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University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
10/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery
Oct. 17, 2015
TCF Bank Stadium
Nebraska at Minnesota
Postgame Quotes
Jerry Kill, Minnesota Head Coach
On what he told his players after the game…
"I went in there and I told them I loved them. We are beat up physically. We had some guys play who fought their tail off with some situations. We are without some troops but the ones who stepped in did the best they could. We did some good things. I told them I appreciated the ones who played who had gone through some things. We will look at the film and we are going to keep working, keep pushing forward. That's all we can do. There were some good things out there and we just couldn't stop them. Give them credit. They had a great offensive game plan and they are very good in the D-line. They are explosive. They got the returner back and he is an explosive player. They played better than we did. I told Coach Riley that they outplayed us and outcoached us."
On defensive troubles…
"The biggest thing is that we were without Cody Poock and we struggled with alignments. He is a big missing part today. I think they did a great job with their game plan today of keeping us off balance. Sometimes we couldn't get situated alignment wise. Again give them credit they did a good job. They had a nice game plan, executed that plan and made more plays than we did. They had explosive plays. A long run, a big punt return, they had explosive plays. (Jordan) Westerkamp had a hell of a game, made some plays down the stretch that changed the whole game."
On Nebraska's rushing defense…
"Their D-line, the two big defensive tackles are really good football players. They sold out stopping the run. We had a couple third-down-and-shorts in the first half. They controlled the ball offensively and our offense wasn't on the field as much as I would've liked to have been. We missed a few shots in the first half and if we had got those maybe things would've been different. I thought Mitch (Leidner) played an outstanding game. The last two throws as interceptions were just him trying to make plays. I thought we did some good things but just not good enough."
Mitch Leidner, Minnesota Quarterback
On looking at the record of the team and how the team's goals might change going forward...
"It is frustrating, looking at our goals that we set early on in the season and where we are now… It is just part of the game. Things like this happen. You just have to be able to keep fighting back and give everything you've got every single day and keep coming to work. You definitely don't like to lose like that but you just have to keep coming."
On balancing frustration of losing even while having success throwing the ball…
"We had a good game plan for throwing the football this week and we knew it was going to be tough running the ball up the middle on these guys. They have some big guys up front defensively. The receivers did a good job of getting open and making plays and the O-line giving me enough time to get the balls out. It was good execution there."
On the struggles with the running game...
"They just loaded the box up and wanted to stop the run they have big defensive linemen and it is tough to push those guys, tough to get hole to open up for the running back. Luckily we had some good plays in our arsenal this week to go against what they were doing with putting all those guys in the box there."
Eric Murray, Minnesota Cornerback
On what was different with the defense today...
"Today we just didn't make enough plays. We had a lot of people in position to make plays but the dime didn't roll our way. We just have to continue to play better and work. When plays come around in the game that we have to make and when we don't make them, we get put in positions like we were today."
On if he was surprised that the big plays didn't go Minnesota's way...
"It definitely surprises you. We prepared really hard all week to make those plays and when we don't it is just frustrating, mainly because you search for an answer why and you just have to rethink your preparation. Have to keep doing the things you were doing but also have to modify the way you prepare and how you finish the plays."
KJ Maye, Minnesota Wide Receiver
On how he thought the offense did…
"I think overall we did well. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple times. Passing game went well. We had a good running game. We had a pretty good throwing game. But the game ended up turning into a shootout."
On the game's impact on the outlook for the rest of the year…
"We know how the Big Ten goes. Anybody can lose any given day. We come out prepared every weekend."
Antonio Johnson, Defensive Back
On how the Gophers handle all of the injuries…
"'Next man up' mentality. Whoever is behind them on the depth chart needs to step up and fill the role. They need to help the team out."
Mike Riley, Nebraska Head Coach
On the emotions of getting an interception to help seal the game. Was it excitement? …
"Yes. Yes. It was definitely all of that, you know, because it was just a hint there in the fourth quarter of maybe this thing getting close, especially when they made the two-point conversion. So it had a hint of that and then us getting the recovery of the onside kick, moving the ball a little bit and of course the interception. Its relief but it's also excitement."
On moving the ball consistently today…
"I think for this team we've had some moments like this in the year. But I think that a picture of what we need balance-wise. I was glancing at the yardage stills on the scoreboard and we maintained pretty good run/pass balance all day long and that was probably the key for us. I think the thing I feel very, very best about, well the win, but I just think they answered the bell. They came back after all those (previous) games and they stayed together as a team, played hard today. So I hope we can keep that going. I'm really proud of them for that because that's not easy for anybody, especially young people."
On Terrell Newby's breakout day, in specific the first touchdown…
"I think that was a huge part of the game now that you mention that early part like that. I think they (Gophers) had a nice drive. They made a couple of really good plays that worried me. At the same time I told the defense that, 'Hey, they just made two real good plays on that drive. Let's go back. We'll do better.' And then we answered with a touchdown. That was a big factor. Newby was really good today. He's hurt, but I don't know how badly. I don't know anything about it."
Jordan Westerkamp, Nebraska Wide Receiver
On the team understanding the importance of finishing the whole game...
"Yeah, we 100-percent understood that. Playing this game, playing the last couple of weeks, the game's not over until it's absolutely over. We knew how important it was. We had to get a drive. We had to get some points."
On finding plays that would work out early on in the game...
"We had a great game plan. It hasn't worked for us the past couple of weeks. But we had a great game plan and Tommy (Armstrong Jr.) was hot right off the start and Terrell (Newby) took it the rest of the way. That was huge for us. That pretty much set the tone as an offense for the rest of the game. Just keep going, keep going, keep making plays."
Tommy Armstrong Jr., Nebraska Quarterback
On the importance of the 99-yard drive...
"It was important. We practiced it on Thursdays and walked through it on Fridays. We had to be physical. And I think that the routes we ran early kind of sparked us as a whole, on defense and offense. The 99-yard drive was importance to us. The offensive line had the sense of urgency. We made plays when we needed to. We executed when we needed to. We kept our eyes on third down."
On what felt better to him than the last couple of games...
"Just being able to execute. We got out there and went at them. We had the sense of urgency. Our offense had the attitude that we can't lose anything we can only move forward from here. I think that's what the mentality was, let's just have fun and let's get out and things started clicking. We saw an improvement, out wide and in the backfield. We've just got to have that each and every week. And I think every guy on the team just got that feeling of what it's like to get out on the field and move the ball."
