QUOTES

PURDUE COACH JOE TILLER:

“The scoreboard suggests our defense struggled, but I think it was our offense that underperformed.”

PURDUE QUARTERBACK

DREW BREES,

ON LOSING HIS FINAL GAME:

“It was a great road getting here. There were some ups and downs, and of course I’m upset about this loss but we played hard. That’s what I’ll remember about this season, that we never gave up.”

PURDUE WIDE RECEIVER

VINNY SUTHERLAND,

ABOUT BREES’ POSITIVE

IMPACT ON PURDUE:

“It couldn’t happen to a better person. I think he should have won that [Heisman] trophy. I think he was the best quarterback in the country.”

TILLER, ON BREES’

IMPACT AT PURDUE:

“He raised the program. He created a national awareness of Purdue football.”

PURDUE LINEBACKER

LANDON JOHNSON:

“We’ll have a lot of people coming back next year, but it’s a long, long, hard road getting back and we’ve got to get started for next year when we get back home, so we can return next year.”

WASHINGTON COACH

RICK NEUHEISEL,

ON QUARTERBACK

MARQUES TUIASOSOPO:

“He is a warrior, the absolute epitome of what a quarterback should be. He leads by example. He’s gracious to everyone on the team, whether you’re a front-line player or a fifth-stringer. He’s everything you could ask for as a person, a player and a leader, and I can’t wait to watch him play on Sundays.”

BREES, ON WHAT

HE LEFT HIS TEAMMATES:

“A taste. Maybe I’m leaving a taste of what the Rose Bowl feels like. Guys like that taste; maybe they’ll come back.”

TILLER, ON THREE PURDUE

PENALTIES FOR

INTERFERING WITH WASHINGTON’S

PUNT RETURNER:

“Seemed like judgment calls, and I’m not out there so I can’t totally disagree with them. But you wouldn’t be a coach if you didn’t disagree with an official.”