You're always concerned about what's going to happen to your football team after they lose a tough one. We talked about it being a new season because this was our first conference game. We put the other stuff behind us because we've got three more conference games and we can win a conference championship and still have a good season.

The rest of the (Big South) teams got to go out and beat a top 20 team. We need to do our share and get a reputation that we are a good football conference.

We were ahead by 15 at halftime and I wasn't sure if it was going to be enough with this bunch. But I felt good about the way we handled the second half.

It's big. We just really needed a win.

He [Mason] got caught up in the excitement of having a chance to beat a No. 13 team, but the way college football is now, you can't celebrate. [If] we don't get that penalty, we have a three-yard shot at a two-point play [that] ties it up and throws it into overtime. I like our chances in overtime at home.

I think playing Duke helped us become a better football team, and that's what it's all about. This game helped us get better in our conference and the remainder of our season.

Losing 40-14 to Duke [last week], that's a tough loss. When you lose 28-26, that's even tougher because you knew you had a shot to win it.

We've got a chance to play for a conference championship and a chance to play for a winning season.

We were more active on defense. They [defense] didn't play conservative. They attacked things.