Oct. 2, 2004
Notre Dame head coach Tyrone Willingham
On the play of the two quarterbacks:
“He (Kyle Orton) has complete command of their system. He made some pretty big plays today. He had a real strong game. He came didn’t throw an interception coming into the game and he didn’t have one today. There’s a reason for that. He does a great job.”
“Brady Quinn is going to be a pretty good quarterback. He continues to grow at the position. I don’t know what the final numbers were, but at halftime the two quarterbacks stats mirrored each other. He’s made 14 starts and he’s going to be a good one.”
On Notre Dame defense:
“We made some stops early, but then they made some big plays. We just didn’t step up and make the big plays. We can’t give up the long kickoff and then turn the ball over in the red zone. That was a significant swing going in the half. Those were some of the big plays they made. It’s not always experience, sometimes its just what day it is. Did you step up and make the play?,
On Notre Dame offense:
“There were things that we needed to do that we didn’t get done. We wanted to pass, but we also wanted to run the ball. We have to sustain the running game and we didn’t do that today. They just stopped us.”
On Purdue scoring 41 points:
“We don’t expect and we don’t anticipate any team putting up that many points against us. They made the big plays. We didn’t make enough plays anywhere on offense or defense. They stepped up and made the plays.”
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Purdue Head Coach Joe Tiller
On the Game:
“This is a great win. No question about it. To come here to Notre Dame and win in this stadium is huge for us. Winning a game against this team [was great], because in my opinion watching Notre Dame over the course of last week, I was walking on eggshells. I thought this was the best team Coach Willingham has had at Notre Dame, and they were hitting on all eight cylinders. I was worried about their defensive front seven, and I thought our offensive line did a great job containing them today. Our offensive line did a great job blocking and cutting them to give us time to throw the ball down field.”
On the history of the game:
“I think the history of this game and this rivalry has no meaning to this generation. For today’s generation history means less to them, unfortunately. I do not think that is a good deal, but it means less to this generation than it did to previous generations. “
On Purdue Quarterback Kyle Orton:
“Kyle continues to do a great job for us week in and week out. He does a good job at the line of scrimmage and in the huddle calling the plays for us. Our whole team had a sense of urgency out there today.
On his emotions after the win:
“Surprisingly enough, I am pretty calm considering the magnitude of this victory. If it had been a nail biter, it would have been a much different feeling. I am extremely happy that we won, and I am sure we will celebrate a little more when we get home tonight.”
On the goal-line stand and the ensuing 97-yard touchdown drive for Purdue:
“Coming off the goal line like that was a huge motivation for us. Then we made a statement by going 97 yards to score. Anytime an opponent scores on you, you must respond with one of your own. In a game like this, you have to have the courage to make the call, so we went with a halfback pass that we have not used all season long. It was a perfectly thrown ball. It was really a frozen rope. I thought there was a parachute on the ball as it came down. That was definitely, the most anxious I was during the whole game.”
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Notre Dame Player Quotes
Sophomore SS Tom Zbikowski
On the game…
“We knew that it was going to be tough coming into the game. We had a good game plan coming in. We just didn’t execute it offensively or defensively. We’ve got learn from it.”
On the 97-yard touchdown run by Taylor Stubblefield…
“It was tough, but we kept playing. He had really good coverage.”
Senior DE Justin Tuck
On Kyle Orton…
“He was unstoppable. He is a great quarterback. A lot of people say he is the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He’s got my vote.”
On preparation for Stanford…
“We’ll cry tonight, but tomorrow we’ll come back with a good practice. The leadership has got to step up.”
Junior OG Bob Morton
On the Purdue defense…
“We knew they were good. We knew that they were going to be one of our biggest tests of the year and they proved to be just that. It wasn’t a surprise.”
Junior TE Anthony Fasano
On his big receiving day…
“I would rather win and have zero catches than do what I did today.”
On the disappointment of his team’s loss…
“It’s a tough one. We’ll watch the film tomorrow and look at our mistakes and then we’ll get ready for Stanford. We’ve got to move on.”
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Purdue Player Quotes
Senior WR Taylor Stubblefield
Being picked to lose …
“It provides extra motivation for us to hear (Kirk) Herbstreit and (Lee) Corso pick against us and listen to them say about how we can’t go into Notre Dame and win. We worry about ourselves and let that extra stuff take care of itself but it is definitely motivating.”
Overall …
“Early on, we had some very small missed opportunities and we knew that some big things were going to happen.”
Winning against Notre Dame …
“It’s big for our team but it is definitely bigger for our program. We have another `P’ on that trophy. Anytime you can go on the road, and especially at Notre Dame, it is big for us.”
On the audible calls at the line of scrimmage …
“At the beginning of the week, Notre Dame said they were going to play press coverage and that they were going to play so tight we weren’t going to be able to breath. Anytime a team wants to go man-to-man, it’s quite surprising and every time we saw that we were going to check the play.”
Sophomore DE Anthony Spencer
On the defensive effort …
“Our defense came to play today because we played real bad last week against Illinois and we had some non-believers but today we showed what we can do.”
In the national spotlight …
“We’re going to try and win all the games regardless of being in the national spotlight. I guess beating them by such a large margin will make it more significant.”
Senior QB Kyle Orton
On winning at Notre Dame for the first time in 30 years …
“You know, I think people made too much of that. We don’t go around thinking about that too much but it’s nice for the fans and the program to get a win here.”
The 97-yard pass play to Stubblefield …
“It was an audible at the line. They were trying to play man-to-man against Taylor and we just keep beating them. Until a team wants to sit back and play zone we are going to have some big days.”
On the audible at the line of scrimmage …
“It’s all hand signals and we switch it up so the defense doesn’t get a good read on it with about 40-50 percent of our plays called at the line.”
On no turnovers …
“I always tell the coaches (we want) to get 24 points and no turnovers but I never thought we would score 41 without any turnovers.”
Being in the Heisman race …
“It feels the same as if I were a nobody. It’s no added pressure for me and I’m just happy we’ve won four games and we are playing well.”
On upcoming games …
“This team has a lot of confidence right now and we think we can beat a lot of teams.”