Georgia State Head Coach Bill Curry
"If I had a rational explanation for what you've seen the last four weeks, I would certainly offer it. I don't. We practice long and hard and the staff works long and hard but that isn't good enough. The results have to be displayed on the field. We are not connecting, that's so clear. I don't have to tell you that. You can see it. All I know to do is keep working. Keep giving my best. I do that every day with everything I have but that's not even close to enough to get that job done yet. However, I will keep doing that. I would give anything if this were not happening but the fact is, that is it. All we can do is use these situations to teach and somehow get our men to understand what we're doing to ourselves and correct it when it's time to perform against the next team. That would be a great day when that happens.
Can you talk about the momentum swing at the end of the first half?
"That was one of several big momentum shifts that we gave them. As you saw, we had Darren McCray wide open for a touchdown, and then we shanked the punt. Then we missed tackles on No. 27 who is a great player. So that was big but we came back from that in the third quarter and had a chance to not just get back in the game but to really compete and have a chance to win. We sacrificed that too with mistakes. It was just unthinkable that we could come that far and get back in it to fight for the chance to win, then to go back in the tank and get beat this way, it is just unbelievable.
Did the suspension of Gilbert affect the play of the offensive line in the first two quarters when you tried to establish a running game?
Any time you lose a regular in the offensive line, of course it affects you. But we've had regulars injured, pretty much all year. If you ever use that as an excuse then you're in trouble. That is not the reason for our issues. We've had injuries in other places as well. That is a factor but that's not the excuse. We could do a whole lot better with or without a specific individual. But yes, Joe (Gilbert) being out does make it difficult.
What concerns do you have with special teams' coverage in both punt and kick returns?
"I have a great concern. We were excited because we got our regular punter back, but Bo (Schlechter) didn't have a good day. Our coverage does not allow us to kick the ball down the middle of the field. There is a specific place he is supposed to punt it. He was superb at that a year ago and he will be good at it again. But we did not get that done today against a dangerous returner and that killed us.
Can you talk about the mood of the team going into halftime?
"The team was ready to come back, which we did, but we didn't sustain. You can't just come out and have a burst by throwing a couple of touchdowns. You have to keep fighting and we should have been able to keep scoring. We had plenty of things in our arsenal and we just didn't execute them and we didn't get them stopped.
How detrimental was Murray State continuing to get starting field position near midfield?
"Any short drives are detrimental especially with a potent offense like that. You have to make them go a long way and we didn't do that. There are so many things we didn't do well and field position is among them.
The decision to have the defensive ends and nose tackle at some point stand up rather than three-point stance. What was behind that decision?
"That is something that Coach (John) Thompson has utilized for years. The idea is to be able to move around and be faster to get in the gaps and confuse their running game. Obviously that wasn't consistently effective either.
The situations in which you used Kelton Hill. Can you talk about that?
"Well Drew (Little) is the starting quarterback and he was having a reasonably good day when he had protection so you don't pull him. We do have specific plays for Kelton (Hill) and Bo (Schlechter) as well. That one worked well and there will be more as time progresses.
Any positive from what you have worked on in the past two weeks?
"I saw a lot of determination in the third quarter. The tackling in the fourth quarter and the field position got the best of us. We lost our edge offensively as well. The passion that you have to have all 60 minutes has not been present in this team and that is coaching. So I don't really have an answer.
MURRAY STATE HEAD COACH CHRIS HATCHER
"It was a big win for us today. We have been struggling in the past two weeks. It was good to play well early in the game."
"I thought our defense made some big stops with some good tackles. Offensively, it was big plays today that got us over the hump. I thought our special teams played outstanding in all phases and we had great field position early and some big returns. We got that big lead in the third quarter and then almost gave it away."
"Our offense made two big drives at the end of the game to put the game out of reach. It was a lot of fun for us."
"It was a big game for a lot of our guys and I am really proud of them. They put on a good show today and we beat a good Georgia State football team."
What was difference in today's game, the passion and confidence of the players?
"I challenged our guys this week. We've been in a little bit of a slump. We played at egg vs. UT-Martin. Today, we played well. We just didn't make plays at critical situations then, but we had the best week of practice, maybe even since I have been the coach at Murray State. We were able to go out today and during critical junctions in the ball games, the guys stepped up and make some big plays. I was really proud to see them step up like that."
Where did you make the most progress?
"I thought our special teams play was really good. It is something that we have been inconsistent with all season. We had a punt return and then another big return early in the game. Our kickoff coverage was outstanding. Early in the game, we had great field position. I thought in that area we got a lot better than in the past. The big thing is going on the past two games we had not been able to get the big stop when we needed one. No matter how many points we scored on offense, and we really needed a score, we seemed to have trouble. But today, when we needed one, we got one. And every time we needed a big stop, we got one.
