Head Coach Bill Curry's Opening Statement:
"We've got a bunch of young men sobbing in our locker room. We didn't come here to do well against good teams. We came here to beat them, and there were so many ways that we could have today, but we weren't ready to take that step just yet."
On the final call of the game...
"For those who question the officiating, we never do that, ever. We don't point fingers at each other. We don't make excuses that somebody made a bad call, because as soon you do that you have a reason to fail, and its always going to be somebody else's fault... Somebody made a decision that it was a touchdown, and that was overruled by another official, and that's how they call the game. So, we will live with that no matter what the films reveal."
On the team's improvement over the previous week against Lambuth...
"Our players showed resilience last week when we were playing poorly and they showed more resilience this week when we were playing well against far and away the best opponent we have played. We knew that Jacksonville State would be ripe for an upset because they just won two emotional games. But they still played well. They executed when they had to... This is a step forward for us, because the next time we get into this situation, we're going to handle it better. The next time we have a chance to make an interception that will seal the deal, we will make it. The next time we have a chance to get our feet down and get the ball secured, we'll do that too. We have to go through all this agony to learn the sport of football... Unless you go through these moments, you never really get what it takes."
On the team's overall effort...
"I'm proud of our effort. We can go back on the field and improve again if we practice the way we did this week, and get ready for the next one, and the next one, until we play like we should virtually all the time."
On his overview of his players...
"Obviously, Drew Little was outstanding at quarterback. Obviously, Travis Evans is a force when he contains his enthusiasm... he is an amazing player. The offensive line to a giant step forward today from last week. They played against the best front they have played against and there were times when we blocked them extremely well. The defensive line also stepped up. But there's plenty of work to do. We will keep on plugging, you can count on that. I'm excited about our team."
On playing tough competition early in the program's history...
"Our team has played three games. That team we played has played 882. So we're a little behind in preparation time, but we've got to make up time. We don't want to make excuses... We wanted to get after it and stretch ourselves to make ourselves better soon, so we're playing a lot of FCS schools, and we're going to have to keep getting better to compete with them... We're at a point now where we can be dangerous to the opposition, and also to ourselves."
On the decision to try the fake punt...
"We didn't come in here to compete well, and look nice, and come close against a good team. We came here to win. And the only way you're going to win against somebody who has this kind of personnel and this kind of stability is to do something they don't expect... We've worked on it since the first day of training camp, we know how to execute it, and we have a quarterback throwing it [Bo Schlechter]... I don't think you can be cautious when you're playing against big leaguers... The other thing is that it makes a statement to our team. We're trying to win."
On the play of quarterback Drew Little and the quarterback situation...
"[Drew was] different, much better. The quarterback situation has been really unusual because, for once in my experience, we have too many good quarterbacks to give all the reps to just one guy... Drew, when he did not play well a week ago, came back today because we have a principle that you do not lose your job as a quarterback because of one bad game... Quarterbacks either go one way or the other when they have that weight on them, and he clearly got himself ready to play today. He did a great job."
On when he knew his team was going to play well today...
Last Sunday, the guys came out to practice, and I thought, 'We're going to get ready for these guys, and we are good enough to play with them.' It was the best week we've had since I've been here, and it had to be. Now we have to do it again without the stimulus of, 'These guys beat Ole Miss.' It has got to be a habit, and that's out next job."
Center Ben Jacoby:
On team's mood heading into overtime...
"We were really excited. It was a new experience for us. At the same time we saw it as a great opportunity to win the game."
On the play of the offensive line...
"We communicated really well today. Even when we had issues, we were able to tweak some things here and there to deal with what was happening. And it worked. WE had a good day.
On the 46-yard TD run by Travis Evans...
"The O-line got the job done. We knew the play would pop. That was one of the plays we had schemed up. We got up to the line, executed and Travis hit the hole. He is quite a running back.
Quarterback Drew Little:
On play of offensive line ...
"The offensive line did a great job. It was reflective of all the hard work they put in all week. They really worked hard to prepare for Jacksonville State. We couldn't 'have asked for any better."
On the team's last play in overtime...
"It was kind of like the Tebow (former Florida QB Tim Tebow) play where he runs up and jumps up and throws it and finds the receiver in the back of the end zone. It's a great play call and we thought it worked but they did not call it our way. But, we are not going to hang our head about - we're going to get ready for next week.
On GSU's final drive in regulation...
"Coach Bond pushes us every week in practice. We were calm. We wanted to score seven points, not three points. That was out mindset going into the drive."p
Jacksonville State Football Head Coach Jack Crowe
Opening Comments...
"We were fortunate to win. I don't know how many mistakes we made. I made a big one. We made a mistake of almost getting beat. Georgia State football is not a name or brand yet, but what is in their name is a guy like Bill Curry, John Bond and John Thompson. He had the players ready to play and they had a good game plan. They outcoached us. I am proud of our players. Winning is never easy and it takes a fight out there. Despite all of our mistakes, I thought we never lost faith. We are a 3-0 football team and I think Georgia State is a credible team. I know they'll go on to be successful.
On not calling a timeout before the end of the game...
"At the end of the game, I have to think that I made a mistake. I was standing there with the official when I said I wanted to call a timeout and there was 18 seconds at the time. 18 seconds is enough time to run a play and stop the clock, but it just went on and on. We scrambled and then the ball was in the air. We were close enough to kick a field goal. It was reasonable. I was greedy and almost cost us. If somebody said 'you'd have 18 seconds, do you want to run a play and call a timeout?' I'd still say yes."
On the officiating...
"I thought the two guys on our sideline were really good officials. The guy that went out there and said there was one second left, I thought he was gutsy. I told him that. He had it right with one second left, but he got overruled. He is the one that overruled the touchdown at the end too. That's what officials are supposed to do. They are supposed to work with each other. That group is from the Colonial [Athletic Association] and they are good at what they do. They made a lot less mistakes than our football team did."
On whether the team can keep winning close games...
"If we keep winning like this we will be dead soon, but there are probably 90% of coaches that are coaching today that would like to know that their team would go down to the wire and win three close games in a row. The upside is we think we have what it takes to win. The downside is that we are a mistake prone football team."
On whether the crowd played a role in his team's mistakes...
"This is just a different environment. Even though there weren't a lot of people in here, it's loud. I've been in the Superdome playing Michigan. I've been inside loud stadiums, but I had no idea that this number of people could make so much noise, especially down in the bowl. I was thinking about it the whole time. Let me say this. This will be one hell of a rivalry right here. The people of Atlanta need to find a way to support a good Georgia State football team and they need to come over to our place. We have a pretty good stadium too. Our fans need to find a way to travel better to Atlanta and have a good time also, because we didn't exactly bring a house full. This is going to be good. Georgia State is going to win games."
