Villanova Quotes
Head Coach Mark Ferrante

Opening statement…
"Well here is what I told our guys in the locker room, 'welcome to CAA football.' That was a physical fast game. They unfortunately made more plays and had more big plays than we did. But hey there are going to be a lot of positives to take out of this as well. It's the most points we've scored all year, our kicker made all of his placement kicks and you know we didn't get the biggest positive, we didn't get the W today. So just like every other week, win, lose, draw. I tell the guys after the wins 'you have a 24-hour period to celebrate it and after a loss, you have a 24-hour period to think about it.' And when we come back tomorrow, we will correct the mistakes, build off the positives and get ready to play a game next week."

On the not being able to force Towson into many three and outs…
"Nope not today. Tommy Flacco, I tip my hat off to Townson and to Tommy, he extended plays. I had a feeling it wasn't bouncing our way when they had that errant snap that went back about 15 yards and he got the bounce back up to him and he turned around and completed a pass for a gain of one. So instead of 2nd and 25, it became 2nd and 9. And to his credit, he made plays when plays needed to be made. And when they weren't there to be made, he made them anyways."

On number of missed tackles…
"Yeah we'll talk about it. We talked about it on the sideline. You know basically I think we are leaving our feet a bit too much. We just have to run through a tackle when we have a guy wrapped up. Sometimes you have to take a guy low and sometimes you may miss. Again, that is some good play on their part. I don't want to take away from some of their runs that they had. But yeah we never want to have multiple missed tackles, that is for sure."

On the momentum change…
"Yeah I think, there were two big plays. Right it was 14-7, they had that quick slant for 80 or whatever it was and then next kickoff, that was one heck of a hit. So and then they scoop and score on that hit so I think that was a big turning point in the game from a momentum swing emotionally. And that woke them up and kind of knocked us out for a couple minutes. Then it was a crazy game back and forth a little bit. We got it close but not close enough."

On the forced fumble hit…
"They reviewed it. I mentioned it. It sounded like there was some helmet contact, sounded like it. I mean that was one heck of a collision. But they told me they looked at it and said it was not helmet to helmet. Obviously when you are looking for helmet to helmet you are wondering if it is targeting or something like that. They ruled it and replayed it and ruled that it wasn't and scored the touchdown. So move on, next down."

On Villanova's injuries…
"No we will have to see what Tyler says, our trainer when they come in tomorrow. (Paul) Grattan had the ankle, he actually hurt it last week but went out there and tried to give it a go. Then he got rolled up on a little bit there so we put Colin Gamroth in there who is a redshirt freshman. We will watch the film but it seems like he held his own because there didn't seem to be many glaring things missing in the interior of the line. So really proud of Colin of how he stepped up. He is a walk-on player for us and the way he stepped up and was able to fill in for Paul. Changa (Hodge) we will see. I think it is his toe or his foot or something. So we will see what Tyler says tomorrow."

On the big plays in the game…
"Man those big plays on both sides. The problem is they had 30 more plays than we did and had the ball for 11 more minutes. So we didn't have enough opportunities. We have over 400 yards and 60 plays. That's more yards than we've had all year. I think we ended up with 490, whatever it says there. There were big plays on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately they had more than we did. So like I said earlier we will correct the things we can control and correct. And accentuate on the things. I mean Jarrett McClenton seemed to have another big game and (Ryan) Bell is still a favorite target. We still have a lot of guys, we had different guys get into the end zone. With different guys scoring the ball so we've just got to stay on the field and get them off the field. We can't let a team have over 50% third down conversion against us."

LB #57, Jeff Steeb
On Towson's offense…
"Yeah I mean, honestly I think we needed that and I'm glad that it happened this early. I think we need to get humbled a little bit. But they had a good scheme with the tempo, being up on the ball. We weren't really ready for that. I mean we have to be able to adapt to those things. Yeah this one certainly stings for the defense.

On Tom Flacco's ability to extend plays…
"Yeah he is elusive. Just looking at him, you wouldn't think it but he is able to make guys miss and he is a good player. He is going to do well this year."

On the battle at the line of scrimmage…
"I mean yeah like you said he is elusive, their backs run hard. We've got to go back and clean up those missed tackles. Starting with myself, I had a few. I mean you can't really pout about them, you've got to move on. I'm glad it happened this early in the season so hopefully the younger guys, even the older guys realize that the CAA is a good league, there are good players and we are going to have to bounce back."

On the second half performance of the defense…
"We didn't make too many adjustments. They played a great first half, it seemed like everything was going their way. Like coach said with the snap and he still completed that little pass. But they were just getting third downs which killed the defense. We just wanted to win and have guys that won't give up so I mean at the same time we did lose but it shows that guys didn't want to give up and were still fighting. But just wasn't enough.

QB #14 Zach Benarczyk
On fast start then the offense slowed down…
"Yeah that's just football. It's a game of rhythm. They got a little bit of rhythm, we kind of lost it a little bit but we were able to get it back a little bit and move the ball. You've got to bounce back and move the ball."

On if next week is a good test to see how they will bounce back…
"Yeah of course. I think the seniors on our team will be able to lead the younger guys this week in practice. I believe after being around this team all summer, this fall and season that we are mature enough to bounce back from something like this."

On playing Towson after getting injured against them last season…
"I mean I try not to think about it anymore. I'm just focused on this year. It was unfortunate that it happened last year, but I wasn't thinking about that going into this game. And I really don't want to think about it at all this season really."
 
Towson Quotes
Opening Statement from Head Coach Rob Ambrose
"Hats off to Villanova, man they're good. As proud as I am of our guys, this game got won in like January. I am grateful for the one-thousand or two-thousand people that drove here from Towson that really believed and that the Towson family was really strong, and they got to see one of the best wins in the past ten years. It's a good day to be a Tiger."
 
Ambrose on the key of the game
"We came here. I'm dead serious. I have complete and utter faith in these guys, and they've earned it. They were committed to playing six seconds at a time relentlessly, and they were not going to fear their opponent. The history of Villanova was not going to scare them, them beating Temple was not going to scare them, and we have been waiting a long time to get back to this spot. It wasn't a play, it wasn't what we did in the offseason, it was that we believe in each other."
 
Ambrose when asked why he didn't say the run game or line of scrimmage
"I mean you could say that about any football game in the history of mankind. The team that plays better upfront is probably going to win the ballgame. We didn't turn the ball over like we used to, we forced turnovers, we made big plays, and we recovered from big plays. We handled adversity extremely well, not as an individual, but as a team, and that's what good teams do."
 
Ambrose on why he said the game he felt the game was won in January
"The season ended last year with us winning a couple games, we were all beat up, and we still found a way to win and it wasn't about what we did schematically or anything else it was about what kind of team we decided to be then, and whatever we did then, we jacked it up more in January. I said I only felt this way about a team one other time and that was after the 2010 season. When we met, those guys acted like they won ten games instead of losing ten games and they went out with passion. These guys are just like that except they might be a little tighter."
 
Ambrose on how they overcame the 14-0 score early in the game
"We stopped making mistakes. Villanova is a tremendous offense, Zach is an awesome quarterback, he's going to be mentioned for player of the year, they have all kinds of great talent. Their offensive line is huge, we knew they were going to score. It's about not getting upset and understanding the game takes 60 minutes to play, and that you can't score 14 points in one play, so we just went about our business and did our job."
 
 
Ambrose on being 5-5 in the red zone, and what he learned from playing Wake Forest
"With all due respect to Villanova, they aren't Wake Forest. We did good things with the ball, we did good things schematically with the ball, but we were a little bit overmatched. Last week shined a light on all of the things we didn't do very well. We worked really hard this week in practice in getting better, and that's what we're going to do every week. It really doesn't matter who we're playing, or who we played the week before. We're just going to work on getting better."
 
Quarterback Tom Flacco on what's going through his mind when he knows he has to keep putting up points
"Every game I go into I have that mentality. I trust our defense but the worst case scenario I know that our offense can score every time we have the ball, and I'd love for that to happen, but it didn't happen this week, but my mentality going into the game is always shootout, and anything better than that is awesome. Going into the game I'm always prepared for that."
 
Tom Flacco on his brother Joe Flacco losing to Villanova in college
"I didn't even know that, but no he's in the NFL."
 
Tom on what he learned from Joe in coming back in games
"I'm the oldest of six, we have five guys one girl. Ultimately the guy that we go to is my dad. I don't talk to Joe much about football to be honest with you, we just act as brothers. We talk about football a little bit, but nothing really about coming back. It's just how we grew up as a family. I'm just excited to come out here and play with these guys."
 
Ambrose on his team showing composure and going through adversity
"They're a good team, I looked up at media day and they had us picked tenth, and I smiled. It's not about that. The history of these guys is that so many guys got hurt that everybody played. Kids coming out of high school think they know what college football is about, but they really don't until they play. There is no substitute for that. Once they get it, they have an idea of who and what they can be as an individual and who and what we can be as a team. We grow that, we foster that and try to grow them up, into the point where they believe in themselves and they believe in each other. They've earned the right to believe that. It's not a big deal because bad stuff happens all of the time. Take football out of this, what are we doing? We're raising these guys to be great men one day. They need to understand that bad stuff is going to happen, and so what. It's about how you respond. One day their family isn't going to be the football team. They're going to be husbands and fathers, and they are going to respond well because they understand this. It's a very good day for all of them."
 
Flacco on playing close to home today
"It was awesome, I grew up right outside of Philly, and Villanova is a school that one of my brothers went to and graduated. I had a lot of people in the stands for me, it was exciting. It was cool going out there and having my family there. They're at most games, but this one was a little more extended family and people that I wanted to show."
 
Ambrose on the confidence his team gained from the fumble recovery
"To score, to kickoff, and to force a fumble and score the next play. You don't see that in college football too often anywhere. To say that it was a momentum swinger, yeah it was pretty good. It was like the prettiest girl coming up to you in the bar and saying, 'hey I want to hangout with you', that's a momentum changer. I didn't see that one coming, but I enjoyed it."
 
Running back Shane Simpson on how it felt getting 23 touches
"It definitely felt great to be back. At this point last year, I was in a brace so I wasn't able to be playing with my brothers. So being able to establish the running game today, credit to the O line, and the wide receivers on the edge, and Flacco giving me the ball.