University of Minnesota Athletics
Tim Brewster and Player Press Conference Quotes
11/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Coach Brewster:
Opening statement:
“It doesn’t get any easier this week coming off a tough football game like we had against the University of Illinois. This week the exciting thing is that we have a trophy game. We play for the Floyd Rose Trophy this week, which is here in the Twin Cities right now. We are going to do everything in our power to keep it in the Twin Cities.
On the Illinois game:
“Looking back on the Illinois game, we knew going into the game we were going to have to be a physical team to be able to stop or at least slow down people like Rashard Mendenhall, Isiah Williams, and the Illinois running attack and it obviously it lets us know where we are at right now particularly on defense when we knew we needed to slow down on the running game to have success in the game and obliviously we did not accomplish that. Again looking at the University of Illinois football team and Ron Zook’s third year with the program, I think it was really good for me to study his program and see where they’re at right now, see how recruiting has really paid off for them. I’ve looked a the Illinois program, that’s where I played and everyone knows that, and this is the most athletic, this is the fastest football team that they’ve had in a long time. It’s the same direction that we want to take our program here at the University of Minnesota. It was a great game for me to look at and see exactly where we’re at and see where we need to go; we’re very similar in our style and what we’re trying to do offensively is very similar to what Illinois did. Our defensive styles are a little bit different, but personnel-wise, I think it lets me know exactly where we need to go.
On Iowa:
“This week, against the University of Iowa, it’s going to be a tough football game. They’re an extremely well-coached football team. Kirk Ferentz is a great friend of mine, I’ve known him for a long time, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and his football program. They’ve had a lot of success and they’ve done a lot of great things at the University of Iowa while Kirk Ferentz has been there. This particular season, they’ve gone two straight weeks with excellent performances, second half performances. Against Michigan State, they went into overtime and got the win. I watched their game last week against Northwestern from start to finish and they really played well in the second half. Norm Parker, their defensive coordinator has been around forever and he’s done a great job with their defense. They’re a veteran defense and their front four is a bunch of guys that have been around for a long time. They’re very solid on the defensive side of the ball, [Parker] does a great job of mixing pressures with base looks and does a great job of getting personnel in the game.
“Offensively, it all starts with their freshman quarterback, Jake Christensen. He’s a guy that’s on a similar path as Adam Weber. He’s done some really good things this year, he’s also had some bumps in the road, as all first-year quarterback are going to do. I was really impressed with him in the second half against Northwestern. When he had time to throw the football, he was very accurate with the football. He has very good command of the offense. His father was an NFL quarterback, he’s been around the game all his life, I think he’s a very savvy young kid. He’s got a little spunk, a little toughness to him, which I like. I really like their running back, Albert Young.
“Across the board, it’s a tremendous challenge. To go and play at Kinnick Stadium, playing a team that’s on a roll a little bit and feeling good about themselves, trying to get themselves in a position to get to a bowl game, for us it’s a tremendous challenge. Our football team is in as good of shape as it can be in. All the college football programs in America have guys that are hurt, the big question is whether they’re going to miss the game, and we don’t have any guys that are going to miss the game.”
On upcoming trophy games and rivalries with Iowa and Wisconsin:
“I know since I’ve been on the job that I’ve learned a great deal about the trophy games and how important they are to all Minnesotans and how important they are to the University of Minnesota to go play well against Iowa and win. We have the Floyd of Rosedale here in our presence today and we’d like very much to keep that pig right here in the Twin Cities. Obviously, Iowa would like to bring it back to Iowa City and obviously that’s what makes this rivalry fun. These next two weeks will be amazing weeks for us all because we’ll be playing big rivalry games against Iowa and Wisconsin. It’s what college football is all about.”
Quarterback Adam Weber
On staying positive:
“You’ve got two games left and the offseason, to give up now or to pack it in these last two games would only be selling ourselves short. We owe everything to our seniors and we’re going to go out and play for them.”
On playing Iowa:
“One of our biggest rivalries is between us and Iowa and this is a trophy game, and for us this game means a lot because it’s a trophy game and we’re not playing for postseason, but we’re playing for pride and for the pig, so I think that’s enough motivation to go out and play hard.”
On whether his preparation is focused on the 2008 season:
“Not at all. We’ve got two more games and it’s a one-game season every single week and that’s how we’ve approached it every single week and that’s what we’re doing this week. When this season wraps up, that’s when we’ll start focusing on next week. Right now, we’re going to play these last two games as hard as we can and try to get some wins and try to bring the Axe back home and keep the pig here.”
Wide receiver Eric Decker
On the focus of the Gophers’ offensive coaching staff to get him the ball:
“I’ve seen a couple of reverses and I had that pass against North Dakota State; it’s been both fun and frustrating the second half of the season, just because I’ve been bracketed and I’m just not getting a chance to make as many plays, but that just opens it up for Ernie and he’s been making big plays. Defenses see that [Wheelwright] is just as big if not more of a threat, and I think that could open it up for me.”
On the importance of a fast start against the Hawkeyes:
“We’re a young team, so confidence is especially important. If we had couple wins, we would have some confidence that things could go our way, but right now I think right now we might be losing the idea of how to win and that’s tough because we’re just trying to stay focused. We’re working hard and preparing hard, but it’s a challenge to maintain that mental edge to feel like, Hey, we can win this game.’
“If we get a spark play on defense or a three-and-out and we can go down and make a big play, I think that’ll be huge for us. Even if we start with the ball and have a sustained touchdown drive, that is a big part of the game.”
On the Minnesota-Iowa rivalry:
“They’re a tough team. It’s a big atmosphere and they’ve got a tough crowd and even though it’s close to home, they keep it packed and we need to go in with the mindset of staying focused and try to do what we prepared to do and to zone out their crowd. We have an opportunity to beat them with our coaching and the schemes that we have.”
Opening statement:
“It doesn’t get any easier this week coming off a tough football game like we had against the University of Illinois. This week the exciting thing is that we have a trophy game. We play for the Floyd Rose Trophy this week, which is here in the Twin Cities right now. We are going to do everything in our power to keep it in the Twin Cities.
On the Illinois game:
“Looking back on the Illinois game, we knew going into the game we were going to have to be a physical team to be able to stop or at least slow down people like Rashard Mendenhall, Isiah Williams, and the Illinois running attack and it obviously it lets us know where we are at right now particularly on defense when we knew we needed to slow down on the running game to have success in the game and obliviously we did not accomplish that. Again looking at the University of Illinois football team and Ron Zook’s third year with the program, I think it was really good for me to study his program and see where they’re at right now, see how recruiting has really paid off for them. I’ve looked a the Illinois program, that’s where I played and everyone knows that, and this is the most athletic, this is the fastest football team that they’ve had in a long time. It’s the same direction that we want to take our program here at the University of Minnesota. It was a great game for me to look at and see exactly where we’re at and see where we need to go; we’re very similar in our style and what we’re trying to do offensively is very similar to what Illinois did. Our defensive styles are a little bit different, but personnel-wise, I think it lets me know exactly where we need to go.
On Iowa:
“This week, against the University of Iowa, it’s going to be a tough football game. They’re an extremely well-coached football team. Kirk Ferentz is a great friend of mine, I’ve known him for a long time, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and his football program. They’ve had a lot of success and they’ve done a lot of great things at the University of Iowa while Kirk Ferentz has been there. This particular season, they’ve gone two straight weeks with excellent performances, second half performances. Against Michigan State, they went into overtime and got the win. I watched their game last week against Northwestern from start to finish and they really played well in the second half. Norm Parker, their defensive coordinator has been around forever and he’s done a great job with their defense. They’re a veteran defense and their front four is a bunch of guys that have been around for a long time. They’re very solid on the defensive side of the ball, [Parker] does a great job of mixing pressures with base looks and does a great job of getting personnel in the game.
“Offensively, it all starts with their freshman quarterback, Jake Christensen. He’s a guy that’s on a similar path as Adam Weber. He’s done some really good things this year, he’s also had some bumps in the road, as all first-year quarterback are going to do. I was really impressed with him in the second half against Northwestern. When he had time to throw the football, he was very accurate with the football. He has very good command of the offense. His father was an NFL quarterback, he’s been around the game all his life, I think he’s a very savvy young kid. He’s got a little spunk, a little toughness to him, which I like. I really like their running back, Albert Young.
“Across the board, it’s a tremendous challenge. To go and play at Kinnick Stadium, playing a team that’s on a roll a little bit and feeling good about themselves, trying to get themselves in a position to get to a bowl game, for us it’s a tremendous challenge. Our football team is in as good of shape as it can be in. All the college football programs in America have guys that are hurt, the big question is whether they’re going to miss the game, and we don’t have any guys that are going to miss the game.”
On upcoming trophy games and rivalries with Iowa and Wisconsin:
“I know since I’ve been on the job that I’ve learned a great deal about the trophy games and how important they are to all Minnesotans and how important they are to the University of Minnesota to go play well against Iowa and win. We have the Floyd of Rosedale here in our presence today and we’d like very much to keep that pig right here in the Twin Cities. Obviously, Iowa would like to bring it back to Iowa City and obviously that’s what makes this rivalry fun. These next two weeks will be amazing weeks for us all because we’ll be playing big rivalry games against Iowa and Wisconsin. It’s what college football is all about.”
Quarterback Adam Weber
On staying positive:
“You’ve got two games left and the offseason, to give up now or to pack it in these last two games would only be selling ourselves short. We owe everything to our seniors and we’re going to go out and play for them.”
On playing Iowa:
“One of our biggest rivalries is between us and Iowa and this is a trophy game, and for us this game means a lot because it’s a trophy game and we’re not playing for postseason, but we’re playing for pride and for the pig, so I think that’s enough motivation to go out and play hard.”
On whether his preparation is focused on the 2008 season:
“Not at all. We’ve got two more games and it’s a one-game season every single week and that’s how we’ve approached it every single week and that’s what we’re doing this week. When this season wraps up, that’s when we’ll start focusing on next week. Right now, we’re going to play these last two games as hard as we can and try to get some wins and try to bring the Axe back home and keep the pig here.”
Wide receiver Eric Decker
On the focus of the Gophers’ offensive coaching staff to get him the ball:
“I’ve seen a couple of reverses and I had that pass against North Dakota State; it’s been both fun and frustrating the second half of the season, just because I’ve been bracketed and I’m just not getting a chance to make as many plays, but that just opens it up for Ernie and he’s been making big plays. Defenses see that [Wheelwright] is just as big if not more of a threat, and I think that could open it up for me.”
On the importance of a fast start against the Hawkeyes:
“We’re a young team, so confidence is especially important. If we had couple wins, we would have some confidence that things could go our way, but right now I think right now we might be losing the idea of how to win and that’s tough because we’re just trying to stay focused. We’re working hard and preparing hard, but it’s a challenge to maintain that mental edge to feel like, Hey, we can win this game.’
“If we get a spark play on defense or a three-and-out and we can go down and make a big play, I think that’ll be huge for us. Even if we start with the ball and have a sustained touchdown drive, that is a big part of the game.”
On the Minnesota-Iowa rivalry:
“They’re a tough team. It’s a big atmosphere and they’ve got a tough crowd and even though it’s close to home, they keep it packed and we need to go in with the mindset of staying focused and try to do what we prepared to do and to zone out their crowd. We have an opportunity to beat them with our coaching and the schemes that we have.”
Players Mentioned
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