Northwestern University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
11/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 4, 2006
Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz
"We had a hard time getting to their quarterback, they protected well, and we struggled a bit with protection."
"I don't think there was a key, they (Northwestern) just outplayed us and had us back on our heels."
"They (Northwestern) had a very good game plan, it was aggressive, and particularly in the first half, they made some great plays."
"Our fans were doing everything they could to get us going, they certainly did our part, and we didn't do ours."
"Anytime you fall short of where you want to be, you look at everything, and it's just not today, but you evaluate where you fell short on different things."
Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald "This is the expectation of our football program. We've got a very good football team and if we continue to play the way we did today, we're going to have a lot of fun here in the last few ballgames."
"I'm proud of our players, I'm proud of our coaches. We've been through as much adversity as you could possibly go through as a football team, but this is just one win. It feels good to get the monkey of our back."
"I thought our offensive line played their best game of the year. We felt we could run the ball the whole game and we ran it extremely well today."
"He [Tate] is such a warrior to come back from such a quick turnaround from surgery. We just went out and made some plays and that's what it comes down to."
"This is the way we should be playing all the time. Our program is built on success. We expect to win a lot of football games in the Big Ten and we expect to challenge for Big Ten championships."
"I couldn't be more proud of our seniors. They've provided great leadership all year and they've stayed the course. We have a lot to play for and we got a big challenge this next week."
"We wanted to make sure we had as tight of coverage on him [Chandler] as we could, but he's a guy that's going to get his catches and make his plays. To hold him to what we did, I'm proud of our defense."
Drew Tate:
On the Loss
"We got outplayed in all areas. It goes back to the interception I threw at the end zone. If I don't do that, the whole game is different.
On Quarterback Protection
"I didn't think [the protection] it was too bad. I think they did a pretty good job. They played real hard. Our guys did the best they could."
On the Blitz
"We figured they would do it. Everybody does it basically the same. It seems like everyone scouts us pretty well. It's something we're going to have to deal with and try to work through."
On his hand splint
"It was nothing big. I don't think it bothered me, just a little bit when handing it off to the right. Other than that, it was fine."
On the fumble
"I thought my arm was moving forward because I was trying to throw the ball. I don't know what they saw, but that's all I know."
To get ready for next week
"We just have to push it and keep going. We still have two games to go. We'll look at them like we look at every other Big Ten game. We'll try the best we can to prepare and just try to execute on the field."
On the last few weeks/games
"It's tough losing. We just have to be optimistic about it. We're still a good team, but we have weaknesses in a few areas, myself included. I could have played a lot better. I'm not disappointed at all, it's just something we've got to go through."
Mike Klinkenborg:
On today's loss
"I'm very disappointed. Any loss, with all the work we put in, is a disappointment. There's nothing like it, but we got what we deserved."
On the early touchdown and momentum
"We knew that if we gave them a chance, they'd take advantage of it and that's what they did today. They scored right away and the rest of the game was theirs."
On the confidence level of the team
"I don't think we've lost it. We still have two games left in the season with a big one coming up next week. If we can get a win then, we'll be able to forget about this one a little better. There are always positives, but today there were an awful lot of negatives too. Hopefully, we'll come out better next week.
Miguel Merrick:
On the loss
"In the locker room, I think everybody's just disappointed. If we had gone out there and played our hardest and then we lost, we could accept it, but today that's not something we did. They did, obviously, and that's why they are the happy locker room."
On the team's attitude
"It comes back on our seniors, including myself. It's something we have to address as seniors. We have to lead the team. We have to be ready to play everybody."
On overlooking Northwestern
"No, I don't think we took them lightly. With our team, we can't afford to take anybody lightly. When we come out and play like that, we shouldn't expect to win."
