THEY SAID IT

“You see that on ‘SportsCenter’ all the time, but it happened to us.”

— Georgia tailback Todd Gurley on Auburn's winning touchdown

“That’s a freak play. It’s like a nightmare. You try to wake up, and we are celebrating victory. It’s tough. This is going to be a tough one to get over.”

– Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray on the loss

“Just a whale of a game, I guess.”

– Georgia coach Mark Richt

“I still don’t know what happened. God blessed us. Ricardo Louis told Coach to ‘throw me the ball.’ We did, and he did something with it. Thank God for him right now.”

— Auburn running back Tre Mason on the final play

“It was a big day for Aaron and for the team. It’s a team thing. Obviously, you need your quarterback to play well to get back in the game, and he did. Early on we didn’t protect very well. As the game went on, we gave him time, and that was a big part of it. Guys were making catches. Coach was calling good plays. Murray did a really wonderful job.”

– Richt on Murray

“It felt weird at first, but then again it was just another team and another opponent. I didn’t really pay too much mind to it. We just keep doing what we always do.”

— Auburn QB Nick Marshall on playing against his former team

“I didn’t know what to say after that. I told them I thought they were a pretty amazing group of guys to get it to 38-37 like we did. I think most teams would have folded or found a reason to quit, but they didn’t do that.”

– Richt on what he said to the team afterward

“It wasn’t a fluke play. They launched it out there and were hoping for a miracle. When you’re playing that type of prevent defense, the goal is to not let anybody get behind you. The goal is to knock the ball down and end the game. It just didn’t happen.”

– Richt on Auburn’s winning touchdown pass

“This team has the ‘it’ factor. That’s just the bottom line. They complement each other very well. Offensively, defensively and special teams, they step up when they have to. They are a joy to coach, and it was one of those moments that I will remember for a long time.”

— Auburn coach Gus Malzahn on the victory

“When we recruited Ricardo Louis we felt like he could be an unbelievable impact player. Each week he has gotten more confidence. He didn’t play wide receiver in high school, and he’s gotten a chance to be really special, and I think this puts him in the right direction.”

– Malzahn on his game-winning receiver

“The only thing that was going through my mind was: ‘Try to make a play.’ At first I was going to try and jump for it, but they took the angle, so I just kept my eyes on the ball over my shoulder and watched the ball all the way in.”

– Louis on his winning grab