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University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
11/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Minnesota Head Coach Jeff Horton
Opening statement…
"Obviously disappointed with the loss, we wanted to win that football game. I thought our kids played very hard. Michigan State’s a great football team; is 9-1 for a reason and will probably play New Year’s Day, or the second, somewhere in there, in one of the bowls. Outstanding football team but I thought our kids hung in there and competed very well. When you are down at halftime a little bit - they got the momentum with the touchdown - it is easy to come back out the last 30 minutes and go through the motions, but I thought our kids really busted their tails out there and we were obviously undermanned some. The 58 we had put everything they had into it and certainly proud of that effort and they fought all the way to the end. We are certainly looking for things we can build on and that is something we can build on for Illinois this week. That had to be the most replays I have seen in my life, felt like we were calling the game from upstairs there. Seemed like every replay, unfortunately went against us, but that is what happens when you are struggling."
On using MarQueis Gray as a quarterback…
"We talked about doing it this week, worked on it, felt like we could give an opportunity to work in this game. Thought it did some good things, like when we interchanged a bit it opened some things up. He did a nice job, it was a good change in pace.
"He stills throw in practice some though, you do not forget how to throw. Obviously he does not get as much timing with his receivers, because he is playing receiver. He still warms up with the quarterbacks and still throws some routes here and there when he can. Obviously game speed is different than practice speed, but I feel total confidence in him, throwing whatever we call."
On defensive play…
"Defense played outstanding. I think twice when they had 4th-and-1, 4th-and-goal, they got in but they held in and made two goal line stands. They did a good job containing (Kirk) Cousins all day, 9 out of 20. I was really pleased with the defense, I thought they played really hard the whole day. Some of those guys that got entered in, did a nice job of competing.
"Our defense played well and they had that last drive that made it 31, but that was no fault to the guys. They did a nice job of really playing in the second half, and that is good to see. Big change from a week ago and when you are us we have got to be able to build on things. From how we played the second half against Ohio State to how we played the second half this week was drastically much better."
On the mood at halftime…
"I thought it was really good, I thought the kids really responded well. There was nobody down and out. We still had 30 good minutes left, still felt like we could come out and do some things and get back in the game. I thought even when we scored to make it 24-8, it is still a two score game at that point, and you have to get your two-point conversions"
On fake punting…
"John Butler, we had talked about it and it was his call to go. I told him if you felt comfortable, call it, I am all for it. He felt that it was a good time and made it by half a yard, it was close. But it was good to see and it gave us a little juice.
On quarterback Adam Weber…
"Adam Weber handles everything, just like I have said 10 millions times, he handles everything better than anyone in this room and probably better than anyone in this state. Adam Weber is the ultimate Gopher. You do not ever have to worry about Adam Weber."
On things to work on for next week…
"Illinois will present a different problem with what they run, they run pistol offense and some other things. They have been playing well on offense. They are a good football team that has really played well recently. We will have to get better at what we do, I still think it is about that. They are good on defense and a real good football team that is playing well. We will have to have a good week and be able to go line up and get after them."
Sophomore Wide Receiver/Quarterback MarQueis Gray
On playing quarterback for the first time in a while…
"I expected to play during the week. I had a lot of reps today. They told me I was in and I ran with it and had fun."
On his mindset on playing quarterback…
"I wasn’t nervous at all, we had nothing to lose, I was just out there having fun. Nothing to be nervous about."
On the Spartan defense…
"They were making plays, getting to the quarterback. Once they do that, we can’t do anything down field. Their overall defense was just making plays."
Junior Wide Receiver Troy Stoudermire
On returning kicks in the second half…
"I was just trying to get my team fired up. Just cause we were down 24-0 doesn’t mean we can’t make a run at it."
On Edwin Baker’s big day…
He’s so short and stocky. He’s low to the ground. He’s got a good base. He’s a really good running back, a guy like that you got to wrap up. When a running back is doing pretty good like that, all you have to do is tell your teammates to keep going and never give up.
Sophomore Defensive Lineman Austin Hahn
On his recent knee injury…
"My knee started feeling a lot better Tuesday, so they cleared me to practice on Wednesday and told me I was going to be starting Thursday before practice. I’d say it’s near 100%."
On the pressure on the quarterback…
"I think our pressure had a lot to do with the offensive line we were facing. I know a lot of people dog our defensive line with our pass rush, but things could be better, but they could also be a lot worse."
On his reaction to the outcome…
"Michigan State is a great team. They have a great coaching staff. They’re 9-1 now so we knew it was going to be a tough game and they played better than us bottom line."
Junior Tight End Eric Lair
On MarQueis Gray’s performance…
"I was surprised we had him out there for a whole series, but it was productive having him in there. It was good for the receivers. We had some good one-on-one matchups"
On the offense struggling…
"We came out and didn’t play like we were supposed to play. In the second half we came out playing harder than we did in the second half, it was just our schemes."
