On feelings on the end of the game based on how the second half played out...

“We just needed to make a play, and credit to them for making the play. I feel bad for our guys. We’ve lost three games this season on the final play of the game with a really young team. But opportunities are there for us to make plays. We just didn’t make enough of them.”

On Nick Fitzgerald driving the field for the last touchdown...

“It was a great drive. The guys showed a lot of character, especially with overcoming a penalty. We had horrendous penalties upon us during the game that just really hurt. But we were able to overcome it, make some plays and take the lead. But you have to give their kids credit, they made a major play at the end. A 51-yard field goal is a heck of a kick by that kid.”

On momentum change after fumble recovery...

“Again, our guys showed a lot of character. We were down by 10 and ended up coming back to take the lead. We just fell short.”

On Nick and the offense on last minute drives...

“Some of the guys made some plays. Fred (Ross) didn’t have a big night, but was able to make some plays during key moments of the game. Nick also made some plays at key moments of the game. We had a lot of penalties and holding calls that we can’t let happen. I just feel bad for our guys. It’s tough on young football players that are working to improve and build themselves to lose three games on the final play of the game. It’s tough, but we’ll see what we’re made of coming back from this.”

On difference from first to second quarter...

“Offensively, I’ve never seen us play that poorly, fumbling the ball and fumbling snaps. I wish I had an answer. I’ve never seen us make that many mistakes and errors to start a game off.”

On playing young guys early in the game...

“I like to play a lot of guys, and sometimes we get into the games and don’t rotate enough guys early enough. I want to play guys early in the game so they can get into the course and the flow of things. It’s hard to throw a guy in during the third quarter, and that’s their first time getting a snap that day. I love playing the young guys, but I don’t think we’ve done a great job of doing it throughout the year. The coaches focus on getting guys in that are going to make plays, but I just want to make sure that everyone that’s going to be playing is able to get in the game early.”

On team recovery from this loss...

“That’s the challenge. We’ll see how they bounce back. When you have a lot of young football players, how they respond to this is really going to be huge. Their mindset, how they come to practice tomorrow, just them as a team in general. Here’s the thing about football – we get to play another game next weekend. This same group of guys get the opportunity to go experience the feeling that Kentucky just experienced with winning a football game, but it’s only going to happen if we shoe up and work our tails off, continue to improve at every position and have a mindset to face adversity, make plays and be a better football team next week than we were this week. If we do, we have the opportunity to get a win. The guys are working and improving so they deserve that feeling.”

On Darryl (Williams’) condition...

“I don’t know exactly, but I think he was moving his fingers and toes during the injury. Besides that, all we know is that he was alert. I appreciate Mark (Stoops) coming over to check on him. In the giant picture of life, its just a football game and when stuff like this happens it brings you back to reality. I made sure that our guys knew that he was alert and I believe that Mark told his guys the same. It’s tough for anybody to witness that. It’s a scary situation for everybody, so hopefully he’ll be okay. Our prayers are with him.”

On what was working well with the run game during the first half...

“After the start we had, that’s pretty amazing because we started minus 25 yards per carry. To be honest, we just executed. I don’t know that anyone made any spectacular runs where they broke a bunch of tackles. We just executed well and moved the ball.”

On motivating Mark McLaurin during fourth quarter...

“I just told him to keep going! He came to play four quarters of football and there was a lot of football left to be played at that moment. They had been making great plays the entire game and then we finally made a play, which reenergized everyone.”

On their current record being more difficult for older or younger guys...

“It’s difficult for everybody. We’re 5-2 because of three plays and that’s hard for everyone because of how much work everybody puts into it. We’re 5-2 talking about how great things are, and it feels like the world is collapsing in that locker room. Our guys are competitive. They want to win. So, they work so hard and I just feel bad for them. But we have some good, young leadership on this team, and I’m sure that they will continue to grow and respond the right way.”