Opening Statement
Well, obviously, all's well that ends well, and you know this is the hardest part about where I've kind of been the last four years of college football: just trying to figure out and find out what you got. You know, there's so many new guys in that locker room, whether it's the 35 new guys, or, you know, the 12 new starters that are transfer guys. And you have times like this, and I don't just mean the victory, I mean being on the road, being in a hostile environment that you really kind of learn more about each other, I've been saying that all year. We're going to have to go through some things and that this is going to be a journey. I know people are going to be frustrated with us, our guys will get frustrated with us at times, and, as a coach, I get frustrated at times too, but this journey is about continuing to build and decline, and I don't know that there's any tougher situation than what we were in out there today. To see these guys not falter, to see guys not get down on [Joseph] and not give up on him; that's what makes me so proud. A win is a win, don't get me wrong. This game is about winning, and we talked about that all year long, but to see how they handled adversity, to see what they did, to see how they kept fighting, see how they didn't give in, there's a conviction that we challenged them. I challenged them to show the conviction to fight, and we learned a lot about ourselves today.
Q: Luke, we've sat here after games like this before, and kind of when how it was in the third quarter, and talked about your job security, what this means for the program, just how validating is it to finally get one of these to go your way.
A: You know, nothing just goes your way. That's the thing. That's what I try to tell these guys before the game and at halftime. I say, if you want something, you have to go take it. And if you want something, you have to work for it. You have to go get it. Nobody's going to hand you anything in this world, especially in this college football world. Everything is earned, and it's a battle. And so, to me, for those guys that go out there and earn it, battle the way they did, to come through; nothing makes you prouder. It’s like being a proud parent, and like I said, it's all about the win, but to see how they went about it. I don't know if I've had one that was more special. I know I haven't in four years because I've had some bad nights here, in case you guys are wondering, that stick in my mind and so to have it the way it did, you couldn't write it any better.
Q: Luke, it was clear how happy you were walking off the field toward infield to get that interview, just share what that moment meant to experience that high five and hug everybody like that after everything you went through.
A: It’s been a tough one, and you guys know that. You guys have been here every day, every week with us, and probably seen a little bit of what we saw out there in the first half and probably had your story written for the second half. Just you know, unfortunately, sometimes you do get in those ruts, and people just assume things that are going to happen, and that's where I just keep challenging ourselves. I challenge our fans and challenge our team. We’re learning how to play with each other. This is a journey. We understand it's a climb, what we have to do and we have to continue to battle. We got to be convicted to it. So yeah, there was obviously a sense of excitement and pride and an incredible joy. Like I told you, I've been at this stadium at night, not feeling like this plenty of times, and I know how hard of a place it is to play. But to see these guys, the way they handled it, the way they went about it, and the way they came back to win - there's nothing I could write that would be any better.
Q: You know, last week against Eastern Michigan, the first quarter didn't go the team's way, but you were seeing positives even though the score wasn't there. I guess I wonder, were there some things today that you were seeing that maybe just weren’t showing up on the score again.
A: Well, I said it last week after the game that the scoreboard doesn't always tell the story. Well, the scoreboard at the end tells the story to the people that matter, right? But it doesn't always tell the whole story, and so you know, no, I don't think that the scoreboard told the story last week in the first quarter, and maybe at the end of the game, the scoreboard doesn't tell the whole story here. I mean, there's a lot more things that happened in this game that helped us grow that I don't know that I would want to go through again, but it's great that we did, and so, ultimately, all anybody sees is the final result, and that's what matters. We understand that, but what goes into getting to those results, especially this one right here, is going to last a long time.