Head coach Kirby Cannon:

On the overall performace:

"I am proud of the defensive effort. It is going to be hard to find any bright spot for offense in tonight's game."

On the running game:

"We have good running backs; our inability right now is maintaining a block…a misread quite a few of our zone read plays. We didn't take advantage of the looks their defense was giving us. We need to make improvement on the offensive side of the ball and find out who we are going to be."

On the defensive improvement

"Our guys felt like they could stop them after the half on a fairly consistent basis, and getting the ball back and having a chance to move the ball is always a good scenario. A score to open the half could have made it a ball game again. We had coverage busts that lead to one of the ugliest touchdowns I've ever given up."

On Darrien Boone, who replaced the injured Trey Taylor, as starting quarterback

"Darien Boone has a chance to be a good player. He is going to have to gain more consistency in his ability to throw the ball down the field. He didn't execute very well on the times we had him running. We have got to have a QB that can get away from that pass rush. I do think Darien is a good player and think he is a better runner than he displayed tonight. But he was indecisive and has a lot of work to do on ball protection.

On the Boone locking onto one receiver

"A lot of young quarterbacks will fall in love with one receiver due to pressure or panic, which will usually lead to a lot of interceptions. Spreading the ball around makes teams have to defend the whole field."

On the excitement of opening new Governors Stadium

"The excitement of the new stadium and big crowd was definitely an energy boost for all of us. Energy and effort are really what we are preaching right now. I know we will make mistakes; we are to young not to."

On attempting to use the stadium in building a winning atmosphere

"Football has always been built on tradition and we have tradition here. Some good teams and some good eras were out there tonight (alumni) and we want to appreciate that. We want to teach our kids to appreciate the moment. I put a lot of pressure on them this week to show improvement and great effort. We want the alumni to be excited about the investment they have made in us and I think we gave that. We know we have work to do and are very anxious to take those steps."