Missouri State University

#13 Cody Kirby (QB)

On the tough loss:

"You talk about defining moments, and that was one of them, there at the end. We just were not able to get it done. But we won't let this get us down. We're going to bounce back. And tomorrow, we are going to watch film, and we are going to get better all this week. And we are going to get ready to go next week."

On the last play:

"General (Parnell), number 13, he was playing a tight corner over there and he had been wanting to come up on the flat route a lot and I tried to fit it in the hole, right behind his ear. I thought he was going to come up on Clay (Harbor), who had the flat route. I tried to fit it in there and he made a good play on it. I should have just thrown it out of bounds."

#4 Jared Emery (WR)

On the offensive output in the fourth quarter:

"We got into a really good rhythm the last two drives. Cody did a great job throwing it around and the line did a great job protecting. The outside receivers made some plays like we needed to, we just have to start doing that earlier in the game instead of waiting until the last two drives."

On the offense's slow start:

"Sometimes you go out there and every play you call works and sometimes it doesn't. We just have to find that sequence where it goes out there and works a lot more than what happened in the first half and through the second and third quarter."

On the momentum the offense gained from SDSU's late, missed field goal:

"That was huge. Our defense stepped up just like they have all year and gave us another chance. We took it down and scored, and then the defense goes out and stops them again, and then we have our chance. Today just wasn't our day."

#21 Skylar Smith (S)

On the defense's strong play in the fourth quarter:

"They made some plays, and we just really tried to keep our heads up, just stay determined. Coach Vokolek does a good job of keeping us after it."

On the challenge of facing the SDSU offense with their new quarterback:

"We knew they were going to try to run it at us. They had a little more success in the second half than we would have liked. We had some plays that we left out there where we didn't get off the field on third down, but we didn't see a whole lot that we didn't think was going to get thrown at us."

On the progress the team has made from last year:

"I think once every one cools down we will be able to look at this and feel a little bit better than last year. It hurts right now, but it was ugly last year and we still had that taste in our mouth and we tried to come out here today and do it different."

Coach Terry Allen

On the late touchdown that pulled the Bears to within 7 points:

"Cody (Kirby) and Jared (Emery) had a great play for that touchdown. That is just determination by Emery to make that play in the end zone."

On the offensive performance:

"It was hard slugging out there all day. We had a lot of first downs and we had a lot of yards, but we just did not have enough points. The defense played well enough for us to win. We just turned the ball over too often."

On the final drive:

"I believe in this team, and they believe in themselves. We were one play from overtime, we just didn't make it. I wouldn't trade Cody Kirby for anybody for his work ethic and tenacity. He just made an ill-advised pass."

On the team's expectations for the rest of the season:

"We won't let this one affect us like the SIU game last year. I don't believe that will happen to this team based on its character."