Villanova head coach Andy Talley...

Opening statement: This was a gut check game for us. After Syracuse and Fordham, I wasn't quite sure of what we have and knowing the CAA I know we're going to have games like we had today, where you're going to be in jeopardy at times. We had to figure out if we have the ability to rally and come back.

I thought our first half was really sloppy. We had three turnovers and as you know turnovers are killers. We lost the ability to set the pace of the game. That was a concern to me and it looked like we just weren't turning it around in the beginning of the third quarter.

I think the catch by Mike Burke was one of the best catches today. I think that was the thing that spurred us on because we went on to score on that drive.

We had some injuries; we lost Tanoh Kpassagnon, a defensive end, with a knee injury. We're not sure how long that's going to be. Corey Majors was out with a concussion. Poppy Lives was hurt early in the game and John [Robertson] felt he couldn't run. He took a shot just above the hip and really was struggling running the ball. We nixed a good percentage of our offense because of that.

I went to him [Robertson] at halftime and said you have to come back and run the ball. You're one of the best quarterbacks in the country and this is a gut check game. You have to figure it out because we put a lot of plays in for you. We have terrific runners in Kevin [Monangai], Gary [Underwood] and Austin [Medley] but it's a quarterback centered offense. He shook his head and said I'm on. The other guys ended up having a great second half and we didn't have to use him very much.

We gave up some big plays on defense. They found our rookie corner and got after him with some play action, but we really played better defense than the score looks. But, when it's all said and done, we gave up some points, which I'm not pleased with. We committed a couple of penalties which really upset me. The hit to the head of the quarterback kept a drive going.

While we have a good football team, sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. Basically, anytime we win, I'm happy. I think JMU peaked for us, they knew that they were playing a top five or six team. They zeroed in and did a heck of a job. They pushed us to play our very best to make some big plays and I'm thankful we were able to do that and pull this thing out.

On Villanova: I think from what I can tell is that they keep their poise. They are prepared to play hard through four quarters, which as you know, in this league you have to. At some point, you feel like you can break a team. I think it's going to be hard to break us. The one thing I am concerned about is the injuries though. We're not deep at any position. Losing Tanoh [Kpassagnon] really hurt because Austin Calitro had to move from linebacker to defensive end. Now we're really short at defensive end and that's a concern. John can't be hurt and needs to get healthy because he's the show. I think Poppy played great being hurt. He's a great player and manages to get open. We're starting to get a little banged up. I thought with the week off we would get healthy but now we're banged up. It's going to be that type of year where we're going to have to live with the injuries.

On his team's poise after halftime: I think that was really a telling moment for us this year. It's not a great place to be in the third quarter in this league. I have a feeling we'll probably be there a few times, especially away. That's going to be the next determiner of this team. Can we do that at JMU or William & Mary. I think playing home today was extremely helpful for us. Players were in their comfort zone, their parents were here, it was a big crowd and a good environment to be in.

I think that they were resilient after being down by ten. We have a quiet team, they're not really loud. You never really know if they're on their game or not. I've only seen them for three games. But, they certainly fought through it at Syracuse. We didn't really have to at Fordham and today they did a good job. I think JMU is going to turn out to be a good football team when it's all said and done.

On Mike Burke's catch and shifting momentum: It's hard to be a prophet. Last game against Fordham, I thought the kick return called back was a key play in the game. I think we were better than them but who knows. I think that was a key play for us.

James Madison head coach Everett Withers...

What I see is 49 points for them and 31 for us. I see we gave up too many rushing yards. I just don't think we played very well on defense. We have to continue to get better and grow in that area. I'm going to have to get more involved and get that fixed.

We've got some depth issues and injury issues that have affected us a little bit. We've got some guys that really are thirds that were playing in the game. We have to get some guys back, or get some experience for the young guys. After we were up by ten at halftime, our thought process was that we had to go out and finish and we didn't do that today.

I think we need to continue to grow in the passing offense. Vad [Lee] will tell you that we are not there yet by any means. I think he's growing in it and it'll be a weekly growth for us. I think today was an anomaly; it's not what we want to be. But, we took some steps in the right direction to be where we want to be. They have a really talented quarterback. We had some guys make mistakes in the second half on defense and he took advantage of that.

Villanova senior safety Joe Sarnese...

On turnovers: Going off of what coach Talley said earlier about us being our own worst enemy, I think what kills us the most is the big plays. I think in the first half we didn't really do a good job. We had mental breakdowns, so we re-grouped at halftime and had everyone zone in. We made sure to keep the ball in front of us and made a couple plays.

On his first interception: I think we needed a big play to spark the defense a little bit. We were a little flat, they were kind of driving on us a little bit and that's really uncharacteristic of us. It was a perfect point in the game where we really needed to shift momentum and did.

Villanova senior running back Kevin Monangai...

On John Robertson's injury: We spoke about it on the sideline. After coming off the field we talk about the drives and what were doing wrong. John told us all that we all needed to pick ourselves up.

On how good Villanova can be: Absolutely, we definitely know that we are good. Coach Talley said to us in the locker room that after today's game we were really going to know what kind of team we had and I think coming back from our deficit at the half shows that we have the ability to stick together as a team.

Villanova junior quarterback John Robertson...

On his injury: I just took a helmet to the hip. I'll be good; it just tightened up on me. When I was running I just felt really slow. I couldn't get my legs driving like I usually do. Like Kevin said, I said you guys really have to step it up. I know they can, they're great running backs all of them, so I knew they could hold it.

On the first two scoring drives in the second half: It was crucial. During halftime everyone was talking about getting focused. We just weren't playing together and had a couple mishaps. We knew we were moving the ball on them, we knew we were the better team. We just needed to play a better game. That's Villanova football; not turning the ball over and everyone just play hard. The defense was great in the second half. They were getting us the ball. The two picks were awesome. Joe [Sarnese] gave it to us on the five yard line which was awesome to get another touchdown for the offense. We took the point of view that this was a new game at halftime. When we got ahead of them for the first time in the game, which was really nice.