“I’m happy for these kids. They work so hard. They really work hard, so you want them to have success, so I’m happy for them that they got success.”
— Coach Paul Johnson
“It’s our turn, maybe. Not just here, but at home, too. Today, it looked like they had us on the ropes there for a little bit, and it’s looked like we’ve had them on the ropes several times, and they’ve come back and won. They’ve always been tough games. They’re very well-coached, and they play very hard.”
— Johnson on losing close games at Lane Stadium
“I thought, Here we go again. That’s exactly what I thought. Here we go again. Because it looked like Chris Milton had a chance to get it and it bounced off him right into the guy’s hands who was out there, but as fate would have it, it worked out all right.”
— Johnson on the fumble run in for a touchdown by Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Brewer
“I thought we were going to Greensboro (North Carolina) on the buses today. I’ve never been that way. It was interesting — nice scenery. I’m used to just shooting down 81 and taking the exit.”
— Johnson on the team’s bus ride from Roanoke, Va.
“He’s really quite a player, athletic, fast and tough. I was impressed by him, and he did a good job of scheming us a few times.”
— Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer on Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas
“I just told the guys, we’re just not playing Virginia Tech football right now.”
— Beamer
“This is a team that finally can say that we finished a football game. (In years before), every close game, we’ve lost. This game, we came out and we pulled it out.”
— B-back Zach Laskey
“We were in (the locker room), and I was talking to Shaq (Mason) and the guys who are graduating. We were talking about how emotional it was and how big of a win it was for us and the program.”
— Laskey
“We were just talking about how, last game (against Georgia Southern), we didn’t do as good in the second half, so what we really tried to emphasize in this game was just coming out and (playing) a complete game, so that’s what we tried to do.”
— Cornerback Chris Milton
“We were in that situation before, kind of in a hole, but we dug ourselves out, and I feel like we did that today. Everybody kept their head on straight and knew what we had to accomplish.”
— Thomas on the comeback
“I think coach (Ted) Roof did a great job all week just emphasizing, ‘Strain for the defense,’ making sure everybody gave full effort and just going all out. My mindset was just like my teammates’ — give it all we’ve got, and whatever the results are, let it be what it is. We didn’t want to leave this field knowing we had something left.”
— Cornerback D.J. White
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