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Opening statement: Well I thought we played extremely well out of the break. We had talked about the potential for a weather break all week. And that we would have to do whatever it took. Go into the locker room, come back out, go into the locker room, come back out. We talked about it, but it didn't materialize. We said we would stay here all night to win this game; it was that important to us. When we came back out, we dominated the game. We hadn't punted in the first half at all. We wore them down as well from what I could see. John had a great game in spite of his hand. And Poppe played well. Our defense was tremendous. They really stymied the offense. The quarterback is a terrific player and he beat us last year. But we were ready for his this year. He was slow a little bit with his knee. He had a brace on his knee. So I don't think he was exactly what he was the year before. But our defense was very determined and our run-stopping defense was excellent.

On the Villanova defense: We were hoping that our defense was going to be better on third downs. We weren't good last year and it was something that was emphasized, that we needed to get them off the field on third downs. I was happy to see us play as aggressive as we did. We went back to the three-man line which is really what we've been. We experimented too much with the 4-3 last year and it hurt us. Now we can disguise coverage in the secondary. The scheme has us back playing aggressive defense.

On defensive line coach Joe Trainer: It has been a great area of comfort. He has had a steady influence on Billy, who was his GA early on. Giving Joe the special teams, coming from being head coach and back to as assistant, he runs all our special teams and he is very active. He has every kid in special teams meetings. It is a big plus to have him here; I hope he stays for a while.

On Robertson's hand injury: Yes, I'm worried. We have to get x-rays and really figure out what the hand specialist is going to say. The good thing is that it isn't his throwing hand. He played excellent football with his hand taped up, so whatever we scheme up, he can play with it. It might just not be as comfortable.

On the outcome and the strength of the team: I still don't know. I think we're pretty good. Coming off last week, you can say Syracuse looked passed us; I doubt it. You could say we played a great game and that we couldn't reproduce that. Or you could say we are really good. I guess I still don't know. Fordham has been in the scholarship business for six years. So I thought they were an upper level CAA team, but it didn't look like it with the result of the game. The book is still out on us. The defense is better and we are still breaking in some offensive linemen and we have to secure the extra point and field goals for sure because we are going to be in some wars during our league.

Junior quarterback John Robertson...

On his hand injury from the 1st quarter: I think it's just a bruise. Just a bad bruise. I put my hand on the ground and it got pushed. Just kind of the way I held onto it. It never bothered me. I played the whole game with it, so it didn't affect me.

On the Fordham defense stacking eight or nine players in the box: We knew they were going to do that. I watched plenty of game film of last year. They did that last year as well so we knew what we were getting into. I didn't throw as well as I should have which was a big reason why we lost. If they are going to stack the box, we have to be able to throw on them.

Senior nose guard Pat Williams...

On the weather break: I'm a senior leader so when stuff like that happens coach just had us rally around the guys. We stay up-tempo. We practiced for situations like this, so we knew how to handle it; through our practices, through our walkthroughs. Just staying focused because Fordham is a great opponent; they are not a bad team. But we knew how to handle the situation.

On setting a tone for the game after the break: We wanted to set a tone for the rest of the game. Last year against Fordham, we came out really flat and that is why we lost the game in the second half. That sack right out of the break really set the tone for not only the defense, but the team in general.

On the defense: Nobody on our side of the ball is All-American or All-CAA. We're just focused on one goal and that is winning. Our motto is togetherness and that is how we play.

Junior linebacker Don Cherry...

On the defense: Our game plan is to always stop the run. The mantra of togetherness that Pat alluded to, also blitzkrieg; the idea of lightning warfare. We are trying to play as fast as we can and not let any team set the tempo. We want to set it and have them match it. Our offense has been great the past two games, getting us off the field. Our stretch coach has been great getting us ready for the games and getting us prepared.