Post-Game Quotes: Purdue
10/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Purdue Head Coach Darrell Hazell
Opening Statement
Well let me say this; that is a good football team we played. We spotted them some points, but they're an outstanding football team in my opinion. We had a bad penalty early in the football game in my opinion that really cost us. It allowed them to extend the drive and get some points. The one thing that I can say is that we're extremely proud of our football team. The way we played in the second half. I thought we came out and showed a lot of character, a lot of grit, and I thought the energy was really good on the sideline. I'm very proud of their response after the first half.
On what he saw in the Michigan State defense that allowed them to get the running game going...
We worked our game plan. The plan at the beginning was to stress out the overhead players, the SAM and the WILL linebackers. If they were going to be out of the box we were going to run it and if we were going to be in the box we were going to kick it out with those little swing routes. I thought our line fitted up pretty well with those guys. We blocked well in the run game, both at the first and second level, especially on some of those big runs.
On what he didn't see in the first half that he did in the second half...
Anytime you can't move the ball or are getting stopped there's something going wrong, whether it be execution, a missed block. We went into the half and corrected some of those issues that we had. It's hard when you're going three-and-out to get into a rhythm as a play caller. You want to get into a flow as an offense.
Michigan State senior linebacker Riley Bullough
On the two corners that were playing for the first time this season
It's hard to say without seeing the film but I trust those guys. They are great athletes, and they can play at this level. I have confidence in them, and we'll see some things when we see the film. It's just the guys that I play with on the field that I trust.
On Cook being the all-time winningest quarterback
It means a lot. It's just a testament to him as a player and how he studies the game and how he executes on game day. His biggest asset is that he can make big plays and make plays out of nothing, which I think he did today a few times. I'm just really happy for him.
On what happened on the touchdown run
That was a blitz. They had a stunt going on, and we didn't have all of our guys moving to where they should have gone. I need to be the cutback player there. It was just a few things combined on that play.
Michigan State senior cornerback Arjen Colquhoun
On getting a flag
I'm not going to change the way I play because of a couple pass interferences. I'm just going to continue to play hard so the flag really didn't rattle anything.
On making a play after he had gotten a flag on the first one
It felt good. I was just happy to make a play for my team.
Talk about changing dynamic between first and second half
Well we were up 21-0 and coach just said that they were going to make plays when they come back. I feel like Coach D loves wins like this because they really are a testament to our team that we are never going to stop, and we are always going to come back and keep fighting.
On celebrating before the penalty
I thought it was clean, but I guess the refs saw it a different way. I actually looked for a flag before I celebrated the second time. I knew I needed to check and see, but it was good. It was clean.
On the play of true freshman running back Markell Jones...
He's going to be a great back for us. He sees the hole and has patience. He's very physical with the ball and has good balance. He gets better and better each week. We have two very good backs that we can count on to run the ball for us.
On the punting of true freshman Joe Schopper
Again, he's another young player, a true freshman who's in a situation like this against a good football team. He has a lot of poise and just bangs the ball down the field. I don't know how many he's had, but he's had a couple inside the 10. That makes a huge difference for an offense when you're starting with your back against the goal post.
On how he addressed the team after the loss...
Well they're smart enough to know what gets you beat. It's not a secret that you can't turn the ball over and can't have penalties after the play. We need to keep getting better at those things are issues for us. We need to work at it if we're going to be the team that takes that next step.
Purdue redshirt freshman quarterback David Blough
On late game opportunities...
It's two weeks in a row I've had a chance to lead the troops down and win a game and we haven't been able to do it. It stinks, you know, we battled all the way back from 21-0 to 24-21 with a chance. That's everything you can ask for out of the guys. Everybody made plays on the outside for us. DeAngelo (Yancey), Markell (Jones), those guys had incredible games; it's a shame we couldn't pull that one out for us.
On trying to find balance on offense...
There were sometimes we were grinding those guys a little bit and I erred on the side of handing it to Markell (Jones) a little bit, but we could've kicked it out to Danny (Anthrop), and in hindsight, I probably should've kicked it out to Danny a little bit more. But with that said, Markel (Jones) did his job phenomenally, and so did Danny. The drive we had that went up 21, (Danny) probably had two touches for 50 yards. We need to find a balance, and I really need to make those decisions count every single time.
On the potential game-winning drive late in the game...
There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to go do that. It just didn't end up happening. I felt great. The nerves were great. Everything was great. We felt like we were in the position we wanted to be in that we prepared for, that we practiced every Wednesday for. We just didn't get it.
Purdue freshman running back Markell Jones
On Purdue's second-half adjustments...
A loss is a loss, and a loss never feels good. I'm definitely proud of our teammates the way we fought back. We just made a decision in the second half, at halftime, that we were going to come out and play hard and I'm proud of the guys that we did that.
On chipping away with the run game...
We knew what we were capable of doing like breaking out for a long touchdown the entire game.
Early in the game we did a lot of read option and things like that, just chipping away, I just kept telling the guys, `one's going to break eventually, one's going to break.' I think the guys up front just worked really, really hard, and David (Blough) made all the right decisions and we were finally able to get one to break there.
Purdue junior wide receiver DeAngelo Yancey
On missing a catch late in the game...
I let a ball slip through my hands in the end zone, I'm taking full responsibility for it.
Purdue junior defensive tackle Jake Replogle
On needing to play better from the start of the game...
Like Coach said at the beginning, we can't spot a team like Michigan State that many points, we need to start playing better at the beginning, but I'm proud of the way our defense played in the second half, but we need to learn how to play like that from the get-go.
