Oct. 7, 2007

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes |  Photo Gallery 1  |  Photo Gallery 2 

Joe Tiller, Head Coach
...on tonight's game.
- "I asked (Ohio State head coach Jim) Tressel before the game if this was the best defense he's ever had, and he said 'It might be.' Obviously (Ohio State) has good football players all over the place and they did a good job defensively; I really like their linebacking corps. I thought our defense played well and created some turnovers, but it seemed like every turnover was inside the five-yard line, which is the same as a punt. I'm glad we got the turnovers, but I think the position where they occurred put a lot of pressure on the offense."

...on Purdue's passing game against Ohio State.
- "(Ohio State) was knocking around (Dorien) Bryant a lot physically, and a couple of balls got away from him. When Curtis gets out of sync he tends to put more on the ball ... we saw that last year and we saw that tonight with the high velocity of some of his throws to Bryant."

...on Purdue's defensive play in tonight's game.
- "I thought we played well tonight and took another step as a team. I said earlier in the year that we'd get better as a team defensively as the year went on, and tonight we took a big step."

Curtis Painter, Quarterback
...on the defensive play of Ohio State.
- "They didn't really do much differently than other teams we've played. We knew they were a good defense going into the ball game, but when they did give us opportunities we didn't take advantage of them."

...on what Purdue's offense needs to improve going into next week's game at Michigan.
- "We got some good practice against a really good defense tonight. We'll watch the film tomorrow to let us know the specifics we need to work on, but I think that the bottom line is we just need to execute better."

...on the play of Greg Orton in tonight's game.
- "Greg made a few big third down catches as well as Dustin Keller. Those two guys have been big for us all season, and they did a really good job tonight as well."

Anthony Heygood, Linebacker
...on nerves of defense at the start of the game.
- "We didn't come out nervous, but we made a couple of mistakes on defense, including letting a receiver get behind us on a long pass-play. We started off the game way too slow to a tough team and we paid for it."

...on the key to the number of Ohio State forced turnovers.
- "We buckled up our chinstraps in the second half and we did what we had practiced all week. We noticed things defensively more quickly and we were able to get a jump on the ball. We had to keep playing hard to give the offense the ball because they can score so quickly."

Dustin Keller, Tight End
...on his leadership abilities in today's game.
- "I really hope I'm not the one leading out there when we only come away with seven points. I just tried to make the most out of every single opportunity that I had."

...on his ability to pick up large yardage on catches.
- "In the back of my mind, I kind of know where the defender is behind me. I just try to catch it, turn where he is not going to be and get up the field as fast as I can."

...on the high quality of Ohio State's defense.
- "Each week we'll usually find something weak in the opponents' defense and just keep attacking and attacking. (Ohio State is) a really strong defense all across the board; there's no weakness there."

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