“I told them after the game in the locker room, I think this concluded my 36th year of coaching, and these guys were probably as much fun or more fun team to coach than any team I’ve been associated with, just because they play so hard and they care so much about each other.”
Coach Paul Johnson
“Our main focus was to stop Dak Prescott from running the football and contain him, because we didn’t want to let him beat us running the ball. We wanted to make him throw the ball and get the ball in other players’ hands. I felt like we did a good job of that for the most part.”
Safety Jamal Golden
“I think every time we play, he gains experience. Sometimes he’s played so well and we’ve put him in spots to do things, but you don’t realize it’s his first year starting. He’s only a sophomore. I’m really excited about what he can do in the future.”
Johnson on quarterback Justin Thomas
“It’s a great feeling. I couldn’t have done it without these guys. A lot of these guys are seniors out here and ended their careers off right.”
Thomas on winning most outstanding player
“It’s great. We’re 2-0 against the SEC this year. It just proves that we can play with anybody we want to.”
Thomas
“Coach Johnson, he was good about it. He was just saying, ‘Hey, keep your heads up.’ We didn’t come into this game thinking the game was going to be over by halftime. So we knew we had to play four quarters. So everything worked out.”
Safety Isaiah Johnson on the Hail Mary touchdown
“It’s a great feeling. I wish everyone could have this feeling during their Georgia Tech career. Senior year, coming back, it’s amazing. It’s amazing. Never dreamed of it.”
Isaiah Johnson
“It was clearly an offensive game, but we were able to get a couple of big turnovers and recover the onside kick and score on each of them. Turnovers are usually the difference in big games. Tonight was no different. We matched them offensively, and the turnovers turned the game in our direction.”
Paul Johnson
“It’s kind of bittersweet, playing in a game like this and winning your final game. It’s fantastic. You really can’t write it much better. But I’m going to miss coach Johnson, the staff, all the players that I’ve seen grow up from their official visits to now. I’m looking forward to seeing what Georgia Tech has in 2015.”
B-back Synjyn Days
“Give Georgia Tech a lot of credit. I think they executed at a very, very high level out there on the field tonight.”
Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen
“I think we executed, we did some things, but I think early on, we had to settle for two field goals in the first half in the red zone. … If we score touchdowns in the first half, you take a lead going into halftime, which I think would have been a huge deal for us.”
Mullen
