Nov. 10, 2001

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Ron Turner
On the team...
"We showed heart and character. Our guys did not panic. I was trying the get the offense pumped up after they returned the kick for a touchdown, and I liked the look in their eye."

"We have to tackle guys better. The good news is that we are 8-1. The bad news is that we have to play a lot better. We seemed a little bit tight early with guys trying to do too much."

On the halftime adjustments...
"Our offensive coaching staff did a good job making adjustments at halftime. They saw a few things we could do with our running game. Our players get stronger as the game went on and wear the other team down a little."

On Kurt Kittner...
"Kurt is too tough on himself. He just needs to relax. He has been trying to do too much the last couple of weeks. I have to do a better job of getting him relaxed."

"The second half showed his heart and what a competitor he is. If the game is on the line, I want the ball in his hands."

On Eugene Wilson...
"He is a great player. He loves to compete. He is a mild-mannered guy off the field, but not on the field. It helps that he is such a great athlete."

On his halftime speech...
"I told them to smile and go out there and have some fun. I told them they are a great football team and they just needed to settle down."

Kurt Kittner
On second half...
"We said to ourselves we won't lose, we will finish. No one got down. The defense did the same thing they did last week, and they didn't give up. A lot of people would have been discouraged, but our team is not like other teams. We came out with our minds straight and settled down."

On first half troubles...
"The first half disappointed us the past two weeks. We're not doing anything different than the rest of the season. Our mechanics are not in my standards. We're inconsistent offensively in the first halves of games. This needs to change and we need to put it together for both halves, not just the second half."

On the last drive...
"I was confident in the guys. Everything slows down. You know where you're going and doing the same things. Big plays came about and everything worked out for the best."

On the defense...
"Four interceptions. There is not much I can say about that. We needed them to lift us up. Without them, we wouldn't have been in it. They fly around and execute. This defense has been impressive, where they are hitting people and getting turnovers."

Eugene Wilson
On the game...
"Every game has been a dogfight. We come prepared for 60 minutes every game and today was no different. Today especially was a dogfight."

On the rest of the season...
"I feel great right now. We are on top of the Big Ten at 8-1. But we feel like there is so much more to accomplish."

On preparing for the game...
"We studied the wide receivers hard this week, not as much the quarterbacks. Both of them played well."

Penn State head coach Joe Paterno
On Zack Mills...
"We tried to tape him up but he couldn't run. I debated putting him back in there but I was afraid he would take another hit."

On turnovers...
"Turnovers will always kill you. We had a couple of good field positions in the first half but could not get anything out of it."

On Illinois...
"I thought coming into this game Illinois was playing the best football in the Big Ten. There are a good solid team."

On the team's response to the loss...
"You always worry, but you have to suck it up and try to win next time."

On his team's play
"I'm not disappointed in anybody. I'm disappointed that we lost the game."

On the play of quarterback Matt Seneca
"Some of his throws were not perfect, but you have to catch them. We had some dropped passes, but so did they."

Defensive Tackle Jimmy Kennedy
On the defense...
"We weren't too worn down. We're in shape, so we weren't too bad."

On Illinois' conversion on third and two...
"I don't know what happened. You feel like it's your fault. Maybe it is your fault, and maybe it's not."

Quarterback Matt Senneca
On the season...
"It's been tough, but I've learned a lot about myself this year. This will take a couple of days, but we have to move past it."

On his play...
"Zack (Mills) has a little better touch than I do. That's all me, not the receivers. The ball is in my hands to come up with the big plays. The receivers were open and I didn't get it to them."

On the injury to Zack Mills...
"He would have gone back in if Joe (Paterno) would have told him to. He could jog, but he had a pretty good limp."