Post-Game Quotes: Purdue
11/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 14, 2009
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Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio
Opening statement...
"We did a great job today. We hung around and stayed composed. It was a day of big plays especially in the fourth quarter with the blocked field goal and the 73-yard touchdown. It was also a big day for our program because it makes us bowl eligible."
On Michigan State's seniors...
"You don't win a game like this without great seniors. This game could have gone either way but with senior help we stayed composed and kept fighting. They [the seniors] gave an inspirational speech at halftime and we came out inspired in the second half."
On the seniors' clearing the coaches from the locker room to deliver halftime speech...
"I've never seen anything like that before. It was the right time to do it. Football is all about timing and their timing was perfect."
On being bowl eligible...
"When my staff and I came here, our goal was to start going back to bowls every year. Today marks the first time since the period of 1995 to 1997 that we've been to three straight bowls. It's huge for our program."
Sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins
On winning a close game...
"It's nice to be on this end of a game like this. Four quarters is a long time and you have to keep playing for the whole time."
On the comeback...
"I knew we were capable of coming back. We knew we had to make more plays in the second half. At halftime it was gut check for this team."
On opening up the playbook today...
"Our plan for today was to attack and pull out all the stops. We didn't hold anything back this afternoon."
On the significance of the win...
"Anytime you win a game its special, but this one makes us bowl eligible so this one was really big."
Junior linebacker Greg Jones
On the second half...
"It was tough. After halftime, we wanted to come together more as a team. We started out slow out of halftime, but we finally came together at the end. We feed off each other's motivation and passion. We just had to believe in [Coach Dantonio's] system and know that we can get it done."
