Northwestern University Athletics
Post Game Quotes
9/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 11, 2010
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Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Opening Statement...
"Here on 9/11, we talked before the game about lifting our play up to those that are defending our country and freedom out there. I think we came out with a good attitude; we started fast and we executed well for the most part in the first half. We got a lot of young men out there in the game today and it was great to see them get some experiences. But, there's a lot of work left to be done, a lot of little things to clean up, and it's going to get much more difficult when we go on the road to take on Rice. I thought Brock's [Spack] team played their tails off and it was a battle there. I've got the utmost respect for Coach Spack and his ballclub. And that's going to be a team that will be a force to be reckoned with going forward. For us, it was nice to see a lot of guys out there. We came out with a plan to run the ball and we did that pretty well for the most part."
On establishing the run...
"I thought we executed pretty well up front. I thought we had good pad-level, and Arby [Fields] ran with some attitude. We wanted to come out and start fast, we wanted to be able to establish the run early, and I thought we were able to achieve that pretty successfully."
On the performance of Dan Persa and his progression from week one to week two...
"He's off to a pretty fast start and he's playing really well right now. He has such a solid foundation and grasp of what we are trying to accomplish offensively. Everything we put together as a game plan Danny just understands inside and out. He's able to put us in the right position on every play. So, I don't know if I've seen a big difference between week one and week two. I think more importantly, I've seen a consistency in Dan's approach. What I really liked this week is the way he brought guys along with him. I thought we had better focus this week from the standpoint of now we're in our game-week routine."
On whether there is a certain timing for snaps in the hurry-up offense...
"Not really. It's more important that we go out and execute. This great coach named John Wooden once said, 'Be quick, but don't be in a hurry.' So we want to go as quick as we can but don't want to hurry through things where we miss little details."
Illinois State Head Coach Brock Spack
Opening Statement...
"Well obviously this game came down to controlling the football and turnovers. We didn't do as good of a job as we did a week ago or as we did all last year protecting the ball. There were a few turnovers that really swung the game in their favor. We had a good start to the game and I thought our defense did a great job with their no-huddle. We tried to warn our players how fast this no-huddle is, but it's hard to simulate in practice. They did an excellent job with it. I think we settled down and played much better in the second half. We played pretty sound defense, and I thought we had a lot of improvement. We ran the ball with some success. Take away the sacks and we had over 100 yards rushing, which is good. If you told me last week that we'd have over 100 yards rushing against a Big Ten team, I'd think that was pretty good. We just did not control the ball with the same efficiency we have in the past. We'll have to go back and improve, and prepare for next week."
On the Redbirds' turnovers...
"The best way I can describe it is forcing the ball. [The Northwestern] defense is not going to give you a lot. They are going to take the downfield throws away from you, but what you have to do against a real disciplined defense is take what they give you. They were giving us the check downs, and Matt [Brown] got a little greedy and got a little too anxious trying to make too many big plays by forcing the ball, which led to those interceptions. We just have to try to make better decisions and try not to throw into coverage. I told the team, when you play a very good football team, the margin for error is very small. [Northwestern] is very well coached. You cannot force balls all over the place like that. You've got to play perfect in this kind of environment and we just didn't. I think it was a learning experience for these guys. We're a very young football team, but no excuses. Our offense was just a little out of sync."
On the play of his defense...
"I think we were better at stopping the running game than we were last week, and much better than we were last year against Illinois. I'm encouraged by the way we played, especially in the second half. I thought from a coverage standpoint we were in good position. There wasn't anybody wide open in the secondary in the second half, and that was encouraging. We were definitely better than last week."
Northwestern Player Quotes
Junior Quarterback Dan Persa
On the running game...
"The offensive line played great and the running backs hit the holes. I think it is more confidence in the offensive line."
On Drake Dunsmore...
"He's a special player. He causes match-up problems because he is so big and so fast. He's a great player in the red zone and he makes big catches."
On the offense's quick tempo...
"Early on I think the defense has trouble lining up quickly, but as the game goes on it definitely wears them out. I like going fast. It forces the defense to make quick decisions. I think it gets everyone on our team on a roll."
Junior Superback Drake Dunsmore
On the offensive line...
"I thought they were making big holes and the running backs hit them."
On his two touchdowns...
"They were the same route. I got to the back of the end zone and Dan [Persa] threw nice passes."
On QB Dan Persa...
"He's a leader and he knows the system. He throws a great ball and he can run when he needs to."
Senior Defensive Tackle Corbin Bryant
On his interception...
"When I was running it back, I saw the quarterback had me so I tried to cut back and run him over. I wanted to hug everybody afterwards. It was a great feeling. I didn't even know what to do afterwards."
On being a senior...
"It is my last home opener so I was excited. I liked the fireworks. Our athletic department is doing a great job giving us new and exciting things."
On defensive improvements from last week..
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"We want to improve. We saw what we did wrong last week, worked to improve it, and we will continue that process for next week."
On the team's passion...
"We told the young guys who traveled with us and the ones who didn't travel that we need to see some passion from them. It helps us to see them excited."
Senior Linebacker Quentin Davie
On his interceptions...
"I saw the end zone on the second one, but they caught up to me. I felt good with the ball in my hands. I tried to make a cut but I couldn't get away."
On only giving up three points...
"We had better mental focus. We gave up some cheap stuff last week. We practiced hard and took it on the field."
On playing the whole game...
"We wanted to play a complete 60-minute game. Last week we were fired up and then let off the gas. This week we held on the entire game. When things go wrong we just have to come back and play."
Sophomore Running Back Arby Fields
On the reason for his success this week...
"We knew what we had to do. I worked hard in practice. Al Netter told me that he would make holes for me and I trust those guys. We know that we run so we have to prove it. As long as we win the game, it doesn't matter what I do personally. We emphasized that we need to run the ball and will do whatever it takes to get the 'W.'"
On establishing the run...
"It was raining so I knew we were going to come out and run the ball. I took it as a personal challenge. I worked throughout the week to be patient and wait for things to develop. I need to wait for the offensive linemen and see the blocks. The offensive line came out and helped me."
Illinois State Player Quotes
Sophomore RB Erik Smith
On early offensive success...
"As soon as we got back into the locker room after the game, we said we're going to go back in tomorrow and work on finishing, not just starting. We know we can start (games), we just have to punch the ball in the end zone."
Sophomore WR Tyrone Walker
On final outcome...
"I felt like we showed great flashes of looking like a phenomenal team in the running game and passing game, it's just that we didn't really finish which is something that we can easily work on. There weren't a lot of missed assignments. There wasn't a lot of 'ok I didn't know what I was doing' which is always good, so we knew what we were doing we just had to execute a little bit better. I wasn't disappointed; I felt like it was a good stepping stone to go on the road next week and we'll learn from this and be better for it."
Sophomore LB Austin Davis
On Northwestern's offensive tempo...
"Before the game coach said that they were going to come out and take shots at us and it was a little tough to get used to the pace at first. It was kind of rapid fire. I don't know about other guys but I was a little winded at times and once the game slowed down I think we caught our breath and focused up and it came a little easier for us."
On defensive progress...
"I think we flew around to the ball a lot more and prevented a lot of big plays. Last week we had way too many big plays and we didn't give ourselves a chance to get the offense off the field. That made it a lot better this week than last week."
On how the final score ended up...
"Yeah, but they were a well-coached team and they executed and took advantage of our mistakes, and that's just how the score ended up."
