Purdue Interim Head Coach Gerad Parker Postgame Quotes
Opening Statement...
"We certainly are not excited or happy with the results of the second half again. Right now that is on my watch, and I know the fans are not excited about it. Nobody will take it more personal than I will. This is not what the Purdue football program should be, and we certainly have not gotten it done in our own stadium. It's something that will continue to be addressed by me, and we will find ways to finish this thing out."
On the second half struggles and injuries...
"In my opinion, yes, the injuries are a factor. But we have put ourselves in bad positions and have had too many bad things happen in the second half. There are things we can do better and not have to put young players out there. We cannot make so many mistakes on defense because where we are at, it gets amplified and it cost us."
On his words to the team at halftime ...
"We talked about being right there in a football game that we could win, and how we have to expect for great things coming out of the locker room. As simple as that sounds, it's all you can do. It isn't about some rah-rah speech; things aren't going to change for us now, or in the future here, by words. It's a complete commitment to narrowing your focus when things go wrong and expecting good things to happen. I still expect good things to happen."
David Blough, Sophomore, Quarterback
On interception throw when Purdue led 10-0...
"It's unacceptable. You can't miss when that's the situation. It hurts because I think all three of the turnovers led to points right after."
On starting the second half flat...
"We just haven't executed well. It just happens to happen at the same point these last couple weeks and it's frustrating. We've been in position to succeed and coached well, but we haven't executed on my behalf."
Markus Bailey, R-Freshman, Linebacker
On the play of the defense...
"I'm disappointed we didn't respond how we should have."
On developing leadership role...
"I've been thrown into a leadership role a few times having to play middle linebacker. You have to get the front right and coverage right so that's new. You have to mature quicker and accept that leadership role."
Bilal Marshall, Senior, Wide Receiver
On how he wants to end the season the last two weeks...
"We just have to stick together and not be selfish. For us seniors, it's our last two weeks and last week being in Ross-Ade against a big opponent and obviously we haven't seen the Bucket in forever. I was on that team my freshman year as a redshirt and we had that Bucket and I know how that feeling is and I just want to feel it again. For the younger guys, we want to finish strong because no one knows what's going to happen after these last two weeks so we need to make sure we cherish these moments."
Navon Mosley, Freshman, Safety
On Northwestern receiver Austin Carr and the challenges he brought...
"Austin was a really shifty guy. He ran good routes, but the quarterback did a good job of finding holes in our zones so that helped them a lot on third downs."