Northwestern University Athletics
Post-game Quotes
11/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 21, 2009
Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Opening Statement:
"Thank you everyone for being here today. Obviously, very happy and very proud for our 21 great seniors. If you're going to have your last game on your home field, that's the way to finish, and a lot of credit goes to Wisconsin. It was a hard-fought game; what a battle. There were big plays in all aspects for both teams, a tremendous battle, and just a great Big Ten football game. I couldn't be more proud of our seniors. They put themselves in a position to really be the second all time-winningest team in a two-year run in our program's history. We'll get prepared for our next opportunity here after the Thanksgiving break, but we've got a lot to be thankful for as we embark on Thanksgiving week. Twenty-one young men that have been through a ton of adversity, and they finished the way we expect them to finish, as winners. Going 3-0 in November is a statement on how we've grown as a team, where we're at as a football program, and hopefully an indication of where we're going in the future. Very proud of our seniors, cannot say enough about our senior students, we had great fan support today, and it was just a great environment for college football."
On if this was the team's best performance of the season...
"You know, I have to look at the video, but I thought as a team we really stuck together and just kept fighting. The big turnovers there in the fourth quarter were critical. We talk all the time about keep fighting, keep swinging, and I thought our guys did that today. I'm obviously happy for our seniors, you know, I can't talk about it enough. It was a very special day, and a very emotional day. To honor Matt (Hartl), and to have his father be an honorary captain, was a very emotional start to the game. I thought our guys handled it well, and came out and executed pretty well."
On senior quarterback Mike Kafka's performance...
"I said to the TV guys (Big Ten Network) yesterday when we met that today was a battle for the Big Ten Most Valuable Player, between John [Clay] and Mike [Kafka]. I am a little biased obviously, but I don't think there is any player in this conference that means more to his football team than Mike Kafka. To me, that's what an MVP is. Obviously, there's a lot of great players in this league, a lot of talent in this league, but at the end of the day, I think Mike Kafka is not only our MVP, but an All-Big Ten quarterback and the MVP of the Conference."
On potential bowl game selections...
"Well, I think our resume is pretty attractive to any bowl game. I would hope that the representatives from any bowl we are eligible for would be attracted to us. We've got young men that would come down and be about the right things in your community, our fan base will travel well. Although you will write other things, our fan base travels outstanding to bowl games, so make sure you check your facts. If you need any, you see Dr. Jim Phillips. He'll make sure you have them, and they are crystal clear, when you write about the facts of our bowl attendance tomorrow. So, at the end of the day, I think we are a very attractive group of Wildcats that would go down to any destination that we are honored to have the opportunity to participate in. All those other things I'm not worried about. We're just excited and humbled to have the opportunity, and very thankful to have 21 great seniors with one more opportunity."
On keeping a competitive edge leading up to the bowl game...
"Well I assume we're going to be playing some champion from some other league like we did last year, so 99.9% of the country will pick us to lose like they did last year, so I don't have to motivate our guys a whole lot. Obviously, we're a couple miles away from the crest of the mountain top, and that'll happen whichever bowl opportunity we are privileged to play in. This is a mountain top that we've talked about now for a couple of years, and something we need to get over to eliminate all the naysayers and the negativity toward our program, and obviously to represent the great Big Ten Conference the way we want it to be talked about and represented throughout the nation. It's a golden opportunity, we're humbled by that opportunity, and they'll be excited to play. I'll probably have to settle them down to be quite honest with you, kind of like we had to settle them down a little bit today."
Northwestern Player Quotes
Cornerback Jordan Mabin
On the last play...
"There were about 50 seconds left in the game and I knew that they didn't have any timeouts left so I tried not to bite up on anything too short and to keep them in-bounds. The receiver came up and he tried to run a double-move but I didn't bite on that, so I was just getting depth. But I looked up and I saw the ball coming and I had to go up and get it and just went up and made a play."
Safety Brad Phillips
On Senior Day...
"As with all the seniors and all the underclassmen, we wanted to win our last game at home. We came out and we did it. All we had to do was do our job and play hard and like always it came down to the last second, but a win's a win."
Wide Receiver Andrew Brewer
On the quarter defense...
"We had some base calls that we do every week and with their quarter defense, we tried to take advantage and try to isolate me one-on-one with their corners. On both of those touchdowns I was able to take advantage of my speed and get past the corners."
On his diving touchdown catch...
"Every touchdown is special and unique, but in this game and with how important it was to come out with some points on that drive it was definitely a memorable one."
Wide Receiver Zeke Markshausen
On the offense's play in November...
"These last three games we have seen [the offense] get better and better. We are feeling pretty good about the offense, especially today it was moving and clicking."
On ranking the win...
"I put the win pretty high just because of what was on the line. Advancement in where we will go for the bowl and plus we are playing a very good team, No. 16 in the nation at the time. It was a big game for us and with Senior Day you've got some emotions going and you want to do everything you can to win it."
Quarterback Mike Kafka
On the time of possession...
"Wisconsin is known for running the ball and their power offense. They are known for eating up the clock, and I think we held our own for the most part. They had 31, we had 29 so we kept the ball in our hands and that helped us."
On the offensive line...
"I think all the praise should really go to the offensive line. All season long those guys have battled through injuries and a lot of ups and downs. Those guys have stepped up and are a main reason why we have been successful as an offense. They set the tone this entire game, we ran the ball well and we threw it when we needed."
Wisconsin Quotes
Wisconsin Head Coach Bret Bielema
Opening Statement...
"Well unfortunately, we weren't able to close this one out. When we took the ball over with about four minutes left in the game we felt pretty comfortable about being able to drive the ball down and, if not score, put ourselves in field goal range and we obviously weren't able to do that. Even taking the field the last time with 42 seconds just the way these guys have battled through and finished ball games we felt pretty good and obviously didn't have a chance to finish it after the interception. It is a very down locker room. I'm glad that we have a bye week because it'll take some time to heal the wounds with these guys. They care a lot about the guys in the locker room, and also trying to establish a good thing with Wisconsin football. Give a lot of credit to Northwestern. On film they're a very good football team and they showed up today ready to play. It was a back-and-forth game and unfortunately we weren't able to come through in the end. I think the big thing I told our guys, you know the one thing about history is history needs to happen, and the worst thing you can do is ignore history so they have to learn from these mistakes, they have to learn why the game finished the way it did, and hopefully it will be able to be a sounding board for our guys for next year in Big Ten play."
On NU's run defense...
"Well, they tackled very well. I thought there were some plays that looked like could really bend back early in the first half, but we were running up on the back of guys and obviously we have to get a clean read and clean progression from the hand off to the read and we weren't doing that. We made some adjustments. I'd thought we would come back and be able to run the ball in the second half, but we weren't able to."
On stopping NU's offense...
"Well in the first half especially, they were going Indy huddle, they were going hurry up quick huddle and the two big plays I know were benders off of number 2 with a 3 by 1 set. Bending in behind the linebacker and in front of the safety was a big play for them three times and anytime you can get so many yards without any time coming off the clock, and they're able to line back up and do it again you could definitely see that our defensive guys were on their heels."
On Northwestern breaking tendencies...
"I think on offense there were a couple of big plays that were breaks and the same thing on defense, they broke some of the things that they had done. For instance, one of the key things that they were doing early was bringing the running back, lining him out as a wide receiver and bringing him in and using him as a running back, they hadn't shown that all along."
Wisconsin Players
DL J.J. Watt
On the play of Wisconsin's defense and allowing NU to score 33 points...
"Exactly, 33 points. And I know we gave up a ton of yards and we just can't do that. We need to create turnovers. We need to stop the run. We need to stop the pass. We need to get sacks. We really didn't do any of those things today and that's not going to win you a football game in the Big Ten."
On the disappointing result of the game...
"It's extremely disappointing for our team, especially since we've worked so hard and we've got such a great group of seniors. We really want to send them out the right way and we can still do that with the Hawaii game and the bowl game. We have two opportunities left to show the nation what we can do. The game we played today is not Wisconsin football. It's not the way we've been playing all year. We really came out in the second half and tried to correct our mistakes, but it was too little too late for us."
On whether he felt Wisconsin had a chance during the last drive of the game...
"I felt like we had a great chance, especially with Scott [Tolzien] at quarterback and our great receivers and our O-line blocking. I thought we had a chance. I believe we had a chance. It just wasn't in the cards for us today. My hat is off to Northwestern really; they played a heck of a game."
RB John Clay
On fumbling the ball...
"It was me just trying to fight for extra yards. I wasn't holding the ball high and tight. I was just trying to fight and get the first down and let loose with the ball. I bumped into one of my guys and I dropped it. I didn't have it high enough and I tried to jump over [Mickey Turner] at the same time so I could get the first down, but I ran into him."
On how he plans to move forward from this game...
"I've got to learn from these mistakes, watch film and keep going up and raising the bar for myself. Try not to beat myself down too much. I've got to soak it in right now and then we've got Hawaii coming up and then this bowl game so I can build off from that for next year."
QB Scott Tolzien
On moving forward from the loss...
"It hurts any time we lose a game, especially a conference game, no matter who it is. Same thing as past times when we've lost. You've just got to recuperate and learn from your mistakes and come back. The great thing is, we've got another game against Hawaii and then the bowl game as well, so two more opportunities to play. Come tomorrow, it will be all Hawaii and another exciting game for us."
On Northwestern...
"We knew coming in that they were a good squad, that they were a good ball club both offensively and defensively. You've got to give credit where credit's due. They played a great game, but at the same time, we always say to focus in on us. We've just go to play better, simple as that."
