Wrapping it Up: Al Golden/Player Quotes, Highlights

Al Golden

On the effort of his team...

"I'm real proud of the effort. I think there's no question they prepared and entered the game believing and knowing that they were going to win. Obviously we were just a couple of plays short at the end of the day. They made a couple more plays than we did. That was the difference in the game."

On an incompletion call in the fourth quarter...

"I was communicating and there were about three or four different views of it. The guy that I was talking to was pretty sure he never had possession of it."

On the performance of Florida State in the second half...

"They made more plays than we did. It was a hard-fought game. That's what this game should be like. This game should be like this every year. I'm proud of our guys for fighting. They fought their tails off. They just made a couple more plays than we did. It was as physical as anything we've been involved with. Hats off to [Florida State]. They made a couple of plays when they needed to.

On his team's final offensive drive...

"We were in good shape. We had three timeouts and 1:30 [left on the clock]. After the made first, Brad [Kaaya] took a little too much time on the ball there. I  think he got a little confused with the look and we had to use a timeout after an incompletion, I believe it was. That was disappointing. But it didn't have any bearing on whether it was 3rd & 9 and 4th & 9. We didn't make a play. We got hit on 3rd & 9, and intercepted on fourth [down]."

On the injuries to Anthony Chickillo and Deon Bush...

"It's too early to tell. That was a big loss. Both of those guys were playing really well. Not having Gus [Edwards], as much as we wanted to run the ball, I think that hurt. Gus was kind of a game-time decision. He just didn't look like he was where he needed to be."

On if there is any solace after an impressive performance by his team...

"Not in that locker room right now. Nope. We have to make a couple more plays, it's as simple as that. We turned it over a couple of times. They made a couple more plays than we did. And that's it."

On the performance of quarterback Brad Kaaya...

"He's doing a good job. We're asking him to do a lot. That's a big stage and a big moment. I think we certainly can take from this that it's not too big for him. He grew up a lot this season and obviously we just needed to finish it better. We stayed aggressive with our play-calling, we left too many X plays on the field on offense. We really did. A couple of overthrows, a couple that we did not connect on. It came back to hurt us."

On miscues...

"You can't make those mistakes in a game like this. We held them to a pretty close field goal. Stan [Dobard] catches a slant and he looked like he got us about 20 or 25 yards and then he put it on the ground. I'm not sure if I'm exactly correct, but I think we would have been on the 35-yard line there - we're knocking on the door again there. In a game like that, there are a number of plays that we needed to make. We just came up a little bit short."

On field position after penalties...

"The one we had that backed us up, we ended up getting 40 yards on the field and were able to swing it. If you didn't have the 15-yard penalty there, you're in much better shape. Too tough ones there - facemask and a late hit out of bounds."

On the second-half injury to Duke Johnson...

"I think it was a cramp. I don't know specifically. It seemed like it was a cramp, at least I know it was early on. I don't know if it became something else. He's playing really hard, obviously a lot of energy spent in the emotional part of the game. It would have been nice to have Gus [Edwards] to spell him a little bit more."

On the performance of Ereck Flowers, who returned from injury and started...

"Amazing. That guy is a warrior, Ereck Flowers. That guy...that's crazy what he did. He played a really good game,worked his tail off to get back after surgery. It wasn't too big for him. He played his ass off and he was ready to go."

Clive Walford, TE

On the difference in the second half...

"They did nothing special. We just beat ourselves up and we came up a play short. If we made more plays, we could have a different outcome to the game."

On if he came into this game with a championship mentality...

"It was the same mentality. You can't change your mindset. You have to take it and take it for preparation for next week."

On the play of Brad Kaaya...

"It was big. The whole team was excited for him. He's a leader on the offense and a lot of guys on the team look up to him so that made us feel better coming into the game. He played a great game, and he's only a freshman."

Duke Johnson, RB

On the difference between the first half and second half...

"I would not say tougher. We didn't capitalize when we should have. We have a lot of plays that we left out there. A lot of plays that we got into good position, and made mistakes on the offensive side. There where a lot of things that we were doing that hurt ourselves."

On keeping the team together after a loss...

"It starts by doing it yourself. The leaders have to step forward and put it in the past. We have to go to practice and get back what we know how to do. It starts with the leaders and starts with the older guys. We just got to get everybody going -- the young guys going, and they can even get the coaches back into it. We really can focus on these last couple of games we have."

Phillip Dorsett, WR

On the difference in the second half...

"They started playing off. They started playing better. They started doubling me when I went into the boundary. We really didn't adjust as well. I still have to make a play when my number is called."

On Brad Kaaya and the future of the team...

"I look at it a lot. Brad is nineteen years old and going out playing this game -- probably the game of his life against Florida State, the 3rd-ranked team in the country. You can't really play any better than he played. He played a great game. Unfortunately, we fell short. These guys, these young guys, they take everything from us, and they look up to us. We're just trying to play out the game for him. These guys are going to be special. Brad is going to be special. He's young and he's going to get another off-season. He's going to be great."