On the game
"This was a tremendous football game. The effort of both teams was excellent, but <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska made one or two more plays. However, we came here to win, and to do anything less than that is unacceptable. We had plenty of chances to win it. I credit Nebraska for the job they did."<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
On IowaState's defense
"We've never given up that many yards over the middle. We've done well getting turnovers this year, and today we only got one, and that's just not Cyclone defense. Credit Nebraska for taking care of the ball. Nebraska fought and scratched and so did we, but in end, Nebraska made one or two more plays."
On the mindset of IowaState after the game
"The team is really upset. This is about winning football games. When you work throughout the year and it comes down to only a few Saturdays and you come so close and don't get it, it's very disappointing. I told the kids coming into the season that we were going to be in a lot of close football games and if we wanted to have the season that we wanted to have, we would have to be good enough to win those sort of games and today we weren't."
On Nebraska running back Cory Ross
"He's elusive, tough and has good speed. When he gets the ball, he is really dangerous. I saw more missed tackles today than I wanted to see. He's a tremendous player. On that middle screen (for a touchdown), we had a guy that was supposed to have accounted for him, he didn't, and when you give that guy that sort of daylight, you're in trouble."
On the absence of ISU running back Stevie Hicks
"Hicks couldn't go, so we'll go into next week and try to rehab him and see if he can go next week. He tried to go in pregame but he couldn't go the way he needed to go. He could go 75 percent, 80 percent today, but not 100 percent."
On IowaState's defense
"We can't have our defense give up those sort of plays. We gave up way too many completions today. Our passing defense left a lot to be desired."
On the performance of ISU wide receiver Austin Flynn
"He's a tough kid and competitive kid. He's the type of guy you want on your team on Saturday."
On ISU's wide receivers
"We need to stop dropping the ball. Some of that was good coverage by Nebraska. Other times it was poor focus. Our receivers are talented enough to make the catch."
On the performance of running back Greg Coleman
"I'm really proud of him. He showed ball security and durability. He blocked well and did a good job of trying to get extra yards."
On Nebraska's passing game
"That's the strength of their offense. They know what they're doing, (NU head coach) Bill Callahan knows what he's doing, so we weren't surprised when they came out throwing the ball all over the place."