Syracuse Defeats Pitt: Quotant Quotables

The Syracuse Orange beat the Pittsburgh Panthers 14-13 on Friday night. It was their first win over a FBS team since October 2011 and their first win over Pitt since 2004. Naturally, things were said of importance to you and me after the game.

Doug Marrone on getting the win:

"I am happy that we won. I do understand that we have a lot of work ahead of us when you look at that game. We left some stuff out there. There are some things we did well, don’t get me wrong. I’m excited for the players. They worked hard. It’s been a long time since we’ve played and we put a lot of work into getting better. Credit to them and the coaches. We can enjoy ourselves tonight but we have a lot to work on and we need to get back to work. We need to have the same type of mentality we’ve had in the past few weeks."

Was he celebrating near the end of the game when he got all worked up?:

"No, I wasn’t celebrating. I was getting them ready to get the first down. When I went out there, I was proud of them. I’ve been in that situation before. It hurts when you are not able to run the ball out and not get the ball back. There is a certain type of pride. It’s hard for me to explain unless you’ve been in that position. It is gut wrenching. I didn’t want that. I wanted our kids to be proud and get the first down."

Marrone on the play of Adonis Ameen-Moore:

"I think the offensive coaches did a very good job from a personnel standpoint. They were very pleased with Adonis (Ameen-Moore) and he worked extremely hard to be in that position. It’s a very important position and it’s one where you have to have a high level of trust. The coaches have that and the players have that in Adonis. He’s worked hard and I’m happy for him. I’m proud of him."

And on his battery-mate, Lewllyn Coker:

"I think it goes back to the coaches. They did a great job of putting him back there. He did a very good job in that fullback position. I was proud of him."

On the game hero, Iron Brandon Sharpe:

"Brandon plays very well. We all know that Pittsburgh is very physical team and they are very well coached. You look at what we did today against this Pittsburgh team and the run game. I think that’s difficult to do. Our kids work for that challenge. We challenge them with it. Brandon did a good job. If one player plays very well, that means a lot of other people are doing something well on that defensive line and front seven."

What about the physicality of the game from his standpoint?:

"From my standpoint, I really think you play this game play-by-play. I think it judges who you are. For me to stand up here and say, ‘Hey, I was proud of them at the end,’ I wasn’t proud of them on every single play. They did a nice job but we still have a lot to work on."

Hey, where was Ashton Broyld?

"Our philosophy is to play the best players that give us the best chance to win. That’s not only Ashton Broyld, that’s a lot of other players on this team."

AAM on what it was like to score his first touchdown:

"I mean, as far as a running back it’s fun when you can go and score a touchdown. I mean it feels great. I haven’t scored a touchdown since the 12th grade. Just happy about the win so I am happy about that. It felt wonderful and I am just glad Coach Marrone gave me the chance for the return and trusted me to get the first down and get the job done."

Ryan Nassib on how well his defense played:

"The character of the guys on the team is really something special. Everyone in the locker room was hungry to come out and play today. Offensively we wish we could of done a little bit better but the defense played like ravish dogs today."

Is that a thing?*

*it does seem like there a lot of incorrect words in the transcript, but, I hope this isn't one of them.

Brandon Sharpe on his intensity for the game:

"Coach Marrone keeps us to high expectations so we came out there and played our hardest. All week, all bye week he just wanted us to be physical and play our game and that what we did today."

Dyshawn Davis on his fumble recovery TD:

"At practice I know we had a good look of that formation. We knew they were going to send the receiver over across the formation. I dropped back in coverage and I saw the receiver catch it with one hand. Jeremi Wilkes did a good job of stripping it and I saw the ball on the ground. My eyes got big and I knew I had to get in the end zone. I had my teammates in front of me leading the way, all I had to do was follow them and I was in the end zone."

Deon Goggins on how the team stayed calm during the end of the game:

"We just communicated and we’re close as a team this year. We’re all tight from the offense to the special teams to the third string kicker. We were in each other’s heads and had each other’s back out there and we made it happen."

Nice shout-out to Ryan Lichtenstein there...

Justin Pugh has some shout-outs of his own:

"I want to give a shout out to the defense, the fans, everyone who stayed, who believed in us."

Marcus Sales on his 100th career catch:

"It really doesn’t mean anything if we aren’t winning games, so I am just glad that we got the victory."