Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit (transcribed by Nicholas Spalding)

(on QB Tim Hiller) “One of the things that I love about this kid (QB Tim Hiller) is he's been playing with a knee, a torn ACL in the last three games and hasn't said a word to anybody. I asked him, I said, ?Are you sure you want to go out there?' He says, ?Coach, I'm not going to do that to this football team.' So, I know it didn't work out for us tonight, but to me, these kids are all winners, and this kid, what he did the last three games, unbelievable. So, I just want to let you guys know because he'll never say a word about it. He'll never use it as an excuse. That's the type of kid this kid is.”

(on when QB Tim Hiller's injury to his knee occurred) “It happened in the Illinois game in the second quarter.”

(on the game) “I hope the post-game food is good. They're really good. I think after the first series I felt pretty good and unfortunately we just mis-judged the ball. Then they got on a roll. Third downs killed us. Offense, we were never in sync. We just didn't play real well. But, they're really good. That's a good football team, really good offensively. I think the (QB Chase) Clement kid, they got exactly what they (need). Clement, (TE James) Casey and (WR Jarett) Dillard are all really good players. We had some chances. We just didn't capitalize on offense. Then we get behind the eight ball and then all of the sudden they just come after you and just over power us.”

(on what QB Tim Hiller's ACL injury means to the offseason and if it will require surgery) “Yeah, they'll go in there and we'll just get these other kids a lot of reps. If there is anybody on the team that probably doesn't need spring ball it's him. We'll get the other kids in. It's a great opportunity. You always look at little things and it's a great opportunity for those other guys to get themselves better and a lot of reps. So, (I'm) looking forward to spring ball and getting those guys ready to go, too.” (on third downs being the Achilles heel all season long) “You're right. Every game it seemed like we couldn't get off the field on third down. It's something we've got to really, really address and emphasize in the offseason and get that thing taken care of because right now it's not really good. When you look at it, we're three of 14 and we were pretty good on third down. They did a nice job. They're 13 and 20 and really one of them was at the end of the game where it kind of just doesn't make much difference anyway at the end.”

(on his new contract) “I'm very happy. This has always been my dream job and I am glad to be able to stay in Kalamazoo. It's a great place. I work for a great president and great athletic director in Dr. (John M.) Dunn and (athletic director) Kathy (Beauregard). Is Kathy here? What did it take me? Two minutes. O.k. Yeah. Good. Alright, let's move on. That's just the way we do things there. You just trust people there and you love it there. It's a great, great place to work.”

(on if Rice was better than Cincinnati in the International Bowl) “Offensively, no doubt. They're good offensively. Their quarterback is a tough kid. I knew there was some other guys that get a lot more notoriety, but I don't if there is anybody that has the impact that he has for their football team. (WR Jarett) Dillard's as good of a wideout that we've played and (TE James) Casey's a great tight end. They're good. They do some nice things. Unfortunately, I think we had them stopped three or four times. We had a couple of penalties on one drive and then we let them leak one out. But, you look at the end, they're better than we are. So, they won it, but it's just one of those things. We didn't play real well. They played well. They win, and we'll give it to them. They're good.”

(on what leg QB Tim Hiller hurt) “Left. I don't even know if I'm allowed to say this. I guess they'll have to fire me on that one. There goes that contract. (laughs).”

(on QB Tim Hiller) “Like I said, that kid (QB Tim Hiller), we've been really fortunate. I've had some quarterbacks play with broken legs and one played with a fractured elbow. This kid here, you could just see the last three games he was not the same kid. The balance and the throwing off of his leg, his accuracy; he had no power. The games he didn't play really well in there were the last two games. The last three games are probably the games that weren't his best. It's hard for him.”

(on if he was playing with anything additional on his leg) “Just a brace. The kid went in the locker room and he would go in the training room or restroom and put it on so he would not let anybody else know that he was wearing it. So, in my book, he's pretty good.”

(closing comment) “I want to thank all of the Texas Bowl. This has been an unbelievable experience and I can't thank you enough for us and Western Michigan. You guys have been great. Thanks.”

Western Michigan SS Mario Armstrong (transcribed by Brandon White)

(on his personal foul in the 2nd quarter) “I thought it was clean shot. When I saw the replay, I hit him with the shoulder pad so I thought it was a clean shot. They (the referees) thought different. When I was running to it, I know I had ducked down but I wasn't sure if I had hit him with the helmet but when I saw the instant replay, I saw that I hit him with the shoulder pad so I thought it was clean.”

(on how the penalty was announced: hitting a defenseless receiver) “I don't know what that means. I never heard of that...?defenseless'.”

(on the impact his penalty had on the team) “It had a lot to do (with momentum). Basically, it was like a momentum changer but once we see that we got a flag for it, we were still trying to get third down stops. That one was the big one right there and we couldn't get it.”

Western Michigan DB E.J. Biggers (transcribed by Chase Cusack)

(on the Rice offense) “They have a great offense. We had the chance to get off the field and we didn't do that. They executed, and like I said, they're a great offense, and we knew that coming in.”

(on 3rd down being the team's Achilles heel) “They executed and we didn't. We had a chance to get off the field and make some tackles, and we missed some plays, and they executed.”

(on his defensive unit) “We knew it would take one play to get off (the field), and get the run defense back rolling. As a defense we didn't do our job today.”

(on ranking the Rice offense) “They're probably the best team we played this year. They executed when they had to, and we didn't today.”

(on Rice QB Chase Clement) “He runs the show for their team. He made a lot of great throws today. They had some trick plays in today and they executed. They made the plays, and we didn't.”

(on staying focused during the bowl week) “We came in focused on the game, we knew what we were down here for and that wasn't a problem. The week we had down here, it was a great experience for myself and the rest of the guys. We knew what we came for, so it wasn't a big deal.”

(on the pass he threw) “It was something we worked on so I was confident in completing the pass. (Head) Coach (Bill) Cubit called the play and we had to execute it, so we got on the field and we knew what we had to do.”

(on SS Mario Armstrong's hit and penalty) “I thought it was a good hit. It came up on the big screen and it looked like a good hit. You can't over turn an official's call so it is what it is.”

Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller (transcribed by Chase Cusack)

(on the early scoring by Rice) “As an offense there's something to be said for getting in a rhythm early, and we failed to do that. And when that happens you just have to battle through. I think sometimes it's just not your day, it's not your time. My hat's off to Rice. We didn't play well and they took advantage of everything. We'll be back.”

(on the dropped touchdown pass in the first quarter) “Things like that happen in a football game. I know (WR) Juan (Nunez) would give anything to have that play back again. Every once and a while you just don't make a play. Obviously it's a bitter pill to swallow, especially for our seniors, we've got 25 of them. The reason we're here in the first place is because of them and the leadership they provided. My heart goes out to them, I just feel so bad, because I wanted to win this game more than anything for them. I didn't get that done, and I hold myself responsible for the offensive side of things. We'll be back, this is a great year, and we're going to remain positive.”

(on the records broken by his receivers) “They're great players, they've worked so hard at what they do, and they're tremendously gifted. They've made me look good time and time and time again, and I've had fun being their teammate, and the future looks bright for both of them I think. I don't think this is the last football game they're going to play. It's been a great ride with them, and congratulations to them."

Western Michigan WR Juan Nunez (transcribed by Daniel Sampson)

(on how he was feeling in the first quarter) “I was feeling real bad, coming off knowing that my grandmother just passed away. It was kind of hard for me. It was kind of hard for me to concentrate out there. Just things didn't go my way.”

(on if the personal issues in his life factored into the dropped touchdown pass) “I wouldn't say that. It was just lack of concentration.”

(on what happened on the drop touchdown pass) “I probably got too happy and just took my eyes off the ball.”

(on how tough it was to play after finding out about his grandmother's death) “It was kind of tough. I just had to bounce back. What happened is what happened. My grandmother is now in a better place and she is looking down on me. Basically things didn't turn out the way we wanted to.”

Western Michigan RB Brandon West (transcribed by Daniel Sampson)

(on having over 1,000 yards rushing) “I feel like it's a big accomplishment. Obviously we lost but I'm still looking forward to next year. I had 1,000 (yards) this year, I have to get more next year. In the process I just have to keep building myself.”

(on what he is looking forward to doing in his senior year) “These seniors here played a big game. There's some seniors here I look up to on the team like (FS) Louis Delmas. We talk everyday about just going out there and giving it your all because I'm not the biggest guy out there. When I go out there I try to bleed. Obviously it didn't work tonight but we just have to keep focus and keep on striving. 9-4, that's a good season still. That's a real good season but we just have to get 10 next year.”

(on being more productive in the second half of the season) “While sitting out the game I always told (head) Coach (Bill Cubit), ?I still want to go,' but he always told me, ?You have to sit out; you have another game to keep fighting.' I wanted to go. I was suited up ready to go every game trying to work on the leg. Ball State, that was the worst but I still played, still fought through. Obviously we lost that game too. I try to teach the younger guys that we still have to go.”