Northwestern University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Nebraska (10/13/18)
Northwestern vs. Nebraska
Ryan Field
October 13, 2018
Postgame Quotes
Northwestern
Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald's opening statement...
"Great team win. We put ourselves in a hole to start it, and again in the fourth quarter. To have the guys be resilient and find some ways to make huge plays down the stretch was amazing. [Quarterback Clayton Thorson's] performance and Flynn's receptions were absolutely spectacular. I think a 99-yard drive with no timeouts will be a huge confidence builder for our offense. Then defensively, to go out there and get the huge turnover, and for [Kicker Drew Luckenbaugh] to step up and nail that field goal. It's the next man up mentality, it was his turn and he really stepped up in response to that first kick. I have a ton of respect for [Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost] and how those guys are playing much better over there. After Nebraska's Michigan game, Coach Frost said they hit rock bottom and were coming out of it, and to hear the comments he made this week about how they were preparing, I think it really showed this week. They are getting better, and I think it showed a little bit against Purdue and a lot these last two week. They have a very talented group that's still there.
That being said, we need to tackle better, I thought we missed a lot of tackles today I'll tip my hat to Nebraska for that. Hopefully [Scott Frost] and I will be in this league for a long time, and that will always be done with tremendous respect. Two guys that played the game the way we wanted to play the game, so a ton of respect for [Scott Frost] and his guys, but a great team win for us."
On a career day from Clayton Thorson...
"There were some plays that he would like to have back, but I love his response when he came over, he knew exactly why and what he thought about the play, that shows a lot of confidence."
On Northwestern's game-tying drive...
"That was pretty cool, wasn't it! Ninety-nine and half yards with no timeouts, that's just as good as you can get. We had a penalty, jumping offsides, which obviously you can't do in a two minute drill. [Offensive Coordinator Mick McCall] called a great two minute drive. It's my call to clock the ball, and I probably should have clocked the ball on one first down, but that's on me. I thought Clayton managed it like a pro, a senior quarterback and a NFL player."
On winning without a solid rushing game...
"This hasn't really been our recipe around here, you know there's a kid named [Justin Jackson] playing football in California right now. You know, there was this saying around here of, "Justin Jackson the Ballcarrier", well right now its more like Clayton Thorson the Thrower." You have to adapt, and that is where we are. We aren't going to stop working our tails off to run the football. We have to win the line of scrimmage, we have to run the football, and we have to stop the run. That's Big Ten football. It starts and ends with me. We have to look at what we can do and how we can do it better from a schematic standpoint. We have to find a way to get it done. Bottom line."
On Drew Luckenbaugh…
"If you saw the first kick, the ball was barely down when [Drew Luckenbaugh] kicked it. I told him to slow down and he would be fine. He's just a great kid. His future in life is just spectacular, and I'm honored to be his coach."
On Charlie Kuhbander's injury...
“I would list Charlie as day to day based on what I got from an injury report on Friday. So he's day to-day. But I would say this, quite frankly. This is for everybody. Competition is for everybody. It makes good players great and great players special. I think Drew just made a big statement that he was ready mentally, he was able to overcome some adversity off that kick, and he stepped up when his teammates needed him, and to me that's pretty special.”
On if Jack Mitchell's success affected choosing to kick the field goal in overtime...
“Did I think about Jack Mitchell?”
Yeah.
“No! I'm sorry. No. We had thought we had some wrinkles in the run game. And I would like to think that if we executed, its what it looked like to me, if we executed the scheme it looked like we would have popped those. It looked like we got tackled by one guy and there was nobody else there. Listen we got the ball, we just got a big turnover. We don't need to do anything obscene throwing the football put ourselves out of field goal range. I think we had two pretty darn good run plays on first and second down that we just didn't hit it, and didn't get it where we wanted it to go. I told Mick on third down, the play that we ran, I said lets go there, and he didn't get a vote, so, I got great confidence in Drew the way he'd respond.”
On Flynn Nagel's consistency...
“I just think he's just been relentless in his work ethic his entire career. It's an honor and privilege to me, I've had now three Nagels. Brett and Flynn and Aaron. I'm just honored to coach the third. He works so hard in practice. He's had a great offseason. He just had one of those days that I don't think he'll soon forget.”
On comparing Nagel to Austin Carr...
“Austin was here, to see him, that was pretty cool. Really proud of him. That's pretty cool for him to be out there on Monday Night Football with Drew Brees. Got a little TV time too, which isn't surprising knowing Austin. I think we're only six chapters in to Flynn's senior year, the whole book, and we've got the full data set on Austin. I would say that there's great levels of trust right now between Clayton and our entire receiving corp. I think we're throwing it right now as well as we have in a long time, and throwing it to as many guys as we have. We got to help him too. We made a handful of drops too that set you in second and long, third and long situations.”
On the kick with 2:27 left...
“End of the half, end of the game, over the two minute, those are a lot of scenarios that we work and talk through before today. You make game plan decisions on those type of things. That's one of those interesting things, down two scores, where no matter what you're going to have to get a touch down. At what point is it too close to not go for the touchdown, at what point do you feel like it's definitely field goal. We kind of got pushed back a little bit, there was no doubt the field goal was the right call. We go onside kick, we don't get it. We've got three timeouts; that's why you save those timeouts, they're golden. And that's one thing I think we're really good at. Our discipline right now from a penalty stand point has got to be one of the best in the country. Same thing with the way we go about our business. We don't have substitution issues. All the things that quite frankly to me are coaching. Things that we can control. Substitution issues, presnap penalties, not lining up right, calling plays wrong, signaling them wrong, receiving them wrong, communicating wrong, when those happen that's when you've got to take a time out that's really unnecessary. I learned so much watching a lot, I'll watch some games tonight. That's where teams lose. We don't have those three timeouts we probably don't win the game. The credit goes to our guys and our staff for understanding what it takes to win a Big Ten football game.”
On what the team showed the last five minutes...
“Great Character. Absolutely terrific character. That's who they are. It's who we recruit. I thought the talk in the boundary the whole game was excellent. But after we got the field goal to cut it to a one score game the guys, they're going "we're winning the game. We're winning this football game." I don't know if you saw our defense come together and talk about getting a stop, and it wasn't necessarily roses for them today and they've been so good. Five of our first six games now that our defense has been lights out. We didn't have our tackling pads on today I guess. Again, credit Nebraska. We needed a big play, and our defense went out and did it. To get it done in overtime I think just shows character. We're pretty salty in overtime. We have great confidence and belief in that time. There's a lot of seniors that have been through a lot of games. We went on that run last year. I would prefer not to go to overtime, let me be very clear. But we have great confidence in that situation and I thought our guys handled it very well.”
On the Nagels...
“We recruited Aaron, he went to another institution and then transferred back. He's killing it right now with Deloitte. Just crushing it. Brett unfortunately battled through some injuries, and that was tough. We thought he was potentially going to be a spectacular player, but injuries kind of shortened his career. Flynn was a guy that we had a scholarship come available late. I called him and offered him late, said first of all you've got to understand that just because it's this timing that doesn't mean that we didn't want you it just means we haven't had any opportunity. I hope you trust me, I hope your parents trust me, and we'll do everything we can to develop you and showcase your skills. And credit goes to him. he has worked incredibly hard. I've been to Nick's, I've gotten a burger down in Lemont. If you're a south sider you know what I'm talking about. I don't know if we've had that ridiculous of a special connection besides the fact that I understand where he comes from, I understand his background. We got a lot of similarities, and just an honor and privilege to be his coach.”
On Berkeley Holman's first career reception...
“Yeah. Saint John Bosco. I think he's going to be a great player. I think he was open a bunch last week. He's Cali. He's Orange County all the way. He comes over and is like "brah, I'm open." I know, catch the ball, don't worry brah. He's got a bright future ahead of him. He's a lot of fun. He's from a powerhouse football program. Hopefully he'll be one of many that we're able to get.”
On Chad Hanaoka…
“I’m so happy and proud of him. Number 1 doesn’t just go to somebody, it goes to the Wildcat, and he’s the Wildcat. First of all, he’s an unbelievable teammate. He’s with Isaiah [Bowser], he’s with Drake [Anderson], getting in those guys’ ear every day about what it takes, how you need to do things to be, not only proficient, but also a guy that can be special. He’s a premed guy, he’s a Wildcat, and we have great confidence in him. Especially when it came to when we knew we had to throw the ball, and from a protection standpoint, he knows that thing inside and out and he’s a technician. We lost [John Moten] in game, and we’re trying to play that redshirt role a little bit, with the two young guys, and we’ll see how it goes moving forward, whether we’ll get through another game without having to play those two guys. I want to try to take advantage of that if I can, my patience is running a little thin without being able to run the ball, but the guys are preparing every day to get prepared. I think [Solomon Vault] is just going to get stronger as we continue to go along, hopefully get Jesse Brown back here pretty soon, which would help add some depth there. Really proud of Chad, not surprised.”
On defending against quarterback Adrian Martinez…
“He’s a really talented guy, I said that on Monday I think, I called him a magician for a reason. I think he’s obviously a freshman and he’s learning [head coach Scott Frost’s] offense, and that will only get better … When you’re watching how the play breaks down, he’s a freak show, he’s scary from a defensive perspective because he’s so darn athletic, he’s got all the arm strength, and he just makes plays. I’m not excited that we have to deal with him for three more years, but I’m absolutely ecstatic that he’s in the rearview mirror for this year because I think he’s an incredible talent.”
On his history and role at Northwestern…
“It was a pretty emotional day for me yesterday, we had the 2008 team here and we had 70 guys, equipment managers, athletic trainers that were part of that team. The 2008 team is going to be always special in my mind and in my heart, and in our staff’s heart. That was the first group that we had the privilege to take to a bowl game, and that was one heck of a game, that was a wild one down at the Alamo. Seeing those guys yesterday, that was the first time, in my role here, that I’ve been smacked in the face with just how special my role is, to see what those guys have become and see how successful they are … that’s what Northwestern University and athletics and Northwestern football is all about. We recruit high character guys that are going to use this program and use us to go on and be prepared for life and go be successful in what they choose to do. That just smacked me in the face big time yesterday. I was so honored to have those guys back to be a part of this weekend and so thankful for them… Great to see those guys.”
On fans leaving (and on injuries)…
“If you left because you don’t believe, we’ll be back in a couple weeks, we’ll welcome you back with open arms. Our students that showed up were great, and the ones that are thinking about coming out in a couple weeks, we’re going to need them, and I hope they come out, I hope they enjoy it. We only got a handful of parties left for them … We got to take care of our business this week, we got to get healthy, hopefully get some guys back. That’s the one question you haven’t asked me. When you think about having Nate Hall out, Greg Newsome, some guys that have played a ton of ball for us, seeing these guys step up to me is a great credit to [Mike Hankwitz] and the defensive staff … To our fans, we appreciate your support, we just need to continue to fill Ryan Field up with purple, and we have to do our part and continue to win games, and we’re happy to get our first win in front of them.”
Kicker Drew Luckenbaugh
On “being famous now” and what it feels like...
“It still hasn't really hit me yet, just kinda going through the flow of things, seeing how it rolls.”
On his first field goal attempt…
“I was just a little bit excited to go out there for the first one, growing up I had a saying ‘fix it and forget it’ so you know I realized what I did and just moved on and fixed it for the next one.”
On how he felt when entering the field for the game winner...
“Everything felt pretty calm, I was with my holder and my snapper, Jake Collins and Tyler Gilikin. They were talking to me, just keeping me calm becasue they’ve been through this before. I had some seasoned vets with me. They were just saying, ‘deep breath, it’s nothing different than what we’ve practiced before. We do this every week.’”
On his feeling as soon as he struck the game winner...
“Ya I felt that it was good.”
On if he has hit a game winner before...
“No. In high school I kicked one where it counted for the game then, but it wasn't at the end like that.”
On if it helped to get a swing in before the timeout...
“Yea I think so, it kinda made me feel more confident in the kick itself, so just got the flow of things going.”
On practice this week and if he got any high intensity kicks to mimic the atmosphere of the kick at the end of the game…
“Every week we usually have a nascar situation, or something where we practice getting into that rush, going down to the kick that will win the game. We try to simulate it. It’s different than what will happen in the actual game, but it at least will get you in the mindset and get you prepared for it.”
On what Fitz said to him after the game winner...
“Way to trust it and keep working through it, just trusting everything that we’ve worked for.
On what The Garage is...
“It’s a place on campus where entrepreneurs can go with their ideas and work on it with these advisers that have all kinds of expertise in these different fields. I’ve worked on two different startups now, our most current one is Bar Tap, so I have been working on that recently. Bar Tap is looking to make the whole process of ordering at a bar simpler. So when going in there you’ll be able to use the app to make an order and everything like that and pick it up from a certain spot at the bar.”
On if the garage is like an episode of Silicon Valley...
“Pretty much, it’s all different kind of rooms and they have the right brain and left brain. Right brain is kinda more relaxed one where you can hang out in comfy chairs, the other one is all business and everything like that. It’s just a nice place to have your startup and be surrounded by experts who know what they are doing and incubated from there.”
On his catch phrase “Fix it and forget it”...
“I Just kinda grew up with it, somewhat from family, and mostly coaching too.”
On why he came to Northwestern...
“I wanted to come here to play football and was recruited as a preferred walk on and the academics, I couldn’t turn that down.”
On knowing when he would be the guy this week…
“I learned earlier in the week when they were talking to Charlie and seeing how he was doing and everything so I just got myself mentally prepared.”
On if he did anything different knowing he was gonna start this week...
“No, just kinda prepared myself to be able to take on that role too since I had already been practicing kickoffs then.”
On his feeling when it went to overtime...
“Just same thing as getting ready for this week, just getting mentally prepared for it, trying to put myself through that situation and making sure I was ready to go.”
On if he had any role models in the business/tech world...
“I do like Linus Torvalds. He’s the inventor of Linox and he took an idea where he wanted to create an operating system that was cheap and efficient so, I just kinda looked up to him because he was able to make something out of nothing. I’ve always admired people who can build things like that.”
Safety JR Pace
On what was different in the defense this game…
“I’m actually not sure. I think the game plan worked well for us, they know we’ve been doing well against the run, they hit us with a few different things that we hadn’t seen before, but there are definitely things that we can control, that we can stop, and we’ll fix that in the coming weeks.”
On what was different in the last drive…
“We just realized that the game was on the line, for us to win this game, we had to do what we can to stop the offense. I think there was a heightened sense of urgency, and realizing that the game was on us.”
On his overtime interception…
“We were in a 3D defense, so I was unopposed, and regardless of what happens in the back field, I got to stay unopposed. I was staying deep and they had [someone] run down the side where I was, and I just read the QB, and tried to make a play.”
Quarterback Clayton Thorson
On what he will remember from this game...
"I'll remember, I think, going down by 10, and looking around, talking to the guys, and seeing the life in their eyes, knowing we can move the ball. Seeing [wide receiver Flynn Nagel] tell the guys 'we're going to win this game, there's nothing that's going to stop us, we're going to win this game.' That long drive was pretty special. Those offensive linemen did a great job up there, and we had some key catches by some guys that maybe only had a couple catches the whole year. Some guys, it was their first time playing. I step back, and [running back Chad Hanaoka] is catching a 10-yard dump for a first down. That's pretty cool. So just seeing the fight in those guys, seeing how we came back and won it, that was really cool."
On how crucial the 99-yard drive was for the offense's mentality in addition to this game...
"That was huge. I think if you go back and look at the past few years, our two-minute offense is really good. And when we got the ball on our own half-yard line, we're just thinking we need to get the ball out and get a little breathing room, and then we just go into our normal stuff. We had a big penalty right there, but our receivers were getting open the whole game and our offensive line was doing a great job. I mean we threw the ball 64 times and we only had two sacks, and on one of those I was trying to escape up the middle so that one's on me. To drop back 64, 66, 68 times, and only have one sack really, that's pretty impressive by those guys."
On his two fourth down conversions…
“Yeah, they were dropping a lot of guys back, so we just had to find the zone to get open. Luckily, we had some good concepts where if they took one away we another guy coming open. It worked, Ramaud made a huge catch and some other guys, Ben on that post, some guys stepped up.”
Defensive Lineman Samdup Miller
On having a career-14 tackles, the most by an NU lineman in at least ten years…
“I think it is, the most in my career actually. I'm just so happy to win. When Kyle came and told me, I didn't believe him. I thought it was around six or seven. Normally D lineman, they kind of give the tackles to the linebackers if linebackers are anywhere around there. I was happy with it, but I was more happy with the win.”
On the feeling after the winning field goal...
I”t was relief. I didn't watch it, but I couldn't really tell by the crowd reaction, but I was just happy to get the win because we never gave up and we were really fired up.”
On how the comeback win could fuel the team...
“I think it could really inspire us to keep working. You know, a win like this, it shows that we have the guts to, even when we're down, no matter the situation we can just keep fighting. To actually end up with a win, it means a lot to us. The defense, the offense, to everyone.”
On what he did after the field goal...
“Everyone else was standing up, and I was sitting on the chairs by the bench. And there was just me and Jordan, we just kind of high fived, there really wasn't anything crazy. I know people want to think we do that, but I just walked over and I think it was like 76 from Nebraska I said good game to. Just because he went to high school with Austin Miller, who plays here. So I said good game to him, said good game to 22. And that was it. It really wasn't anything crazy.”
So you guys didn't pick up Drew?
“I didn't pick up Drew. I think it was more the O-Line and people that did that.”
Wide Receiver Flynn Nagel
On his connection with Clayton before his wheel route catch…
“I think I was just in the zone. Big time play in the game, big time situation. I just wanted to let Clayton know I was there. We have that trust. And he was able to trust me and he did throw me the ball. It worked out and it was a big-time play. I’m really happy that happened.”
On what today meant…
“Today means a lot. That’s the most fun football game I’ve ever been a part of – a come-from-behind win. Just trusting all the guys around me. I think that’s what it comes down to. We have so many playmakers in the receivers room and on our offense, so trust is the biggest thing and doing my job.”
On learning from his brothers…
“I think the biggest thing is probably adversity. A couple of my brothers dealt with injury and I got hurt my freshman year. I think I learned from them and I wanted to bounce back and play this game for a long time, so that was the biggest thing. I’ve talked to my brothers numerous times about things they wish they did differently in college and I’ve learned from them to do it a little bit differently.”
On being ‘in the zone’…
“It’s hard to describe. That was a feeling I don’t think I’ve ever had playing football. I felt the love for everybody beside me, and not that I don’t feel that every game, but it was just on a different level this game.”
On seeming destined to get the ball some plays…
“I think on some of the plays, before the play, I know it’s coming to me. We had a big play in the game on Clayton’s interception and I got kind of stuck in the ground. I could have just hung my head. That was on me. But Clayton still came back to me and trusted me. That was huge.”
On trusting Clayton…
“I’ve been playing with him for four years so I think he does know where I’m going to be. He knows the skill set, where I’m going to be in the concept. When you play with somebody for that long, the trust is built up over those four years.”
On being from the same area as Coach Fitzgerald…
“Absolutely. Staying close to home was huge for me. I was committed to Duke and that was quite a trip. I think staying close to home was a deciding factor and already being close to this coaching staff because two of my brothers played here.”
On believing that the offense would win the game…
“It comes down to adversity. Whether we were down or not in the game, you couldn’t tell. Guys were pumped up. We knew as an offense we had to take over. Defense was playing their game and we had to step and make some big plays. Me and Clayton looked at each other and looked at the other guys and knew that we had to win this game as an offense. I think we stepped up and made those plays.”
On what will stand out most from today…
“I think just the amount of fun that I’ve had in this game and this season and the amount of fun we’re going to have going forward. These are moments that you’re going to remember the rest of your life. Clayton and I hugged it out after the game and told each other we loved each other. I think that’s a moment I’ll never forget the rest of my life.”
Nebraska
Head Coach Scott Frost
On how he addressed the team after the game…
“I’m kind of running out of words to tell them, other than just stick together. There's no doubt they're better. They deserved to win that game today, and I think they know how much we've improved. That's a team that lost to Michigan by three points playing them on their field. So many ways that we could've won that game. I just feel bad for [my players]. This is wearing on me, but mostly I just feel bad for--especially our seniors. They deserve more. they deserve better than this. And we'll keep scraping.”
On Northwestern's 99-yard drive at the end of regulation...
"Well one, I don't call the defense, and two, make a play. One more play. Two 4th-and-10s, we obviously can’t give up a 15-yard penalty when they're buried on their own one-yard line. Can't give up pass interferences. Need to make one more play somewhere."
On what he saw from his defense in the fourth quarter...
"It's not being tired, it's not execution errors. You guys can look for reasons, but they made more plays than we did in the end. Our team's in shape, it's not being tired. They won on a few routes, and we didn't get them covered. And we had a 15-yard penalty. There's no other reasons, you guys can look for reasons but they won't be the reasons. We need to cover better and we need to get some pass rush, and we need to make one more play."
On the decision to punt on fourth-and-inches in the 4th quarter...
"I'd make every decision different if I knew the outcome. But we had the lead, and at that point they hadn't score a whole lot. You take the seven points away from the fumble we gave them on a sack, and our defense was doing pretty well. I didn't want to give them the ball on the 40. If we would've gone for it and didn't get it, you'd be asking me the other question. So we punted it, up 10 points, we needed to get a stop and we had 4th-and-10 twice and didn't get it done."
On whether what happened earlier in the game affected his decision-making in overtime...
"Absolutely. We have a young team, and in certain places some of the mistakes are by the young guys. We have a young kicker, and he'll be fine. He's going to be fine. But we missed one earlier, we had fourth and really short, and I wanted to put it on [running back Devine Ozigbo] to get us the first down. We shouldn't have been in that situation, but we false started somehow when it matters. Then snapped the ball through the quarterback's legs. Some of these things that are happening to us this year I've never really seen before. It's hard for me to anticipate them and fix them because I've never seen them before."
On the three-and-out when needing one first down to seal the game...
"Yeah we needed one first down, just one first down. We needed to pop a run somewhere. We knew they were going to be up there crowded, maybe could've thrown the ball there, given [wide receiver Stanley Morgan] a chance to win the game. But again, you do that and then you question why you stopped the clock on an incompletion. So you make those decisions in the heat of the moment. You have an offensive plan going into it, what you think will work best. We got five yards out of 10, great job punting it down to the one-yard line. You're gonna win that game most times."
On Northwestern receiver Flynn Nagel's 200+ yard performance...
"We were playing zone, we were blitzing, we were playing man, but we didn't cover him. It isn't like we forgot to cover him, we just couldn't cover him. He made more plays than the guy covering him made. We need to fix that. Keep working on technique, keep working on pass rush, keep working on recruiting, keep trying to fix it."
On whether or not a young team has to "learn how to win"...
"Do I buy that notion? Absolutely. Lombardi said, 'winning is a habit, unfortunately so is losing.' We challenged the guys before this game, find a way to make one more play to put us over the top. We just as easily could've won the Colorado game, just as easily could've won the Troy game. Couple plays here and there and no stupid mistakes and we're in the Purdue game, even a few plays here and there and we're in the Wisconsin game, at Wisconsin. We had some guys step up and make some plays today that could've, should've ended the game for us. That interception by [defensive back Tre Neal]. I mean I could go all the way through the game. We scored on our first drive, made some mistakes on offense, didn't score again until the last drive of the first half. We gave them seven points because we missed a protection. Got stopped on 4th-and-1, didn't get off the field on two 4th-and-10s. Too many penalties--nine penalties for over 100 yards compared to one for five yards [by Northwestern]. We miss the first down by inches, have to punt to them up 10, missed a first down by half a yard and went for it on fourth and snapped it through our quarterback's legs. There are a hundred ways that we could've won that game. The guys deserved it and it's overdue."
Quarterback Adrian Martinez
On the fumbled snap on fourth down in overtime...
"Yeah, just wanted to make a play, knowing it was fourth down. Try not to panic, just try and make something happen. I threw it up there kind of as a last shot, probably could've put more on it. But just trying to make something out of the play."
On the back-and-forth between offense and defense in the second half...
"Yeah, I felt like our team was definitely in sync there. Defense was playing really really well, we scored a few times. Obviously we just need to finish there at the end."
On coach's message after the game...
"He was proud of us, the way we fought. It was a game we should've won, we just need to finish. Obviously some little details coming back to us there. There wasn't a lot to say. We'll look at the film, we'll bounce back, because there's no other way to go."
On whether coaches gave the offense more to do in this game...
"I don't think it was necessarily that, as much as what we were game-planning for this week. This offense is so broad, it can go in so many different directions, so Coach Frost has the capability to do whatever he wants with our offense. So that's what we had going this week. I felt comfortable, I think the coaching staff trusts me, and I trust the plays they call."
On how to learn from this as a young player...
"It's tough. I don't necessarily think of it as me being a freshman. I know I have to assume a leadership role; I know I have to keep these guys going. We can't get down, can't give up, we can't stop believing in each other. There's no other direction to go but up, we need to keep going. I try and learn from each experience, but I'd rather learn through winning."
On the interception in the third quarter...
"Yeah I definitely thought I was going to be able to take a shot there. I definitely didn't anticipate the backside safety coming back into the play, and that's obviously my mistake. I thought we had a good shot there, I thought [ with his speed was going to be able to take the top off the defense. So just put the blame on my shoulders on that one."
