Sept. 7, 2002

Recap

MONMOUTH

Head Coach Kevin Callahan: "That was a heck of a football game. We knew it was going to be this type of a game that is why we scheduled it, that is why we came out here. "It was a great opportunity for us to come out and play and see what we could do. I am very proud of the way our team played today." "We kept coming back, kept fighting and put ourselves into position to win the game in the final seconds and that is all you could ask." "I didn't know what to expect since it was the first game of the year. We expected them to try to establish the run with the tailback they have and their quarterback to throw deep routes, and they did both of those things. Being the first game there is always a lot of unknowns on both sides." "Something we have in our package every week. Early in the season defenses overplay, over pursue and we were hoping we could catch them." "They became more aggressive in the second half, they brought more pressure and blocked up some of the running lanes we found in the first half. We had to get rid of the ball a little quicker in the pass game. They became more aggressive, and that hurt our continuity. To start the second half there were three consecutive series when we went three and out. Our defense was on the field and played a long stretch. I believe we were ahead in time of possession at the half, but they completely flipped that in the third quarter. Overall when you are on the field that long on a day like today it starts wearing on you." "The snap was a little low, we were late getting it down, and our kicker tried to punch it through, but never got the ball up." "We were there, we were where we had to get to. He can hit from fifty. I felt like it was going to be good the whole way." "Their deep passes were on play action. Early in the season defenses are keyed up and over pursue."

Senior Joe Sentipal MLB: "I just tried to get to the ball carrier as much as I could." "I just played as hard as I could like I do all the time." "Intense drive. We knew it could be the winning drive. We just wanted to hold them to a field goal, which we did. We had a chance to kick one and win the game."

Senior Phil Rankin QB: "They came more aggressive in the second half, they brought a little more pressure. They brought a little more heat with their safeties."

LAFAYETTE

Head Coach Frank Tavani: "It has been a long time since we won an opener. We said all along that this football team has to learn how to win and we certainly put an exclamation point on that today." "We dug ourselves a hole and dug our way back out again. If anyone wants to know what the formula is for winning, you just witnessed it. I think that is going to go a long way for this football team." "It was a tough day out there. My hats off to Kevin Callahan and his staff." I don't remember being down 16 points and coming back to win, I think that is going to go a long way to building this program in the direction we want to go." "My hats off to Marty Brecht, this is a kid a little bit maligned, and he is one of our seniors that stayed around all summer and worked hard. We are going to depend on him, and his leg is apart of our offense." "I don't want to say anything and get fined, but in 26 years I have never seen that kind of (holding) call in that situation." "We hung together. Our offense never gave up on the defense and the defense never gave up on the offense all game." "We made adjustments offensively at halftime and zeroed in on where we could hurt them with our running game. I thought our pass timing was off a little bit."

Sophomore Joe McCourt RB: "We have a great offensive line and great receivers, and I knew it was going to come down to me." "You have to give credit to Monmouth. In the first half we could not get in a rhythm at all, but in the second half we made adjustment and were able to pound the ball on the ground."

Senior Chris Royle C: "Their defense came out in places that we were not ready for, and we had to change the way we approached that." "We were missing blocks and assignments in the first and second quarter and we got that sorted out by half time, and we were able to sustain consistent drives in the third and fourth quarter."

Senior Martin Brecht K: "I can't believe they made me kick the field goal again. Leading up to it people were staying away from me. I knew if we got the chance, we have a good snapper and good holder and I knew we'd make it." "This summer I was one of 45 guys to work their tails off, and I can't tell you enough about the spirit of this team."