Northwestern University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Nevada (9/2/17)
Northwestern vs. Nevada
Ryan Field
September 2, 2017
Postgame Quotes
Northwestern
Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Opening Statement
“Fired up about the win. A year ago, at this time we ended up on the short end in a game that we maybe didn’t start the right way. I think the way that our guys worked this offseason, it showed up in the second half. Far from a work of art, but to go in the locker room down two scores and walk back in the locker room up two scores shows a great response and resiliency by our guys.
A lot of self-inflicted wounds. Penalties offensively when we had big plays and explosive pass plays that we gave up in the second quarter. But we had guys go down and guys stepped up. To see the way that happened, I’m very proud of our young men. It’s great to get a win, because a year ago at this time, we were talking about something totally different. That’s positive but there’s a ton of work to do and our guys are going to learn a ton from this tape. Especially when we went in not knowing what we really were going to get from Nevada and obviously in the first half it showed. We expected to have to adjust and make some changes and we did that and I thought the staff did a good job of coming in down two scores and coming back up two scores with the win.”
On Nevada and then the fourth down stop with a four-point lead…
“First, I want to credit Nevada, I knew that Jay was going to come in and have his guys ready. In my career now we’ve played Nevada three times and all three have been just great football games from a battle standpoint and when you play Nevada that’s what you know you’re going to get.
They put in a new quarterback and ran in a formation they hadn’t run the whole game. How about that? And we got a TFL for minus two. It was one of those games. Every rep was like ‘Oh, that’s new.’ We knew that was the way it was going to be. I thought our guys really responded because we had to do a lot of adjusting. We’ve had to do this a bunch as a staff and I’m really proud of the way the staff did a ton of teaching and coaching and making the adjustments. We’ll have to do a great job teaching from this video.”
On Moe Almasri and young players stepping up in the wake of two injuries…
“How about Moe? It was awesome. Paul [Kennedy] is all over me about the two-deep early in the week and Moe not being on there, I guess I hosed you guys a bit. We’re a little beat up back there and to have two guys go down again in game, it’s just next man up. Moe was starting three or four special teams, so he was in the game and has to go in. Now I have to take him off everything, and the next guys up and a couple guys hadn’t played in the game yet. A lot of stuff going on today. It was a great first test for our staff and for a lot of young men that have never played college football before. There were a lot of new faces out there. If they come in with the right attitude and work ethic, they’ll really learn from this experience.”
On improvements between Week One and Week Two…
“Penalties, eliminating big plays and explosive plays that we gave up on defense. We have to be much better on third down efficiency in the first half offensively. We had some run-throughs from their linebackers that our offensively line targeted improperly. When we had ‘hats-on-hats’ Justin [Jackson] goes for 115. Maybe not a day that is going to go down in the record books but with the amount of guys that they had in the box and to still get over 100 yards was awesome. I thought Clayton [Thorson] responded well to his interception … The big turning point was the interception we gave up and we held them to three. That was a big turning point and great response from our defense. We got to coach our young guys up and our veterans to be big-time playmakers. We almost doubled up their time of possession which we knew was going to be big. Eight penalties for 90 yards is unacceptable. We can’t have that.”
On the strength of the receiving corps and Bennett Skowronek’s big day in comparison to Austin Carr…
“I felt great about the wideouts going into the game. I thought we had better depth this year than we had in the last couple years from the way that the guys have practiced. You’re trying to compare one game to a Biletnikoff finalist? Yeah, I’m going to pause on that for a second. Give him 12 more weeks to talk to about that. But I really love the way Bennett responded. We got a big fourth-down conversion, he’s got a great catch. I didn’t see what happened on the fumble. And then he responds. He’s a sophomore and to see the way that he responded, I was very, very impressed by him and very proud of him.”
Quarterback Clayton Thorson
On the call for quarterback sneak on fourth down for the go-ahead score…
“I loved it. Everyone does all the work, we get down to the one-yard line and I get to punch it in. Just keep your feet moving and it works out. Thankfully I’m about two yards long and it was pretty easy to get in there. Those guys up front did a good job giving a push.”
On taking shots on third down…
“Thankfully our O-line was doing a great job in protection. Nevada threw a lot of different stuff at us and they did a great job of responding to a few different looks and giving me some time back there, which allowed our receivers to get open. But credit to those receivers, they went up and made some big catches. Ball wasn’t always great but they adjusted and made some catches. We want to take shots and we felt like they were giving it to us.”
Defensive Lineman Tyler Lancaster
On the biggest differences between the first and second half…
“As we saw in college football this first week, a lot of the first halves were the same. We saw a lot of new things on defense, the offense showed us some looks we had not practiced. It was all about responding, going into the halftime we were talking as a defense that we just had to respond and play Big Ten football. We went in there, changed up our gameplan, accounted for things we didn’t account for, and we came out swinging. The conditioning showed up from practice because we pushed all the way through the four quarters”
On if his notable lifting and conditioning through the summer translated to the game…
“Absolutely. Especially for both lines, I know the offensive line had the hardest offseason that anybody has ever gone through, in my opinion. The defensive line was right behind that. We were running all the time, I’m throwing up half the time. It’s just been really hard and it’s great to finally come to a game all the way through the fourth quarter. It showed up on the field and we’re going to keep running in practice because Coach Fitz has made an emphasis on that.”
Wide Receiver Bennett Skowronek
On the fumble and then responding for a good game…
“Yeah the Nevada player made a great play. Just punched the ball right out. When I got to the sideline Coach Springer told me to flush it. Clayton came up to me and told me to let it go and go make some plays. We’re a family on this team and a lot of guys and lot of staff members on this team came up to me and told me ‘We’re going to need you later in the game to make big plays. They helped me flush that out. I was able to refocus truly after I got my first catch in the second half. I was just playing again and it got off my mind.”
On having a career day…
“Last year I gained a lot of experience and that carried over well to this year. I learned how to work from guys like Austin Carr, that taught me last year. This year I was just playing loose, playing comfortable and playing confident, that was the biggest thing for me. Clayton and I worked together all offseason and we built a little connection there. It was really fun out there today.”
Running Back Justin Jackson
The biggest differences between the first and second half…
“I think we weren’t responding very well in the first half and we just a better sense of urgency in the second half. We didn’t capitalize on some opportunities in the first half. We were in the red zone two times and didn’t come away with any points. We can’t let stuff like that happen and we’ll get it fixed for the next game.”
On potentially increasing role in the passing game…
“I just want to be an outlet for Clayton. We worked on that a lot in the offseason. Just being there on checkdowns, and they dropped coverages a few times today so I was able to get some catches off that. He spread the ball around a lot today so that was good to see. A lot of guys stepped up and made huge plays for us down the stretch.”
On his knowledge of the runners he’s jumping on the Big Ten all-time lists…
“I haven’t actually looked at the list. Obviously, I know the guys at the top, like Ron Dayne and guys like that, and I’ve heard of Tyrone Wheatley. Just being a Big Ten running back is tough in itself. These guys have been consistent throughout their three or four years and done great. To be able to keep passing guys is incredible. I’m very honored but I’m just glad to be part of a great team that we have and to come out such a team win with the defense making huge plays down the stretch. Even guys like Warren Long who didn’t play last year, two forced fumbles. That’s the type of stuff we need on special teams and on defense. It was a great team win today.”
Safety Kyle Queiro
The biggest differences between the first and second half…
“From a defensive standpoint, I guess we weathered the storm early. We weren’t expecting them to run the ball as much as they did. Once we got into the locker room we gathered ourselves, came up with a different game plan, utilized some different calls that we worked on during camp, and we were able to change the pace of the game.”
On adjusting to having to play safety with multiple cornerbacks in one game…
“Today, I was playing a lot of Sam linebacker. I guess from the safety standpoint that I know, you do get a rapport or chemistry with a specific corner, but overall, I’m pretty confident in any guy that steps on the field. It’s not just next guy up, it’s also that we trust them. We know that he’s prepared, we have DB tests and worksheets all throughout the week. We know that anybody who steps on the field is going to be prepared. It’s just about executing and going from there.”
Nevada Head Coach Jay Norvell
Overall thoughts on the game:
“There’s no consolation. We really came here to win the game. That was our goal, to come here to win the game. We tried to show the players how we could win the game all the way through training camp.”
“We did a lot of good things. I thought the kids came here and were focused and were clear-eyed and competing. That’s what we wanted from them. I really felt like they played together.”
“Our defense, boy, oh boy, oh boy. That was encouraging, the effort they gave. I don’t know how many guys went down throughout the course of the day, but they kept battling, kept fighting, making Northwestern work and that was incredibly encouraging. This is a team that was picked to have a chance to win their division in their conference and challenge for a playoff spot if you listen to some people. It’s a quality football team; well-coached football team. Their coaches have been together for a long time; lot of continuity. So, for us to battle with them toe for toe, there’s a lot of good things we can take from this.”
“The other things, well, we’ll have to show them that when you play a good football team, a play or two makes a difference in winning and losing and that happened today. You’ve got to control the things you can control.”
“The kids did what we asked them to do in that regard and we have to take it, build on it and learn from it.”
On Kaleb Fossum’s injury:
“I think he dislocated his knee. We’re really hoping it’s not as serious as we originally thought and we can get him back out there soon.”
“I visually saw it pop back in. It was not a pretty sight when I got out there but they slid it back in and it was awfully painful but hopefully there wasn’t much damage done. We’re really hopeful it’s not serious.”
On starting Ty Gangi:
“We felt like Ty had the edge and we wanted to play him. Ty really was clear-eyed, he handled the leadership of the team. He got us in and out of plays and I thought he made great decisions. We just missed a couple deep balls that could’ve been really impactful and he just missed Wyatt at the end of the game there.”
“For the most part, he made really good decisions. We felt like we had to be aggressive at certain points of the game and we had a turnover but at the same time you’ve got to take your shots and shoot your bullets and I thought Ty played well. I think we can build on his performance and his leadership as we move along.”
On having any regrets about the failed fourth-down call in fourth quarter:
“No. None whatsoever. All these situations, we talk about before they happen and plan on it and we practice it almost every day. That was our plan going in and I’ll watch and see what happened. We obviously didn’t get enough movement and we felt confident we could get one yard there. We’ll learn from that as well and build on that.”
On whether he thought Justin Jackson fumbled:
“I haven’t seen a replay of it. That’s just one of those things that happens in games and you have to overcome them as a football team. We’ll learn from that as well.”
“I didn’t hear a whistle. They said his forward progress was stopped. It’s one of those things you can’t do much about. To me it looked like he was struggling and trying to get extra yards.”
Linebacker Austin Paulhus
On coming to a Power Five school and playing as well as they did:
“It’s a really good time, to play here. Give all the credit to them, they played a good game but I’m encouraged with how hard we played and how good all my teammates did. The offense did great and the defense played their butts off, so, I’m pretty encouraged for the season.”
On the post-game locker room:
“We had our heads held high. We’re bummed out, but we’re encouraged and ready for the season, ready for the next game. We’ll just take this next step forward.”
On the most encouraging thing from the game:
“Just how hard everybody played. Everyone put their whole heart into this game, so, we’re just really excited for what’s to come.”
On defending Northwestern’s run game:
“We just played downhill and played hard. Everybody was playing as hard as they could and I think that’s just what it was. We had a good scheme coming in and just knew how to stop them and we just played really hard.”
On the defense being tired affecting their play in the second half:
“It could have, it did, but they played a good game. Give all the credit to them. They did what they were supposed to and we did what we were supposed to and the results didn’t go in our favor.
On this game being a step forward for them:
“Yeah, this is a big step forward for us as a team and I’m just really excited for what’s to come.”
On the fumble in the 4th quarter that was called dead:
“I mean, it is what it is. I thought it was a fumble but it is what it is. They called it forward progress and you’ve just got to keep playing.”
Quarterback Ty Gangi
On taking positives out of a loss to a Power Five school:
“We came to win, and we’re obviously disappointed we couldn’t come out on top, but I’m proud of my team, I’m proud of my guys. They competed and we have a lot to learn from this game. I’m just excited to go back home to Mackay next week.”
On the halftime locker room:
“We were positive. We knew they were going to come out with adjustments and we were making adjustments. We’re still rallying as a team, we played as a team, and we just talked about coming out and finishing the rest of the game.”
On the overall offensive performance:
“I would say it was okay. Our goal is to score a lot more than 20 points, so, I take a lot of responsibility for that. I had some throws that I wish I could have taken back, some decisions I could have taken back, but, a lot to learn from.”
On wide receiver McLane Mannix, playing his first game as a true freshman:
“He was really great today. He was poised, he’s athletic, he’s fast and has some good ball skills, so, I’m excited about him as a weapon to use this year.”
On wide receiver Kaleb Fossum’s injury:
“He’s a huge part of the team. We were just trying to rally for him and go out there and play for him. We’re keeping him in our players and hope the best for his recovery.”
On a couple of incomplete passes making the difference in the game:
“Those are definitely throws we’ve got to keep repping and thows I’ve got to make because it could be a completely different game if we hit those.”
On offensive adjustments before next week:
“I’d say just executing, just doing what we do, learn from the mistakes of this week and have a good game plan for next week.”
Offensive lineman Austin Corbett
On playing a close game but coming up short:
“I’d like to come in here and say everything went just like we thought it would, but, obviously it didn’t. It hurts. It’s a Big Ten team and to start the season with a Big Ten victory would be awesome, to start off the season right, but, it just didn’t go our way in some spots. But there’s some things we definitely did to shoot ourselves in the foot. So, it hurts but at the same time, I got in the locker room and I’m excited. Seeing some of these plays we were making, we’ve got some dudes on this team and it’s exciting to be a part of.”
On proving something to themselves by the way they played today:
“I knew in watching film that they had some defensive ends last year that aren’t there anymore that brought the speed, so they were a little slower up front. But they had some really strong, big guys up there and Coach Miller really came in and Coach Nady were really trying to get back to the ways of what the unit is and really pushing that front. The way we handled it and the way we moved the ball tonight is a really good start of bringing the union back and really getting downhill and being that physical group that we once were and where that tradition came from. It’s exciting and it feels great to be a part of. I don’t know what the exact stats were but I felt like we were moving the ball pretty good. We were able to run it when we needed to and where we wanted to.”
On taking positives out of a loss:
“There’s always those couple of plays that you think of. Like, if we would have gotten the fumble that wasn’t called a fumble, maybe something else and you can do all those things. But at the end of the day we can’t just let the refs make those decisions for us. We’ve got to be in control of the things that we can control, and Coach Norvell really preaches that to us all the time. So, we lost and it hurt. I want to win every game, it’s just the competitive nature that I have, but it’s hard to get down because the things we showed on the field and just how excited I am for the season to keep going. This is the first game, and for it to be a Big Ten opponent, we showed a lot of good stuff right away. It hurts to lose, it’s not part of me, I never want to lose, but at the same time, we’ve got some good things coming.”
On what he learned about his team from this game:
“The first couple days of camp it was shaky. We’ve got some issues here and there. We don’t know how fast it’s going to come together. Five weeks later, it came together quick. Just the explosive plays we’ve been lacking the past couple years, we had a bunch of them tonight. The defense had a bunch of tackles behind the line of scrimmage. So, we still have a bunch of things we need to tighten up on both sides of the ball, but overall, it’s just great. Coach Perry of the special teams gets them fired up and they’re flying around faster than I’ve ever seen them. It’s exciting. It makes me want to run down on kick offs, but, I know I won’t because I’ll be super tired. But they were flying down there and it’s exciting to see.”
On going for it on fourth-and-one:
“They brought the same front we were expecting and it’s just one of those plays that we just got beat on a couple of spots and they ended up making the play. We only ran that formation once tonight so it’s nothing to get worried about or throw out the window. We’ll get it dialed up, we’ll be fine, we’ll get everyone on the same page. We have nothing to worry about with that formation.”
Defensive back Asauni Rufus
On takeaways from this game:
“As a competitor, you don’t ever want to come off the field with a loss, but we’re encouraged. We showed a lot of good things out there, a lot of things we can build upon and take into next week and hopefully come out victorious next time.”
On defending the run:
“Because it’s something we focused on, it’s good to see our hard work paying off. I know those guys up front worked their tails off and so it’s very encouraging seeing that and the back end will clean up those mistakes and we’ll be more of a complete defense.”
On the fumble in the 4th quarter that was called dead:
“I didn’t hear a whistle at all, but, that’s the ruling on the field so we had to play the next play and unfortunately weren’t able to get it done.”
On being more optimistic about his team now than before the game:
“I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I knew what we had. I think a lot of people that were in the dark didn’t really know what we had, what we’ve been working on, maybe they’re a little more optimistic, but I knew from the start. I expected to just come out and compete. We came a little bit short, but, I expected this.”
On defending Northwestern’s passing game:
“I wouldn’t say it was part of the game plan to give up that many yards. I think we made a few mental errors, some on my part, and we’ll clean them up and move forward.”
On forcing fumbles:
“I try to pick one facet of my game and focus on that in fall camp and that’s something I worked on. Coming off of last year, I’ll hopefully try to force as many as I can get, and hopefully I can try to get them before forward progress, I guess.”
On this game being a step forward for the team:
“I think any time we come out and compete and play the way we did today, I think it’s a step forward. I think we had a lot of guys that make a lot of great plays today. I think the coaches did a great job and I think we’ll be alright.”
Ryan Field
September 2, 2017
Postgame Quotes
Northwestern
Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Opening Statement
“Fired up about the win. A year ago, at this time we ended up on the short end in a game that we maybe didn’t start the right way. I think the way that our guys worked this offseason, it showed up in the second half. Far from a work of art, but to go in the locker room down two scores and walk back in the locker room up two scores shows a great response and resiliency by our guys.
A lot of self-inflicted wounds. Penalties offensively when we had big plays and explosive pass plays that we gave up in the second quarter. But we had guys go down and guys stepped up. To see the way that happened, I’m very proud of our young men. It’s great to get a win, because a year ago at this time, we were talking about something totally different. That’s positive but there’s a ton of work to do and our guys are going to learn a ton from this tape. Especially when we went in not knowing what we really were going to get from Nevada and obviously in the first half it showed. We expected to have to adjust and make some changes and we did that and I thought the staff did a good job of coming in down two scores and coming back up two scores with the win.”
On Nevada and then the fourth down stop with a four-point lead…
“First, I want to credit Nevada, I knew that Jay was going to come in and have his guys ready. In my career now we’ve played Nevada three times and all three have been just great football games from a battle standpoint and when you play Nevada that’s what you know you’re going to get.
They put in a new quarterback and ran in a formation they hadn’t run the whole game. How about that? And we got a TFL for minus two. It was one of those games. Every rep was like ‘Oh, that’s new.’ We knew that was the way it was going to be. I thought our guys really responded because we had to do a lot of adjusting. We’ve had to do this a bunch as a staff and I’m really proud of the way the staff did a ton of teaching and coaching and making the adjustments. We’ll have to do a great job teaching from this video.”
On Moe Almasri and young players stepping up in the wake of two injuries…
“How about Moe? It was awesome. Paul [Kennedy] is all over me about the two-deep early in the week and Moe not being on there, I guess I hosed you guys a bit. We’re a little beat up back there and to have two guys go down again in game, it’s just next man up. Moe was starting three or four special teams, so he was in the game and has to go in. Now I have to take him off everything, and the next guys up and a couple guys hadn’t played in the game yet. A lot of stuff going on today. It was a great first test for our staff and for a lot of young men that have never played college football before. There were a lot of new faces out there. If they come in with the right attitude and work ethic, they’ll really learn from this experience.”
On improvements between Week One and Week Two…
“Penalties, eliminating big plays and explosive plays that we gave up on defense. We have to be much better on third down efficiency in the first half offensively. We had some run-throughs from their linebackers that our offensively line targeted improperly. When we had ‘hats-on-hats’ Justin [Jackson] goes for 115. Maybe not a day that is going to go down in the record books but with the amount of guys that they had in the box and to still get over 100 yards was awesome. I thought Clayton [Thorson] responded well to his interception … The big turning point was the interception we gave up and we held them to three. That was a big turning point and great response from our defense. We got to coach our young guys up and our veterans to be big-time playmakers. We almost doubled up their time of possession which we knew was going to be big. Eight penalties for 90 yards is unacceptable. We can’t have that.”
On the strength of the receiving corps and Bennett Skowronek’s big day in comparison to Austin Carr…
“I felt great about the wideouts going into the game. I thought we had better depth this year than we had in the last couple years from the way that the guys have practiced. You’re trying to compare one game to a Biletnikoff finalist? Yeah, I’m going to pause on that for a second. Give him 12 more weeks to talk to about that. But I really love the way Bennett responded. We got a big fourth-down conversion, he’s got a great catch. I didn’t see what happened on the fumble. And then he responds. He’s a sophomore and to see the way that he responded, I was very, very impressed by him and very proud of him.”
Quarterback Clayton Thorson
On the call for quarterback sneak on fourth down for the go-ahead score…
“I loved it. Everyone does all the work, we get down to the one-yard line and I get to punch it in. Just keep your feet moving and it works out. Thankfully I’m about two yards long and it was pretty easy to get in there. Those guys up front did a good job giving a push.”
On taking shots on third down…
“Thankfully our O-line was doing a great job in protection. Nevada threw a lot of different stuff at us and they did a great job of responding to a few different looks and giving me some time back there, which allowed our receivers to get open. But credit to those receivers, they went up and made some big catches. Ball wasn’t always great but they adjusted and made some catches. We want to take shots and we felt like they were giving it to us.”
Defensive Lineman Tyler Lancaster
On the biggest differences between the first and second half…
“As we saw in college football this first week, a lot of the first halves were the same. We saw a lot of new things on defense, the offense showed us some looks we had not practiced. It was all about responding, going into the halftime we were talking as a defense that we just had to respond and play Big Ten football. We went in there, changed up our gameplan, accounted for things we didn’t account for, and we came out swinging. The conditioning showed up from practice because we pushed all the way through the four quarters”
On if his notable lifting and conditioning through the summer translated to the game…
“Absolutely. Especially for both lines, I know the offensive line had the hardest offseason that anybody has ever gone through, in my opinion. The defensive line was right behind that. We were running all the time, I’m throwing up half the time. It’s just been really hard and it’s great to finally come to a game all the way through the fourth quarter. It showed up on the field and we’re going to keep running in practice because Coach Fitz has made an emphasis on that.”
Wide Receiver Bennett Skowronek
On the fumble and then responding for a good game…
“Yeah the Nevada player made a great play. Just punched the ball right out. When I got to the sideline Coach Springer told me to flush it. Clayton came up to me and told me to let it go and go make some plays. We’re a family on this team and a lot of guys and lot of staff members on this team came up to me and told me ‘We’re going to need you later in the game to make big plays. They helped me flush that out. I was able to refocus truly after I got my first catch in the second half. I was just playing again and it got off my mind.”
On having a career day…
“Last year I gained a lot of experience and that carried over well to this year. I learned how to work from guys like Austin Carr, that taught me last year. This year I was just playing loose, playing comfortable and playing confident, that was the biggest thing for me. Clayton and I worked together all offseason and we built a little connection there. It was really fun out there today.”
Running Back Justin Jackson
The biggest differences between the first and second half…
“I think we weren’t responding very well in the first half and we just a better sense of urgency in the second half. We didn’t capitalize on some opportunities in the first half. We were in the red zone two times and didn’t come away with any points. We can’t let stuff like that happen and we’ll get it fixed for the next game.”
On potentially increasing role in the passing game…
“I just want to be an outlet for Clayton. We worked on that a lot in the offseason. Just being there on checkdowns, and they dropped coverages a few times today so I was able to get some catches off that. He spread the ball around a lot today so that was good to see. A lot of guys stepped up and made huge plays for us down the stretch.”
On his knowledge of the runners he’s jumping on the Big Ten all-time lists…
“I haven’t actually looked at the list. Obviously, I know the guys at the top, like Ron Dayne and guys like that, and I’ve heard of Tyrone Wheatley. Just being a Big Ten running back is tough in itself. These guys have been consistent throughout their three or four years and done great. To be able to keep passing guys is incredible. I’m very honored but I’m just glad to be part of a great team that we have and to come out such a team win with the defense making huge plays down the stretch. Even guys like Warren Long who didn’t play last year, two forced fumbles. That’s the type of stuff we need on special teams and on defense. It was a great team win today.”
Safety Kyle Queiro
The biggest differences between the first and second half…
“From a defensive standpoint, I guess we weathered the storm early. We weren’t expecting them to run the ball as much as they did. Once we got into the locker room we gathered ourselves, came up with a different game plan, utilized some different calls that we worked on during camp, and we were able to change the pace of the game.”
On adjusting to having to play safety with multiple cornerbacks in one game…
“Today, I was playing a lot of Sam linebacker. I guess from the safety standpoint that I know, you do get a rapport or chemistry with a specific corner, but overall, I’m pretty confident in any guy that steps on the field. It’s not just next guy up, it’s also that we trust them. We know that he’s prepared, we have DB tests and worksheets all throughout the week. We know that anybody who steps on the field is going to be prepared. It’s just about executing and going from there.”
Nevada Head Coach Jay Norvell
Overall thoughts on the game:
“There’s no consolation. We really came here to win the game. That was our goal, to come here to win the game. We tried to show the players how we could win the game all the way through training camp.”
“We did a lot of good things. I thought the kids came here and were focused and were clear-eyed and competing. That’s what we wanted from them. I really felt like they played together.”
“Our defense, boy, oh boy, oh boy. That was encouraging, the effort they gave. I don’t know how many guys went down throughout the course of the day, but they kept battling, kept fighting, making Northwestern work and that was incredibly encouraging. This is a team that was picked to have a chance to win their division in their conference and challenge for a playoff spot if you listen to some people. It’s a quality football team; well-coached football team. Their coaches have been together for a long time; lot of continuity. So, for us to battle with them toe for toe, there’s a lot of good things we can take from this.”
“The other things, well, we’ll have to show them that when you play a good football team, a play or two makes a difference in winning and losing and that happened today. You’ve got to control the things you can control.”
“The kids did what we asked them to do in that regard and we have to take it, build on it and learn from it.”
On Kaleb Fossum’s injury:
“I think he dislocated his knee. We’re really hoping it’s not as serious as we originally thought and we can get him back out there soon.”
“I visually saw it pop back in. It was not a pretty sight when I got out there but they slid it back in and it was awfully painful but hopefully there wasn’t much damage done. We’re really hopeful it’s not serious.”
On starting Ty Gangi:
“We felt like Ty had the edge and we wanted to play him. Ty really was clear-eyed, he handled the leadership of the team. He got us in and out of plays and I thought he made great decisions. We just missed a couple deep balls that could’ve been really impactful and he just missed Wyatt at the end of the game there.”
“For the most part, he made really good decisions. We felt like we had to be aggressive at certain points of the game and we had a turnover but at the same time you’ve got to take your shots and shoot your bullets and I thought Ty played well. I think we can build on his performance and his leadership as we move along.”
On having any regrets about the failed fourth-down call in fourth quarter:
“No. None whatsoever. All these situations, we talk about before they happen and plan on it and we practice it almost every day. That was our plan going in and I’ll watch and see what happened. We obviously didn’t get enough movement and we felt confident we could get one yard there. We’ll learn from that as well and build on that.”
On whether he thought Justin Jackson fumbled:
“I haven’t seen a replay of it. That’s just one of those things that happens in games and you have to overcome them as a football team. We’ll learn from that as well.”
“I didn’t hear a whistle. They said his forward progress was stopped. It’s one of those things you can’t do much about. To me it looked like he was struggling and trying to get extra yards.”
Linebacker Austin Paulhus
On coming to a Power Five school and playing as well as they did:
“It’s a really good time, to play here. Give all the credit to them, they played a good game but I’m encouraged with how hard we played and how good all my teammates did. The offense did great and the defense played their butts off, so, I’m pretty encouraged for the season.”
On the post-game locker room:
“We had our heads held high. We’re bummed out, but we’re encouraged and ready for the season, ready for the next game. We’ll just take this next step forward.”
On the most encouraging thing from the game:
“Just how hard everybody played. Everyone put their whole heart into this game, so, we’re just really excited for what’s to come.”
On defending Northwestern’s run game:
“We just played downhill and played hard. Everybody was playing as hard as they could and I think that’s just what it was. We had a good scheme coming in and just knew how to stop them and we just played really hard.”
On the defense being tired affecting their play in the second half:
“It could have, it did, but they played a good game. Give all the credit to them. They did what they were supposed to and we did what we were supposed to and the results didn’t go in our favor.
On this game being a step forward for them:
“Yeah, this is a big step forward for us as a team and I’m just really excited for what’s to come.”
On the fumble in the 4th quarter that was called dead:
“I mean, it is what it is. I thought it was a fumble but it is what it is. They called it forward progress and you’ve just got to keep playing.”
Quarterback Ty Gangi
On taking positives out of a loss to a Power Five school:
“We came to win, and we’re obviously disappointed we couldn’t come out on top, but I’m proud of my team, I’m proud of my guys. They competed and we have a lot to learn from this game. I’m just excited to go back home to Mackay next week.”
On the halftime locker room:
“We were positive. We knew they were going to come out with adjustments and we were making adjustments. We’re still rallying as a team, we played as a team, and we just talked about coming out and finishing the rest of the game.”
On the overall offensive performance:
“I would say it was okay. Our goal is to score a lot more than 20 points, so, I take a lot of responsibility for that. I had some throws that I wish I could have taken back, some decisions I could have taken back, but, a lot to learn from.”
On wide receiver McLane Mannix, playing his first game as a true freshman:
“He was really great today. He was poised, he’s athletic, he’s fast and has some good ball skills, so, I’m excited about him as a weapon to use this year.”
On wide receiver Kaleb Fossum’s injury:
“He’s a huge part of the team. We were just trying to rally for him and go out there and play for him. We’re keeping him in our players and hope the best for his recovery.”
On a couple of incomplete passes making the difference in the game:
“Those are definitely throws we’ve got to keep repping and thows I’ve got to make because it could be a completely different game if we hit those.”
On offensive adjustments before next week:
“I’d say just executing, just doing what we do, learn from the mistakes of this week and have a good game plan for next week.”
Offensive lineman Austin Corbett
On playing a close game but coming up short:
“I’d like to come in here and say everything went just like we thought it would, but, obviously it didn’t. It hurts. It’s a Big Ten team and to start the season with a Big Ten victory would be awesome, to start off the season right, but, it just didn’t go our way in some spots. But there’s some things we definitely did to shoot ourselves in the foot. So, it hurts but at the same time, I got in the locker room and I’m excited. Seeing some of these plays we were making, we’ve got some dudes on this team and it’s exciting to be a part of.”
On proving something to themselves by the way they played today:
“I knew in watching film that they had some defensive ends last year that aren’t there anymore that brought the speed, so they were a little slower up front. But they had some really strong, big guys up there and Coach Miller really came in and Coach Nady were really trying to get back to the ways of what the unit is and really pushing that front. The way we handled it and the way we moved the ball tonight is a really good start of bringing the union back and really getting downhill and being that physical group that we once were and where that tradition came from. It’s exciting and it feels great to be a part of. I don’t know what the exact stats were but I felt like we were moving the ball pretty good. We were able to run it when we needed to and where we wanted to.”
On taking positives out of a loss:
“There’s always those couple of plays that you think of. Like, if we would have gotten the fumble that wasn’t called a fumble, maybe something else and you can do all those things. But at the end of the day we can’t just let the refs make those decisions for us. We’ve got to be in control of the things that we can control, and Coach Norvell really preaches that to us all the time. So, we lost and it hurt. I want to win every game, it’s just the competitive nature that I have, but it’s hard to get down because the things we showed on the field and just how excited I am for the season to keep going. This is the first game, and for it to be a Big Ten opponent, we showed a lot of good stuff right away. It hurts to lose, it’s not part of me, I never want to lose, but at the same time, we’ve got some good things coming.”
On what he learned about his team from this game:
“The first couple days of camp it was shaky. We’ve got some issues here and there. We don’t know how fast it’s going to come together. Five weeks later, it came together quick. Just the explosive plays we’ve been lacking the past couple years, we had a bunch of them tonight. The defense had a bunch of tackles behind the line of scrimmage. So, we still have a bunch of things we need to tighten up on both sides of the ball, but overall, it’s just great. Coach Perry of the special teams gets them fired up and they’re flying around faster than I’ve ever seen them. It’s exciting. It makes me want to run down on kick offs, but, I know I won’t because I’ll be super tired. But they were flying down there and it’s exciting to see.”
On going for it on fourth-and-one:
“They brought the same front we were expecting and it’s just one of those plays that we just got beat on a couple of spots and they ended up making the play. We only ran that formation once tonight so it’s nothing to get worried about or throw out the window. We’ll get it dialed up, we’ll be fine, we’ll get everyone on the same page. We have nothing to worry about with that formation.”
Defensive back Asauni Rufus
On takeaways from this game:
“As a competitor, you don’t ever want to come off the field with a loss, but we’re encouraged. We showed a lot of good things out there, a lot of things we can build upon and take into next week and hopefully come out victorious next time.”
On defending the run:
“Because it’s something we focused on, it’s good to see our hard work paying off. I know those guys up front worked their tails off and so it’s very encouraging seeing that and the back end will clean up those mistakes and we’ll be more of a complete defense.”
On the fumble in the 4th quarter that was called dead:
“I didn’t hear a whistle at all, but, that’s the ruling on the field so we had to play the next play and unfortunately weren’t able to get it done.”
On being more optimistic about his team now than before the game:
“I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I knew what we had. I think a lot of people that were in the dark didn’t really know what we had, what we’ve been working on, maybe they’re a little more optimistic, but I knew from the start. I expected to just come out and compete. We came a little bit short, but, I expected this.”
On defending Northwestern’s passing game:
“I wouldn’t say it was part of the game plan to give up that many yards. I think we made a few mental errors, some on my part, and we’ll clean them up and move forward.”
On forcing fumbles:
“I try to pick one facet of my game and focus on that in fall camp and that’s something I worked on. Coming off of last year, I’ll hopefully try to force as many as I can get, and hopefully I can try to get them before forward progress, I guess.”
On this game being a step forward for the team:
“I think any time we come out and compete and play the way we did today, I think it’s a step forward. I think we had a lot of guys that make a lot of great plays today. I think the coaches did a great job and I think we’ll be alright.”
