Connecticut Post-Game Quotes
UConn Coach Randy Edsall:
“It’s not really complicated to figure out what went on out there – when you have three fumbles, two interceptions and ten penalties, and you’re playing a team like Syracuse with the athletes they have – your margin for error is very slim.”
“In the second half, we came out and stopped them, but then we fell back into the mistakes. They have some speed guys coming from the edge, and give them credit, but we have to do a better job there.”
“We just didn’t do the things we needed to do to win. If we want to do what we need to do to build this program, we need to be able to go on the road and execute. The kids played hard for 60 minutes and never gave up, but we didn’t come here to say we gave them a good game – we came here to win.”
On the last play of the first half:
“It was just a Hail Mary, and we practice against it every week. Their guy tapped it back and we didn’t have anybody behind there. It was a missed assignment.”
On the Anthony Smith interception for a touchdown:
“That was a big turning point. It’s tough to give up points like that. It was a play that we had run earlier in the game with success, but we just didn’t execute it there.”
UConn kicker Matt Nuzie:
“The missed extra point was my fault, I didn’t kick it down the middle. I should have put it right down the middle. I’m going to watch the tape. It was close.”
“I think I actually kicked this field goal better than the 49-yarder. Before that, Coach had asked me, because it was going to be a 52-yard attempt, ‘Matt, can you make this?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ So, I didn’t get that opportunity and then I think there was a sack and then I got that opportunity. I want any chance to put points on the board.”
“I think we came into this game confident, but things just didn’t go our way.
UConn tailback Cornell Brockington:
“Turnovers hurt us. I’m going to make sure we tighten it up in practice so it doesn’t happen anymore.”
“We just beat ourselves, that’s all.”
“I think a lot of guys are trying to make big plays. They’re excited. We worked on that in practice. I’m going to get on the guys to make sure we relax and get ready for Georgia Tech.”
“It hurts, that’s all I can say. Turnovers hurt us a lot. Syracuse capitalized on it. It hurt.”
“You can’t make big mistakes and turn the ball over when you’re playing a good team like Syracuse.”
UConn tight end Dan Murray:
“We came out and kept playing, but the turnovers just killed us again.”
“We can’t dwell on this loss. We have to move on. We have Georgia Tech in two weeks, so during the bye week, we’re just going to concentrate on them and move on.”
“Every week, we’re killing ourselves. That’s what we keep emphasizing. It’s us making the mistakes. It’s just something we’ve got to get over.”
UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky:
“You can’t make mistakes when you play a good team like this. We got away with it last week.”
“None of us play this game to be individuals. I’ve said it every week – I could throw for how ever many touchdowns, however many yards, but if we lose, it’s not what we go out to do. We didn’t win today and I didn’t make enough plays as the quarterback of this team to get a win.”
Orlovsky on the SU touchdown before the half:
“It was big. It’s a momentum thing. It was like what we had against Pitt with the field goal. We came into halftime and we said they got all the breaks, we played as bad as we could in the first half and we were still only down one. It was a big play for them. Give them credit. They made a play. I don’t know what happened defensively.”
“I think some people lost focus. The crowd noise had part to do with it and that’s part of home-field advantage. The Carrier Dome is a great place to play and that helped them.”
“We just got too careless with the ball and didn’t make enough plays when it came down to it.”
Orlovsky on Anthony Smith’s interception:
“Freak play. It went off his hand and up in the air and hit the d-lineman and he bobbled it and I think it hit off his helmet, and then they scooped it up and scored. They got a lucky break.”
“We knew the turf was going to be fast. They were quick. They did a good job at the end of teeing off and getting up field real fast and that created problems. But, they were quick on film, so we expected that out on the field.”
“We put ourselves in some bad positions with some false starts and some penalties and when you do that against a good team, you’re not going to be successful.”
“We’ve got three games left in the season. We have a great Georgia Tech team. We’re going to look forward to that game and we know it’s a great challenge, but once again, it’s an opportunity for us to put a win in the column. And, this one hurts. This one hurts. But, there’s a season for a reason. We’re going to move on, watch film and get after things.”
“We did a good job offensively of executing the game plan. We just had too many mistakes.”
Orlovsky on the false starts:
“Lack of focus. Lack of concentration. And the crowd noise. They did a good job of getting their crowd into it and give them credit, that’s their crowd’s job. It’s a tough environment to play in.”
“I don’t feel snake-bitten. I just feel like, ‘Wow. Why can’t we get a break like that?’ Or how come that always happens to us. It’s just an unlucky break and there’s nothing you can do about it and my thing was just move on. But, it’s tough. When you mess up as an individual, blatantly mess up, it’s a lot easier to say, ‘That’s my fault.’ But, to have something like that is like, ‘Wow. What can we do about that?’ So, it’s just a tough break.”
