Oct. 6, 2001

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James Madison head coach, Mickey Matthews:
...on Villanova running back, Brian Westbrook's catch on fourth and six in the second overtime...
"We didn't think the ball was caught. We thought it hit the turf."

...on Westbrook...
"That kid (Brian Westbrook) is a great player. He's unbelievable. He rushed for 230 yards. He is a very good player."

"I have to hand it to Villanova. That was a great college football game, maybe the best I have ever seen. That's as good as it gets. Both group of kids refused to lose. I am not sure anyone lost really. It was a great game."

Villanova head coach, Andy Talley:
"We were really fortunate that our kids had the inside right stuff to win the game."

"I have been in overtime games nine times in my career and am 6-3. All I can tell you about overtime is that you have to be lucky. It doesn't matter who is better at that point because what has happened is that the game is dead even. Whoever is the lesser team has now pulled themselves up to be as good as the other team and it is just luck. Totally luck."

"We hung with our great player today. (James Madison head coach) Mickey Matthews said that we have the best player in the league (Brian Westbrook) and Richmond had the best talent. So today we gave the ball to our best player and he had a heck of a game."

...on James Madison quarterback, Matt LeZotte...
"He is like Ryan Day from New Hampshire. He is almost a carbon copy of Day. He has a good arm, he makes good decisions and he killed us running the ball. That made our front four really, really tired just from chasing him. He was elusive. He makes a difference. He knows where to go with the ball. He is another good one that has come into the league and we will have to deal with for a while."

"This senior group here has been through a lot. They are a very strong group. Just to give you an example, we vote for captains every week. They have elected to take turns voting different guys to be captains, which is not really the way I wanted it to be set up. I wanted two or three guys that should be captain of this team every week. They have a bond. There is 25 of them. They have really pulled together. They have really taken ownership and leadership of this program. We didn't have that last year. We would have lost that game last year. That's what we have right here in this group. You know that one man can make a difference. Well, in this case 25 guys are making the difference."

Villanova running back, Brian Westbrook:
"It was a big swing of emotions. At first the game was over and then he said it was a catch. We had an opportunity to score and win the game. It was definitely a big swing of emotions for us."

...when asked where this ranks among his best games...
"Right now it is the best. Every week I am going out to have my best game. Last week was the best game for our team. Now this week is going to be the best week for our team. Hopefully, next week it won't be as close, but it will be another great game for our team. When you are on the road to a championship where we are trying to get to, you have to win the close ones. You have to be lucky, just like Coach said. Today we were."

...when asked if he caught the ball on fourth and six in the second overtime...
"The referee said that I did. It was close, but I think I caught it."

Villanova quarterback, Brett Gordon:
...when asked about his performance...
"I really don't have any other way to explain it right now, other than, mentally I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be, obviously. A couple of the interceptions were just bad plays on my part. Defense, I thought won us this game today. Time and time again, especially in the second half, with turnovers and my interceptions, we kept giving them chances to score, but they kept holding them."

"(It felt like) I basically did everything possible to lose this game for us. That's why football is a team game. The defense and the rest of the guys on offense helped pick me up. A win is a win."