Opening Comments...

"Drew Little had one of the best games as a quarterback, at any school.  It was just masterful.  We are really proud of him.  He also has some very good receivers who catch the ball, even if he does not throw it exactly right sometimes.  I think he would agree with that.  The o-line grew up some today and we played our most complete game.  I am proud of our team because I think there were distractions.  We were anxious after the events of last week and it was almost a matter of trying to calm the guys and get our heads on straight.  They got it together and came out and played about as well as we have played.  Kicking game was big as usual.  The fact that we can throw the ball and know that Drew [Little] is going to get it to the right place virtually every time we protect him is a huge thing for us and also opens up the running game.  The other key factor is that the defense came to play today in a way they have not this entire year.  I am proud of the guys."

On the defensive coverage being better today...

"Coach [John] Thompson, [Anthony] Midget, [Jason] French and [Chris] Ward spent many, many hours evaluating route systems and protections.  I think they had such a marvelous plan.  A lot of this passing yardage was accumulated after the game was pretty much out of hand.  I think there was a terrific plan against an outstanding young quarterback.  The guy has been passing for over 300 yards a game and he was still 27-44 today for 230 yards, but like I said, a lot of those happened when the game was out of reach.  Our young defensive backs really are growing up and our veteran defensive backs are redshirt freshmen."

On the importance of stopping the run...

"The single worst thing that can happen in a football game has happened to us a bunch this year.  That is when the other team is running up and down the field and you can't get them off.  It's first and ten, second and four, third and one and they just keep driving the ball and you just can't stop them.  Then your offense goes out and goes three and out and it puts your defense back on the field.  That is how we have had bad numbers with time of possession.  This is the first time we have had the advantage in time of possession.  We need for this to continue.  I'm still not at all happy with our running game.  It got kind of out of hand when we were trying to be careful and find some things that Star [Jackson] could do and Kelton [Hill] needed to get some play as well.  Star [Jackson] had not played football in a long time and we won't hold him accountable for errors at this time.  He is a marvelous talent.  He's just got to work his way into the action."

On why Star [Jackson] was put in the game when Drew [Little] was doing so well...

"We had a competition.  One group of quarterbacks was here for a year and then Star [Jackson] joined us this summer.  We made it very clear that the first one to master our system and intellectually execute it would be the starter.  Drew [Little] did that.  We made it also clear that our system would be such that if our starter had a real bad game, then we would not pull him after one bad game.  Drew [Little] managed to do that in our second game.  He came back the next week and played extremely well and has done so ever since.  There are people who don't ever substitute for their quarterback.  They just leave them out there.  We want to get our other guys ready because they are extremely talented and they are learning.  Star [Jackson] has not been in a game in a long, long time and so he just needed to get in the game and get a feel for it.  We were going to play him today regardless.  If we had been behind, we would have played him anyhow.  He is just too talented to sit over there."

Quarterback Drew Little

On how comfortable he is with the receivers around him...

"A lot of the guys have been here for a year and a half and have had a redshirt season to work on timing and stuff like that, but when I make a bad throw, great players are going to pick you up.  That is what makes a great quarterback."

On how satisfied he was with his team's performance...

"What I did today was because of the o-line, the wide-outs, the running backs, you have got to have the time to get it to the receivers and make a good play.  I didn't hit a lot of guys right where I wanted to hit them, but Danny Williams and Sidney Haynes were there.  Also Arthur Williams dragging the guy 15 yards into the endzone really boosts your stats too."

On his connection with Danny Williams...

"Danny is a great receiver.  He put in a lot of overtime hours in the summer just working on ball-drills and stuff like that.  Danny is a great friend of mine on and off the field and so whenever we can go play catch, we do it.  He runs smart routes and he is going to catch the ball and that is why I go to him."

MOREHEAD STATE Head Coach Matt Ballard

On Game

"It was surely not what we expected not what we had hoped for, that's for certain.

I'm a little disappointed in the outcome and am not going to make any excuses or pass the buck. We're going to give credit where credit is due. They did a very outstanding job, they played harder than us, were more sound than us and more physical than us. They just did the basics of football today. Just blocking and tackling in a simple form. We were softer and weren't as aggressive. They were quicker and faster and in a different gear than us.

Offensively today, you can really see the difference out there. We had a hard time judging the football. Thought we'd get used to it, but it was all day long. It is what it is. We got beat physical today. We'll work harder and get a little sharper. We didn't execute in the passing game. They flat outplayed us."

On environment of Georgia Dome and NFL

"Bottom line, we didn't play up to our capabilities. Yes, this is a daunting place. We should have gotten that out of our system Friday in the walk through practice here.

We didn't handle the football part well. If played in parking lot, if everything remained the same, the results would be the same. It is not about this building, except the problem we had seeing and judging the ball. That might have made a difference. The thing that is surprising is we didn't respond and meet their fire with our fire. That is a learning and growing process."

On Turnovers

"I don't care who you play, if you do that and give them field position and don't cover or defend, you'll pay for it. Stupid penalties also hurt us, especially in games like this. That's just part of it.

On Running the Ball

"We didn't run the ball well. We didn't do anything consistent on offense today. When you don't do that, this will be the end result 98% of the time.

On Zach Lewis, missing three days and not being sharp

"Probably a combination of those things you mentioned. They gave us unconventional looks. When it gets down to it, it was their speed and aggressiveness. That got us out of our timing. This field is as flat as a table, unlike an outdoor field with a crown. Trust me, that makes a difference to you. It is a factor that may have contributed to his passing, but I'll watch the film. They got a lot of pressure on us.

GSU POSTGAME NOTEBOOK

FIRST WIN STREAK - The back-to-back wins are the first in school history following the win one, lose one scenario through the first four weeks of the season.

SECOND-HIGHEST SCORING GAME - The 37 points scored are the second most of the season, four shy of the 41 points put on the board in the season opener vs. Shorter.

GSU is now averaging 28.6 points per game on the season.

The 27-point win is second highest to the 34-point win in the opener.

The 30 points scored in the first half is a season high, topping the 20 points in the opening half vs. Shorter in the season opener and 17 in the second half in the comeback vs. #4 Jacksonville State.

FEWEST YARDS ALLOWED - The 280 yards surrendered today are second lowest on the season to the 263 yards vs. Shorter in the opener. However, the Panthers had four takeaways with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries today for a season best.

LITTLE SETS BEST - QB Drew Little's 3 TD's are his season best with 2 TD passes vs. Shorter and 2 last week vs. Campbell.

His 287 yards on 21-of-29 are also a season best, topping his 227 (25-of-38) vs. Jacksonville State two weeks ago here at the Dome.

WILLIAMS' MOST YARDS - Danny Williams had 8 catches for 101 yards to become the first Panther to have a 100-yard receiver in a game.

VANCE KEEPS KICKING - Iain Vance entered the game a perfect 5-for-5 in field goals and 13-for-13 in PAT's. His 43-yarder in the second quarter was wide left and his first miss of the season. But, he responded on his next kick with a season long 49 yard kick to make him 6-for-7. He ended his PAT streak at 15 with his miss in the second quarter. His 7 points today up his team leading total to 35 points.

FUMBLES - Going into the game, GSU had recovered only 3 fumbles of the 10 they had a chance to recover. In the first half, they recovered 2 of the 3 by Morehead State.

IT TAKES TIME - Georgia State has never had a time of possession advantage for a game this season. They had the ball for 32:25 today.

HAPPY RETURNS - Demarius Matthew's 47-yard punt return was a season high for the team. That follows last week's 96-yard KOR by Darren McCray.

EVANS HALF HUNDREDS - Travis Evans had a season high 62 yards to top his 54 two weeks ago vs. JSU and 53 last week vs. Cambpell. He leads the team with 228 yards.