Summarizing what Western Kentucky head coach Tyson Helton, quarterback Austin Reed, and linebacker JaQues Evans said after Saturday's 31-28 loss to the UTSA Roadrunners.
Tyson Helton:
- Opening statement:
“Hard fought game today. Two good football teams. Hats off to UTSA, they are a good football team and found a way to win. We left it all out there on the field. We tried to be ultra aggressive and wanted to give ourselves the best chance. I’m really proud of our kids. We battled hard tonight, but nobody feels sorry for us. We’re right back in conference play, we’re going to Middle Tennessee next week. We’ve got to turn the page on this one and get ready for Middle Tennessee.”
- On whether the defense played well enough to win:
“The defense played really good against an exceptional offense. They did their job. I’m proud of the whole football team, not just the defense. They were going to make their plays, they’re just really good, and they’ve got great skill. Frank Harris is just a good player. I felt like we had our opportunities. I’ll sleep good at night because the ball was in our hands.”
- On keeping the offense on the field on fourth down let in the game:
“We wanted to let Austin (Reed) go win it. The receivers were playing well, we were moving the ball, we were coming up with some good conversions. Not that I lack confidence in Brayden, that’s just kind of his max distance. Under the circumstances it was kind of either way. I just felt like, let’s put the ball in our best player’s hands. I’ll sleep good at night knowing that I did.”
Austin Reed:
- On facing UTSA's defense:
“I thought they played pretty well. I thought they did a couple things up front schematically, you know, just twists and the kind of pressures that gave us a little bit of trouble. I think at the end of the day we kind of hurt ourselves more than anything. We had a lot of offensive penalties, a lot of procedural penalties like false starts and that sort. I think at the end of the day we kind of hurt ourselves, and it’s just one of those things where two really good teams were playing. We had a chance to go down and take the lead, but we didn’t do that, so that’s my fault."
- On whether the offense did enough to win:
“No, because we didn’t have enough points to beat them. We had a couple opportunites on fourth down where we didn’t convert. Coach Helton’s big about giving us that chance on fourth down to keep the offense out there. At the end of the day we didn’t get the first down when he needed us two. At the end of the day we have to find a way to get the ball in the end zone because that’s two straight games we’ve scored 28 or less, and so we’ve got to find a way to get back to scoring all the points.
JaQues Evans:
- On the defense's performance:
“We just came out with relentless effort. We came out and played together no matter what happened. Just stayed as one core, and the outcome is the outcome”
- On getting pressure on Frank Harris:
“Hats off to him. He’s a pretty good quarterback. You can’t knock him, you’ve got to give credit where it’s due. We’ve just got to keep fighting and keep going. You’ve seen some of the things we do out there, we’ve just got to come out and do it to the next quarterback next week."
- On the growth of WKU's defense throughout the season:
“We’re peaking. We’re coming together. We’ve got to stay the course and be one mindset. We’ve just got to keep playing together and we’ll get to where we want to get to."
