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University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Quotes
11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Minnesota Head Coach Tim Brewster
Opening Statement
“Extremely disappointing to us to play the way we did. We came in and played well enough to play but not win. The last play isn’t what beat us, it was the entire game. You have to give credit to Northwestern for winning and executing their game plan. We didn’t have an answer for Kafka and they took advantage of it. In all three phases, our offense didn’t play well and there wasn’t any consistency running. There wasn’t a lot of consistency in anything we did today. I’m still optimistic and coaching a 7-2 football team with a lot to play for and some big games ahead. We have no excuses, Northwestern won the game out and out and that’s the way it is.”
On Northwestern QB Kafka’s Performance
“We just couldn’t get off blocks and make plays on Kafka. I give the quarterback and their staff great credit and that’s how they won the football game. He was a much better runner than their usual starter and we knew that coming in. Bottom line was that we didn’t have an answer.”
On Minnesota’s rushing attack
“We need to find consistency in the running game. We’ve got to find some guys to get the running game being consistency and make more plays. We have to do a better job of protecting Adam. Our guys are young and they’re going to improve. We’ll take this tape and learn from it to get better. We’ve got to be more physical to run the ball better and do a better job protecting our quarterback. But like I said, we’re a young team and we’re going to take this and learn from it. That’s what it’s all about with a young team.”
On troubles with scoring in the red zone
“We’re just not as efficient as we were in the beginning of the year at scoring touchdowns in the end zone and that’s what we need to do. But it wasn’t just offense, it was all three phases today. We didn’t tackle well enough or get off blocks good enough and did a poor job against their option.”
On Northwestern’s fourth quarter interception leading to game winning touchdown
“We’re going to take an aggressive nature to what we do, that’s who I am. The ball just got tipped and intercepted. It’s unfortunate it went back for a touchdown. It was just a tipped ball in the middle of the field and that’s what happens, they get intercepted. We didn’t play very well today but we fought our guts out and were in the game at the end. I’m going to be extremely optimistic about the rest of the season and the big games we still have to play for.”
Minnesota Player Quotes
Lee Campbell, LB
On the Gopher loss today
“It was extremely frustrating. We didn’t execute on our side of the ball. I think when you lose a football game you tend to learn more from the film. Winning is fun but we are going to fix the things we need to fix starting tomorrow.”
On the last play of the game
“It was like a punch to the stomach, but what can you do? They made the play they needed to make to win the game.”
Adam Weber, QB
On the game today
“It was a very hard-fought game that just didn’t go our way at the end. This is going to be one of those games where we look back at film and see a lot of opportunities left on the field. I don’t think we came out on offense with the right mind set. Northwestern came out ready to play and we have to give them credit for that.”
On the interception to put Northwestern ahead
“You have to give them credit there. We were still going down to win the game and get ourselves in the position to kick a field goal. I thought it was a pretty safe play and Eric (Decker) probably makes that catch 99 out of 100 times. It’s not like we were trying to run out the clock, but we just have to go out there and execute better.”
Joel Monroe, PK
On his missed field goal attempt
“It was not a good ball strike on my part. It was an opportunity for us to score points that we didn’t convert and it was one of a handful of opportunities that could have changed the outcome of the game. Every week you want to go out and be perfect.”
Willie VanDeSteeg, DE
On the defense’s performance and ability to keep Minnesota in the game
“That’s not the point. We didn’t play very well on defense. We made plenty of mistakes and that’s where we just come in tomorrow and learn from our mistakes. We still have three Big Ten games and they’re all trophy games. We can’t let this one eat at us too much, we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and come back.”
On Northwestern Quarterback Mike Kafka
“(Kafka’s) a good quarterback. He played very well and...that kid was good. It was like having two running backs back out there. He could run the ball just as well as he could throw it. That was just one of our things and we didn’t execute as well on defense as we should have.”
On bouncing back from the loss
“It’s going to be different from the past. We have to be able to bounce back. As a leader, a senior, I have to step up and take that role, make sure everyone is positive and on the right foot.”
