Opening remarks:

“Well, obviously it was a hard fought game by both teams. I thought our guys came back in the second half, played better. We’ve got to execute at all positions better. It was hard fought by both teams. Kept sticking around, so it’s a tough one, every time you go onto overtime, but we have to move forward.”

Missed opportunities?

“We had opportunities throughout the game. We had opportunities with missed tackles. We had opportunities to make a play on the ball. We had opportunities to hit a hole better. We had opportunities to finish blocks. There’s no doubt.”

The decision to punt with 45 seconds left in regulation. Did you consider kicking the field goal?

“Yeah, did, but if we could pooch it down there and them starting at the 20 instead of the 34 or 45 or something like that. I liked those odds better … Could we have executed the pooch better? Sure.”

Could you have kicked the field goal?

“Without the delay? Could have. I think Matt would have, probably, because it would have been a long one.”

Any concern with Brendan Gibbons’s consistency?

“Not really. He’s been great. That’s why we kicked it on the last [overtime].”

Taylor Lewan’s injury?

“Yeah, he should be all right.”

Was it a head thing?

“Not really sure.”

It looked like your guys were in position to make plays on that last drive.

“Yeah, well you have to make plays. You have to execute. Would we have liked to rush the passer better? Yes. But at times we did, at times we didn’t.”

Channing Stribling played a lot on the last drive. What was the reason there?

“Well we’d been playing some dime stuff, trying to put another DB on their tight end.”

Fitz had 27 carries for 27 yards. The offensive line shuffling didn’t seem good enough …

“It wasn’t good enough. There’s no question.”

Where do you go from here?

“Well, we’d better take a hard look at it.”

Chris Bryant got replaced late?

“Chris got banged up a little bit. I think Darrell [Funk] also wanted make a move.”

Some losses are harder to come back from than others. Do you have to work harder to keep everyone together?

“Well I think you always have to work hard. Anytime you lose in overtime, if you let it take a toll, it will.”

With the long field goal in overtime, did you consider Matt Wile at all?

“Thought about it, but Brendan, before the game, we talked. We talked to Matt before the game. Both felt good at certain distances, and that was the distance.”

You talked about the resiliency of this team coming out at the half. What do you take from this game?

“Well I think the biggest thing is we had all kinds of opportunities at every position. As coaches we had opportunities, and we all are in this together, and we all have to make sure we’re taking advantage and executing when those opportunities come.”

After Devin’s mistakes, did you change the game plan at all?

“You know what, we didn’t. Honestly. We started the second half with the same game plan that we used in the first half.”

Did you think there was more energy coming out in the second half?

“I thought we had good energy when we came out in the first half. I had no problem with how we prepared all week and everything we’ve done.”

Were the turnovers deflating a bit?

“Well they responded. Came back, responded. Defense got a couple. I think we complemented ourselves pretty good at times in there. Offense and defense and kicking game. There were some really good things. Especially the kickoff return part of it. When the opportunities are there, you have to take advantage of it.”

When did you decide Jake Ryan was going to play? And did you try to keep his plays limited?

“We tried to keep his play count down a little bit. I can’t tell you exactly how many he ended up having, but we really [made the decision] after Thursday’s practice and Friday. He felt good all week.”

The offensive line issues, is it a toughness thing? A confidence thing?

“We’re having a hard time sometimes targeting at times, combo-ing off the blocks. It’d be interesting to see. Magnuson came in from where I was watching in the game, he made a couple really good combination blocks. That was encouraging. But I’ll be honest with you, [you can’t tell] until you really get a good look at it all and you can analyze it.”

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Quite understandably, the players were really down and only gave short, rehearsed answers. Their expressions say it all.

Jeremy Gallon drinks Gatorade by the quar- okay yeah now is not the time.