December 30 Post-game Quotes - Army
Davyd Brooks on 22-yard reception on Army's final drive that sealed the win - "It felt great. We had to get it done. I knew what I had to do."
Army's Most Outstanding Player Stephen Anderson who had a game-high 14 tackles - "That's the position I'm in. I'm the Mike linebacker in the double eagle flex defense. I'm supposed to be a player that runs sideline to sideline to make players. I don't deviate from the defensive scheme. I just try to do my job."
Josh McNary on his 55-yard return with a fumble for a touchdown in the first quarter - "I was in my pass rush mode. I was steps away when the ball popped out. I just happened to be there. I looked back three times to make sure I wasn't caught. I'd never been in the end zone in my college career."
Nose guard Mike Gann on Army's three first half turnovers - "Turnovers are part of our defense. They don't just happen. We go after the ball. That's what we do in pregame warm-ups is a turnover drill."
December 30 Post-game Quotes - SMU
Quarterback Kyle Padron -“You can’t turn over the ball - especially the way we did. I think we had (three) in the first half - my interceptions and the fumble. Army is a great team and anytime you do that, they’re going to beat you. They (Army) did everything we expected them to. The interception, he just read my eyes and made a great play on the ball. I’ve got to go through my reads a little quicker and see that he’s playing the ball. The other one, it was just an errant throw; it came out of my hand wrong and sailed over (Darius Johnson’s) head. You just can’t turn over the ball when you play a team like that.”
(On the difference between the first and second halves) “We came out and did the same game plan, we just executed better in the second half. I felt pretty comfortable from the first play on. The first throw was pretty tough on me. The wind got it a little bit and it floated a little bit. I’ve got great players surrounding me and I felt fine out there. The offensive line played a great game, all around, throughout the entire game and the receivers made some great catches, too.”
Defensive back Chris Banjo - “We didn’t make enough turnovers to get the ball back to the offense. At the end of the game, we played well enough to win but it’s not just on one side of the ball; all things have to play well to win the game. Plain and simple: If we don’t let them score once, we win the game so we still put it (the defense’s) shoulders. It’s just something we have to come back and fix next year.”
(On Army converting on a third and four late in the game with a 22-yard pass) “I was looking for maybe a sweep that they had been running all game that I felt that they were going to go back to. I don’t know what everybody else’s mindset was. We thought they were going to try to kill the clock – it was surprising they went to the air. But it was a good play and we have to tip our hats to Army. They played a good game and they played well enough to win to the game.”
Running back Zach Line -“We needed to have a gut check earlier than we did. This (loss) can’t go on any player; it was a team thing. In the off-season, we’ve got to come back and be ready for this kind of team and the kind of effort they’re going to put forth. The offense has been off and on all year. The defense has played great, keeping us in every game to where we can come back at the end and win it. I give a lot of the credit for our successful season to them.”
(On the difference between the first and second halves) “Definitely, the turnovers were a shot in the back. To begin the game, you don’t want to start like that. Besides that, it was a gut check kind of thing. They were coming at us and we do that every day in practice against our defense – we don’t leave anybody standing, basically. We never thought we were going to lose that game. At halftime, we had no doubt we were going to come back and win that game. Besides that, I think Coach Jones decided to run the ball a little bit more, take it to them, and I think that was opening up some passing lanes. Everybody in that locker room kind of took it open themselves to take their game to a higher level and we almost had it.”