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Connecticut Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Randy Edsall
“It was a great team effort for us tonight. I am so proud of these players and assistant coaches for the job they have done, most especially the last three games. Here we got six wins, we’re bowl eligible, four years in a row. Nobody ever thought we could make it in that time frame. To come back from where this team was a couple of weeks ago and also never winning on the road. Coming in here, playing this team who has had a tremendous year. They have the crowd back to where it used to be and the noise and everything else. For this team to overcome all of those things that they had to overcome to get this win tonight like I said I couldn’t be more proud of these young men in the terms of what they accomplished. We did it the way we do it. We ran the ball. Jordan (Toddman) had another good night. Too many holding calls up front. It was a tough, gritty, physical, mentally tough win for a group of guys that were counted out not too long ago.”
On defensive captain Scott Lutrus:
“He’s been huge the last few weeks. That’s why he is a captain. That’s why he is a leader. He has been a lot more vocal. He has been a lot more destructive in the middle then he has been previously. He is playing with great confidence. He is really the leader out there on defense. He’s the guy who is getting it done.”
On scoring off turnovers:
“Anytime you get turnovers, it’s huge. That’s kind of what we have been saying the last couple of weeks. It’s something that we talk about and something we believe in. Not turning the ball over, but getting turnovers. We turned one over tonight, but the biggest thing is our turnovers didn’t lead to touchdowns. The turnovers we got led to touchdowns. That was what we were looking for. That play on the goal line was a big play in the game, that put us up a couple. That really helped us. You have to do that when you’re on the road. When you’re on the road, you have to make things like that happen because you have to take the crowd out and that did it. It just came down to the guys playing hard and playing for sixty minutes. We told them it was going to be tough coming in here tonight. Every game is tough in the BIG EAST. Look at the games today: West Virginia, Pitt, and this game. You got to be ready for sixty minutes. May the best man win and whoever is standing last is usually the winner and that was us.”
On ending the season like they did last season:
“I see us as getting better. That’s been our goal all along was get better week by week. We’re going to have to get a lot better next week. Cincinnati has already put up 55 points on the board right now. My biggest thing is for these guys to get better. To me, to win the game is the one of the last things.”
On what they did differently to prepare for this game:
“Nothing. We kept the same routine. The biggest thing we have is practice better. We practice more physical, with more enthusiasm. Why? I don’t know. Maybe early on in the season everyone was telling them how good they are and I have been preaching the same things all year. Sometimes it takes time for things to sink in. I think what happened was we had to take a look at ourselves after that Louisville game.”
On being back against the wall:
“I’d rather be out on top, maybe that’s my personality. When you have your back to the wall you have to come out swinging. That’s what I have done all my life and that’s what I’ve tried to instill in these young men. You have to keep going, you have to get through, you have to find a way to persevere. When you’re doing all that you have to stay together.”
On the team’s BCS chances:
“I’m not worried about that. All that I am worried about is Cincinnati. We told the kids we wanted to stay in the hunt. We got bowl eligible. We accomplished the two goals that we came here to get. We stayed in the hunt for the league title and we are bowl eligible. Now we have to continue to work to better all of that.”
#99 Kendall Reyes, Defensive Tackle
On Connecticut’s defense:
“We stepped up and played well. We had another good week of practice and it really showed what a good week of practice can do. We stopped their run and got after it up front. Our secondary did a good job and we just played a great game.”
On whether today was their best defensive game of the season:
“I would say so, but we still made a lot of mistakes. We still gave up a lot of yards, but we made the plays when we needed to make them and I’m glad we did.”
On the teams focus:
“We knew we had to get the sixth win to be bowl eligible. We knew what that meant for the BIG EAST conference, but getting the win was what we were most focused on.”
#38 Dave Teggart, Kicker
On his performance:
“A long range got away from me today which was kind of disappointing, but I got a few mid-range one’s we had to make. I feel like I have been much more consistent, but mentally I feel the same. I am approaching the kick the same way and you just have to hope everything goes as planned.”
On missing a 49-yard field goal attempt:
“That was well within my range. Especially in the Dome where there are no winds and we are playing in perfect conditions.“
On their bowl eligibility:
“It is a great feeling. It gives us more momentum. We get to play at home next week against Cincinnati and it will feel good to play them coming off a win.”
#10 Zach Frazer Quarterback
On the good defensive play affects their offense:
“When they are on the field most of us are just sitting on the bench watching, but when they execute what their game plan is and what their style is and stop the opposing offense I feel like it does carry a lot of momentum over with turnovers, interceptions etc. We just feed off that energy and go in and perform off of that.”
On Connecticut’s mentality at halftime:
“We knew we had a second half to go out and play to finish the game. We never really felt like we were going to lose the game. We never felt stressed or any pressure on our game plan and I think the rest of the offense felt the same way.”
#23 Jordan Todman Running Back
On the team effort:
“That’s what we do best, we run the ball. We knew they were going to be prepared to stop that, but their were situations when we were able to move the ball and make big plays. We pushed it and went hard every play.”
On being bowl eligible:
“That’s how the season goes. You never quite know what is going to happen. We are competitors and we had to fight our way in there and now we are bowl eligible. We are not just happy and content with that, we want more. We expect to win more, but we take it one game at a time and it’s a great feeling.”
On their first road win:
“It was tough this year to win on the road, but we knew we could do it. We proved it and we know what it takes. It isn’t that easy to win on the road, but if we continue to work hard we will keep winning.”
