Dec. 28, 2004
Recap | Box Score | Notes
Junior quarterback
(the hand) "I came into the game thinking I could get through it because I did in the MAC Championship Game. It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. They x-rayed the hand at halftime and they didn't look too good, so the best option was for me to sit out the second half."
"There were plays out there to be made but I couldn't physically do it. It was tough to grip the ball. You need your whole hand to grip the ball. I tried to do different things to get a grip on the ball but I couldn't do it."
"It was a tough situation for Marques, but you can see he's going to be a great player some day."
Junior running back
"They (UConn) played a great game. They have good athletes on defense, good linebackers. They did a good job. Sometimes we didn't make the plays but they executed well on defense."
(on his injuries this season) "I'm a lot better. This is the best I've felt in a long time. It's been a rough season for me. But fortunately I'm a part of a great program that has a and a that stepped in a did a great job."
Junior linebacker
"We thought we had a good game plan coming in. They have good players, a lot of weapons they can go to. They just out-played us tonight."
"We have a lot of players coming back on defense. I think we will be very strong next year."
Redshirt freshman quarterback
"(Offensive coordinator) did a great job preparing me for this game. I prepared hard so that when they called my number I was ready to go."
Head Coach
"Give Connecticut credit. They are an excellent football team. They were a better team than we were today."
"I'm proud of my team and my seniors. We never quit. We battled the whole game. When I look at them, I see champions. This wasn't our best night, but we never gave up and we stayed together. We'll keep on working and look forward to next year."
(on Gradkowski). "There's a quarterback with a lot of courage. A lot of quarterbacks would never have finished the (MAC) Championship Game like Bruce did, and would not have attempted to play in this game. He gave it a great effort but it just wasn't there tonight."
(keep Gradkowski in too long?) "No. It was a gradual deterioration. It got harder for him to grip the ball as the game went on. After the doctors reported what they saw we made the decision to take him out."
