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University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Head Coach Tim Brewster Quotes
On the importance of the victory and thoughts of the team’s character...
“You know, we kind of have a philosophy. Why not us, why not now? Why not us, why not now? And I’m going tell you, the state of Minnesota stands proud this afternoon. The Minnesota Golden Gophers had a program-changing victory today on the road against a very good football team in an extremely hostile environment. And I’ll tell you what, I couldn’t be more proud of our football team the way we gutted this thing out; the way we did the things that good teams do to win football games. The heart and character of the Gophers is outstanding.”
On Minnesota’s defense...
“We have been very opportunistic. Time after time our defense is stepping up to make plays. We are committed to playing great defense again at the University of Minnesota and I see us forming that type of defense.”
On trying to stop Juice Williams...
“He is a great football player and hurts you in so many different ways. The thing we wanted to do was to get enough guys around him, where we would force him to throw the football. We did not want him to try to win with his feet, which he is very capable of doing.
“Our general thought was to corral him, keep him in the corral. Very similar to Kellen Lewis, Terrelle Pryor and all the other athletic quarterbacks.”
On coming back to Illinois...
“There is significance here, sure. I played at the University of Illinois and was captain of a Rose Bowl team. It’s kind of like competing against your brother, you don’t want to lose.”
Minnesota Player Quotes
Tight end Jack Simmons
On Minnesota’s defense...
“I think the defense sets the tone for our team, but we kind of feed off each other. You can see the unity throughout the whole team.”
On RB Deleon Eskridge...
“He’s doing a terrific job; he’s going to be great. I can’t imagine what he’s going to look like in two years after being in the strength program. He hasn’t even reached his potential yet, so it’s going to be pretty exciting.”
Wide receiver Eric Decker
On what it’s like to watch the defense play well week after week...
“I give them so much credit for what they are doing. The stop on fourth-and-goal, that just turns the whole game around. Everybody’s excited and that’s what this team needs. It’s really fun to see the defense improve. Whenever they need to make a play, they are making it.”
On how this game helped Minnesota turn the corner...
“This was kind of a respect game for us. We went out there and wanted to show that we are a good program. And now we can go anywhere from here.”
On how important the first score was...
“It was very important. Every game, I think we want to get the ball right away and put some points on the board. We got a touchdown and then the defense played tremendous. That really set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg
About his emotions as a senior...
“As a senior, obviously this is what you want to do. You never want to go out like the guys did last year. We’ve done a lot of hard work to get to the place we are today. People don’t understand that we worked all winter, all spring, all summer. We studied the game and we did everything we could. It’s obviously showing that it’s paying off now and it’s a great feeling. We’ve just got to keep going.”
On the defense...
“A lot of people don’t think you know, because we were ranked 116th in defense last year that we can do a lot of things. But I think with Coach Roof, his plan, the way kids are playing, that we are one of the best defenses in the country.”
On Steve Davis’ play...
“Steve Davis is a great player. He’s been bouncing around from position to position, but he’s a team player. He plays for the team and nothing else. You’ll never hear guys on this team saying they are playing for themselves. We are a team. That’s what we are going for, but we are taking it one play at a time, one game at a time.”
