NIU-San Diego State Postgame Quotes
Sept. 17, 2016
DeKalb, Ill. (Huskies Stadium)

NIU Head Coach Rod Carey

Opening Statement…
"Very, very disappointed in the outcome of the football game. With that being said, you have to give a ton of credit to SDSU. They're a fantastic football team and today jumped on us early, though, we fought back. We had our opportunities there, but in the end, we played a good team. They executed a little bit better than we did today. With that lead, that was the determining factor of the game."

On San Diego State's big plays…
"We had a couple break downs. One was a missed tackle and one didn't get over in the gap. Give credit to a player that can make you pay when you do that."

On climbing back within one touchdown, 28-21…
"We had the ball at 28-21 and didn't get down there and score. We had a long delay with Ty (Harmston). Our hearts go out to him. From what I understand he broke his leg. It was a longer delay, we were obviously going to get him situated and get him right. Then we got a first down there and didn't convert the next one."

On defensive miscues…
"I give San Diego State a lot of credit. When you play a good offense with a good back like that and you do have a break down, obviously we have to correct that. But a guy like that can make you pay in a hurry and he certainly did."

On field position during the game…
"Well, I give their punter a lot of credit and their punting every time we got a stop felt like a midfield, he put it inside the five, it was a big determining factor we had long fields and long ways to go and thought they definitely won the field positioning battle."

NIU Wide receiver Kenny Golladay

On offensive drives from inside NIU's five…
"No matter where we start, our mentality, if we start on the five, we're going take it 95 yards. We've just got to go out there and execute the plays."

NIU Quarterback Ryan Graham

On tale of two halves…
"I wasn't really nervous. I just wasn't playing well enough. I was seeing things, just over thinking things. San Diego State did a great job of playing well and we just weren't executing well."

NIU Cornerback Shawun Lurry

On if he thinks there are concerns on defense…
"No, I'm not concerned. We just got to go out there and first start with practice, watch film and everything. Then just go out there and correct the plays that we didn't correct on the field. We just got to go out there and make plays and win the game. Put our offense on the field."

NIU Linebacker Bobby Jones IV

On the team's defense in the second half…
"I think the second half we came out, and we played with great energy just like we did in the first half, just with little mistakes that we have to clean up. But again, credit goes to San Diego State. They came out and played good."

San Diego State Head Coach Rocky Long

On the win…
"You don't get conservative, but you play to your advantage; you play to your point advantage. Late in the second half we started putting pressure on again and doing some of the stuff we normally do. And if it's not for penalties, I think the score's a lot different for both sides now. I think both sides got aided; both teams got aided tremendously by penalties."

On the quality of the win…
"I don't want to be a smart ass – every win's a good win. I don't understand people saying that there's not a good win or there an ugly win. It's so hard.  Ask them how hard it is to win, it's so hard to win in college football these days.  Whenever you win it's a good deal – doesn't matter how you do it, it's a good deal."

San Diego State Running Back Donnel Pumphrey

On the Aztec running game…
"It just says so much about our offensive line and the offense as a whole. They are blocking; they're taking care of their assignment. Now I have to take care of my assignment, and that's making one guy miss. I wasn't able to do that in the first half, and the second half it just looked good for us."

On his fourth quarter score…
"Oh, it felt great, because it was third-and-one and I was able to break it and touch it.  It just felt great to be able to put them out the game from there."

On San Diego State's penalties…
"We just got to be mature as a football team, and as a leader on the team I have to let them know that they can't be doing that. Because in big games that'll cost us – just like it was starting to cost us. We were up by three touchdowns and those penalties they were able to come back from those."

On NIU…
"Definitely they gave us a test in that second half there. They're a good ball team; they're 35-3 at home and that says a lot about their program.  They did good; they came out here and competed against us – that's all you can ask."