Ideally, we would like to keep many of those players on our roster, but we are simply not able to do that."

"I am so happy for Ricky. He has played a great role for this team all year. He has been unselfish and has been a really good team guy."

"We were recruiting a player who had a coach from another school using the NFL as a negative about our program, ... The player said to him -- and I'm not making this up -- 'If the coach of your school is so good, why aren't they trying to hire him in the NFL?'"

"Understanding how important slotting is to top draft picks in terms of who got what . . . and how they fall into place, this is really a timing issue,"

"He did a fantastic job, especially at the end of the game. That's the toughest it ever gets. They're trying to take the air out of him. They're putting them all out there to stop you. He broke two runs that were as big as any in the game."

"This was probably Ricky's best overall game out there, in terms of him having some space to work in, not only as a runner, but a couple of times as a receiver as well."

"He did some straight-line running (Monday). He threw the ball some. He took some easy drops. So it's not like this guy is not at a point where he can't start doing some things. Now, I didn't see all that. I'm just going on what the trainer and the people doing the rehab with him did. But he was there early and stayed late and worked hard. We were pleased with what he did."

"We have voids at linebacker and safety. We could use a more few defensive linemen."

"There are a lot of questions about the offensive line, and we're going to continue to work some different players in different spots to get the best combination of what we can do,"

"Maybe we can create some problems and issues for teams by doing that."

"I think he got enough work in the preseason to be ready for the first game. We did the best we could under the circumstances. We'll continue to try to develop him in the beginning of the season."

"While we do this, from a player's perspective it would be advantageous if we got fan support."

"It?s kids, it?s family, it?s football . . . it?s just fun."

"When you first look at their team, you can't see anything but him. He's a fantastic player. Your eyes are drawn to him."

"(UA) played really hard, and they had a very good defense, ... Their scheme is very solid. They know how to mix their looks and their pressures. They came after us and were really effective. We respect the heck out of what they are doing and what they are capable of doing."