Recap | Final Stats

RUTGERS HEAD COACH Kyle Flood

Opening Statement: "Good evening, I appreciate everybody waiting for me as we came. I couldn't be prouder of this football team and what they were able to accomplish today, a special group of young people. I know you saw some of these hats on the sideline, some of you might have seen the patch I had on my sweatshirt earlier this week and in pre-game. It really is about supporting my brother and the NYPD as an organization. As my brother said he will be going to two funerals in the next couple days and if we can support them by wearing these on the sideline then I thought it was an opportunity for us to do that and I thought we should because of how special that organization is to me and my family."

On his two freshmen running backs' performances: "I think it's a continuation of what started a little bit earlier in the year, two talented football players. That room is a talented room. We will get P.J. (Paul James) back next year, he won't be back in the spring but we'll get him back next year. We'll get Desmon Peoples back. Justin Goodwin played a little bit today so, we're fortunate that that's a very talented room and we needed just about every one of them this year. I've heard people say that it's a springboard, I don't know that I agree with that. It's more of, when we wake up this is a completely different football team. The seniors will move on, the freshman that we're recruiting will be added a little bit later. But, what I do think it creates a good feeling around the program, that's for sure, with the alumni, the university, the boosters of the student body. It will certainly be a good feeling for a long time."

On Leonte Carroo coming back for his senior year: "I'm excited about it. I think that the fact that Lenote is coming back next year makes us a better football team. Leonte is a very talented player and another year in the system, I don't know if he can expand his role, he has a pretty big role as it is but it think he can take more steps now into becoming even more of a complete player. He's a dominant football player right now but everybody can get better and we're going to make sure we have a plan to make sure that he gets better."

On what his conversation with Leonte was like leading up to his decision: "We spoke a little bit in the beginning. I said, 'I think it's in your best interest to get evaluated by the NFL,' which he did. We went through the process of feeling what would be there for him in terms of insurance and things like that, logistical issues. Then we really didn't talk about it that much. We were getting ready for the game, we were going to talk about it afterwards but he felt today was the day to announce that he was coming back. If that's what he wants then I want him back. I'm all for it."

On assessing the season as a whole: "I feel like the team confirmed everything I felt about them. I don't pay a lot of attention to what the predictions were but I'm not naïve to them either. You hear it, you see it on TV, you read magazines and things like that so, I just never agreed with what the public reception was of this football team. I felt like we had a good football team, I thought we'd be competitive, I thought we'd be playing in the postseason and I thought we'd have a chance to be a championship program again. In every way this football team made me right."

On putting the last six quarters that his team played into words: "The Maryland game and this game, two unique games separated by a lot of time, so I don't know if there's any carry-over effect. I've never felt that way. I thought we had a good bowl prep, but when there's that much time between the last game and the next game, it can get a little interesting. You saw some of those things at the end of the game, got a little interesting for us. But even today was interesting for us, somebody who pours his heart into this program, Jason Baum, he wakes up with a kidney stone, so we were dealing with that in pregame. He wasn't down there on the sideline with me. I question his toughness a little bit, but I don't question his dedication to the program, that's for sure. Bowl games, strange things happen in bowl games whether it's kidney stones or onside kicks, you never really know. But, I thought we played good football today. I thought on offense, on defense, let me say it that way, we played good football. I didn't really think we really played our best game on special teams. There are some reasons for that, but as we go forward into the spring, I think we're making progress as a program and the players that are coming back will get better, and then some of these guys that red-shirted this year have an opportunity to really fill in and make a big impact on this team next year."

On QB Gary Nova's play: "I didn't say it to Gary but I said it to Mike, Jay gives me the alerts and the articles and things like that, I know there was an article talking about Gary being in a class with Ryan and Mike. I said, you know Mike's on my staff, I said, 'You know Mike, he might want to win one to be in your class.' I didn't say that to Gary, but I do think that this really was the only thing left out there for him that he hadn't accomplished and now he has leading his team to a bowl championship. Gary was very emotional in the locker room, which I would expect because he's poured so much of his life into this program over the last four years that it'd be hard not to be emotional in a moment like this."

On what a Bowl championship means to him: "I guess it's one less question I'll have to answer from you guys. But above and beyond that, it's an opportunity for me to really enjoy a moment with my players. I've been coaching I think 21 years now, I've been fortunate to be a part of some very talented teams, accomplished teams. But, I always want for the players to have this experience, because for some of those players as seniors, they don't get an opportunity to try again next year. Now, these seniors get to go out with a championship and a ring that says champions. I think that's important. If you're fortunate to have any rings, if you look at any one them, there's always some disappointment when you see the ones that don't say champions. You have some thoughts about what could have been done, what should have been done. This group won't have to say that because their ring will say champions."

On the defense playing well against UNC's offense: "We didn't put our defense in great situations, I would say that. I thought that our defense was very opportunistic today, really opportunistic and did a good job at getting off the field without giving up points and then to block a point, force two fumbles. I think Zo (Lorenzo Waters) had the blocked field goal, I think he may have forced one fumble, maybe even two. I thought we played really opportunistic defense today and that was fun to watch."

On Waters going out with a great game: "You'd like your seniors to play their best football and I think Zo did that today. I would tell you that this group of seniors made it a point that they wanted to go out with a championship. The fact that the last two years we came up a little bit short was very much a motivating factor for them. I think that's a good thing. They wanted to be able to take their place with some of the other Rutgers football teams. You come around the Hale Center and you see the trophies, they wanted to put another trophy in the Hale Center. They did that and Zo's been a big part of this team all year and certainly a big part of the win."

On if the Gatorade shower took him by surprise: "The timing of it was a little bit by surprise and I didn't do a great job of avoiding it because I still can't hear out of my right ear. I'm going to work on that when I get back to the training room."

On if that's his first Gatorade shower: "No, I've had a couple before that. They got me at South Florida. The offensive linemen got me at the Pinstripe Bowl against Iowa State a couple years back and they got me at Maryland too. This one might have been the biggest jug though."

On how much credit the offensive line gets: "I guess that's the first time we've had two 100-yard backs since Brian (Leonard) and Ray (Rice) against Syracuse in 2006. That's the first time in a long time doing something and when you see two running backs that do that it's not just about them. It's about the linemen and the tight ends, Michael Burton. But, it's the kind of game as an offensive lineman that you love playing in. There's no doubt."

On if he feels good about heading into next season: "I do, but I think now going into next year, you have to earn everything, you have to earn everything from scratch all over again, there's no doubt. But I do think, as I've said before, winning helps. Winning helps recruiting, winning helps the feel around the program, winning next to alumni feels better, winning makes the boosters feel better, winning makes the president of the university feel better. Bob Barchi's happy, that makes me happy. If we could make him a little happier today that's a good thing. Jim Delany's happy because the Big Ten was 1-0 here in this stadium today, I don't know how other team's faired. I think winning always helps. There's certainly a lot of positives that come out of today."

RUTGERS QB Gary Nova

On how it feels to go out as a Bowl champion: "It feels real good, especially with the way we performed today. The first drive, going right down the field and scoring, I knew we were going to have a pretty good day on offense after that."

On his emotions during the week: "It's been good. You know, try to just avoid this moment and thinking about the end of the game and stuff like that, but this is a great moment in here with the guys. I'll remember it for a while."

On having Rutgers fans in attendance after the win: "It's great. Those fans that were there, they really bleed scarlet. It was great to see them. They're all thanking me, but really I appreciate them and their support. Those are the people that really push me to fight through the tough times."

On if he thinks about what he's been able to accomplish in his career: "No, not really. Just been thinking about the guys, the relationships I've built and I'm going to miss these guys. I'll see a lot of them, but it still won't be the same. I won't be strapping it up with them anymore. I have friends in this locker room forever."

On his experience in Detroit: "Oh, it was great. Everything was first-class. They really did a great job of organizing everything. Everything was smooth, well-run. The hotel was great, the people of Detroit have been great. The hospitality has been amazing and overall it's been a great Bowl experience."

On his pregame speech to the team: "I tend to not get fired up, but in that moment I felt like it wasn't about, you know, 'rah rah.' It was about us. Like I said, it wasn't about the more talented team, it was about who was going to stick together and want it more."

QUICK LANE BOWL MVP, RUTGERS RB Josh Hicks

On how it feels to be the MVP of the Quick Lane Bowl: "It's my childhood dream, but none of that would be able without my man Gary Nova, the O-line, all of the seniors that helped get me to this point. I would be nothing without them."

On he and RB Robert Martin both rushing for over 100 yards: "It's an amazing feeling, man. I feel like I said it before, not all of the credit goes to me, it goes out to the O-line because they created lanes. We had the opportunity to hit the holes.

RUTGERS S Lorenzo Waters

On if he was in the right spot at the right time during both fumble recoveries: "Just about effort. We knew this game, they're a high-tempo offense, and we were going to have to outpace them, and get lined up quicker than they can get lined up. Just swarming to the ball, just a matter of swarming, that's something we preach and that's something we've been preaching for years. Just running to the ball, you get opportunities to make plays like that."

On if he had the blocked kick: "Yeah."

On what he saw on the blocked kick: "We've been talking all week. Coach (Bob) Fraser has been kind of hinting at a way that I can get through there and I got a good jump, got skinny and got my hands up and was able to get the ball down."

On if this game will be the most lasting memory of his college career: "It'll definitely be special. The way we finished and that's what we've been preaching for so long, just finish. That goes back to the fourth down stop that Reef (Gareef Glashen) had with the fade at the back of the end zone. We had a lot of fourth down stops this year, it's just as far as taking advantage of those opportunities and that speaks volumes to this team. We've been doing this kind of thing all year and I'll definitely remember this one in particular just because it's my last one. Just remembering how special it is to see us hold the trophy up at the end of the year, I'll definitely remember that."

RUTGERS DL Darius Hamilton

On what winning his first Bowl Game means going into the offseason: "It gives us huge momentum, but it also shows the kind of people that we've got around here. The kind of character we have and just the kind of people that we surround ourselves with and just how eager we are to keep working."

On his excitement level about the defense going into the future: "Definitely, like I said the other day, I think we've got some good young guys in the secondary who are ready to step in and contribute. There will be a lot of young defensive linemen and we've got a couple of linebackers out there who are going to do really well. I'm really excited about the younger guys and how they're going to fit into this defense."

On his message to the team going into spring ball: "I would tell them just don't settle. Don't let this be something that you're completely satisfied with. We've got to keep building and getting better."

NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH LARRY FEDORA

Opening Statement: "Well, it's not the way we want to finish up a season, but it is what it is. So, hopefully we're going to learn from it and become a better football team. It's the end of one and it's the beginning of another one. So, we'll already start thinking about the future and what we have to do next to be a better football team. I hate it for our seniors. Those guys have been through a lot here at Carolina. I'm confident that the things that they've had to go through and the adversity they've been faced with, that each and every one of them is going to be a better man for it in the long run. And they'll be able to look back and lean on those things, the problems that they had and what they had to do to overcome them. And because of it, they'll grow and again, they'll be a better man."

On the team's continuous breakdowns on the field: "Well, the game of football is really pretty simple, it really is. If you turn the football over on offense, you don't create takeaways on defense, you don't stop the run and you give up game-changing plays in your special teams, you're not going to win football games. I mean, it's just not going to happen. If you just play sound, I mean offensively, if you just don't turn the football over, you give yourself a chance. That's one big, big factor. We gave it up twice and early in the game and kill whatever moment we had. Then you go down and we tried the fake field goal and we didn't execute it, and so we shoot ourselves in the foot from the very beginning of the game. And then you don't give the defense any help early on in the game. So, they get worn down and they had a hard time stopping the run."

On what he will evaluate first in this offense: "Everything. We'll pick everything apart. We'll pick every player apart, we'll look at every play of each player we've got. We'll look at every play that they've played and what their problems were. We'll do it with players, we'll do it with offense, we'll do it with defense, we'll do it with special teams, we'll do it with each and every unit. And then we will determine what was good, what wasn't good, why it wasn't good, how do we get it corrected. That's what you do each and every year."

On how different it would have been going into next year had the team won the game: "You're always better off winning, there's no doubt about it because you can give yourself some positive momentum going into the offseason and all of those things. So, we've got a bad taste in our mouths. So, that's what we'll have to use for momentum, is that you don't want this bad taste anymore and what are you going to do to change that? How much better of a team are we going to be next year and what is it going to take for us to get there?"

On the reasons why the program should be optimistic after this season: "Well, I think we had five seniors starting on this football team all year. We're a very young football team. I think we return 10 on offense and six or seven on defense. Even though the scheme may change defensively, we're still going to be a better football team. We will be a better football team. We're a better football team right now than we were coming into this game. That's just the way it is because all of those guys, all of these young guys have gotten experience all season. So, they're going to be better football players than they are right now when we start next year. So, I think the future is very bright. I think we have a lot of talent, a lot of young talent that is just going to grow and mature. As you look across college football, there aren't a whole lot of freshmen that are making big plays out there on the field, and even sophomores, really. If you realize how many of them we have out there and how many are playing for us, as they develop and as they grow and they get bigger and faster and stronger and more mature, I think the future is very bright for us."

On if Rutgers did anything in the run game that surprised the team: "No, they didn't do anything different than what we had prepared for. In all three phases, actually."

On if Rutgers' ability to get penetration with their front four limited North Carolina's ability to make big plays: "A little bit. There was pressure with the front four that they created. They also did a great job of keeping their safeties high and we got behind them a couple of times, but weren't able to finish those plays off, which was early in the game where we needed to have the one to Mack (Hollins) hit. That gives you some momentum and good things start happening to you."

On what has changed in the offense over the last few games: "That's a good question, I don't know. We've got to go back and really look at it. It's very disappointing though. It's very disappointing the way we've played offensively the last couple of games. And so, we've got a lot of work to do in the off-season. We've got a lot of work to do to get better and we'll find a way to get it done."

On his first losing season as a head coach: "I don't like it. I don't like it. There's nothing about it that I like. It doesn't taste good. There's nothing good about it. Nothing."

On playing through adversity: "Like we did four or five different times during the season? Yeah, you've got to do that. You're going to have adversity in every game. It's coming sometime. You can't even blink, you just have to play. You've got to keep playing, you've got to play hard and eventually, somebody's going to make a play. You can't sit around and wait for somebody else to make a play. If you're a player, you make plays and that's what you've got to do."

On WR Quinshad Davis' injury: "I just know it was his lower right leg, that's all I know. I know when we were out there and I was talking to him, he was talking. He was communicating and he said, 'I'm alright, I'm alright.' He's a tough kid, he gives you everything he's got, all of the time. It was unfortunate, but he'll be okay."

NORTH CAROLINA QB Marquise Williams

on what happened in tonight's game: "It's tough. We didn't put up too many points, things were not going well, we expected them to. We had a great week of practice. I don't know, it's just something we've got to move on from and look forward to next year. But like I said, it's kind of tough. Basically, that's two back-to-back shutouts and our offense not putting up points."

On if the team is back to ground zero and needs to start from scratch: "To be honest, we need to start from scratch. When you start all the way over, you find new things and everybody's just going to have to go to work in the offseason. Me myself, I'm going to put in a lot of work and it's going to be my senior year and it's going to be huge for me. Just the grind, the grind cannot stop and everybody has to buy in and everybody's got to want it. When a whole team is on the same page, that's when things will go well and everybody's not just on their own path or thinking about their own future. We'll be a better football team."

On if individuals began to think about just themselves as the season went along: "You could tell on a lot of guys' faces, a lot of guys don't really care. We just have to come back in the offseason and get it together."

On how frustrated it is to have teammates come out uninspired to play: "I mean it's frustrating as a team, it's a team thing. There will be certain guys that get it and certain guys that don't. That's what we'll have to work on in the offseason, just everybody buying in, everybody doing what we need to do to help us win more football games and not have a losing record."

On what he needs to do as a team leader when guys look uninspired: "Like I said, as a leader you just keep encouraging guys. You've got to bring the positive energy. You've got to keep telling guys, 'Hey man, let's go get it.' Even though you're probably thinking a different path, let's get on the same path so we can go win some football games."

On if he will talk to some of the uninspired players this offseason: "It's just the whole team, everybody has to get on the same path. Even myself included, I've got to get on board, everybody has to get on board. It's just, our whole team needs to come as one, just one complete team. Just get on board and go for it from there."