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University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
10/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery
Oct. 31, 2015
TCF Bank Stadium
Michigan at Minnesota
Tracy Claeys, Minnesota Interim Head Coach
On what he told the players after this loss...
"I'm just awfully proud of their effort. With what we found out Wednesday morning, to prepare and get ready for a good Michigan football team, they did a great job. They played with a lot of passion and I'm extremely proud of them for getting ready to play. Just came up a play or two short there and at the end, if it's inside the 1-yard line, you got to be able to win that football game. If it had been any longer, we'd have kicked it. After the time out I would turn around and do it again. I thought we could get it done. Came up a play short, missed a few here and there but overall, for what we've been through, those kids did a great job."
On the time management with the last two plays...
"We had the play called and thought we could get it off. All the motions in that took a little bit longer than what we thought they would. So we thought maybe we could get another play, but hey, if we get it there and it's not there we'll throw it away and come back at the half-yard line and sneak it in. You win some, lose some, but our kids battled. We have to be able to get a half yard there and we have to be able to match up on a few more routes on third down and get us off the field and take away a score or two. That's the great thing about this game is that it goes down the wire, three or four plays decides it one way or another. Proud of effort and tomorrow we will go back to work."
On swing of emotion from game winning touchdown to losing...
"You figured it was a scoring play so they were going to review it. That's part of the game and, believe me, I believe in that. You'd hate to lose one way or the other on something that wasn't a touchdown. Officials did a good job so for me it wasn't really a big swing. I knew that they were going to review the play and the guys in the box said they could mark that thing short. That's why we got the offense back out there. We knew the play had one shift and a motion and didn't think it would take quite that long. The whole thing was that if the throw wasn't there we could come back and run one more play so we got what we wanted."
On the difficulty with Michigan in a short field on the last drive...
"Well you just get so many different personnels and what they are going to do, and our kids did a great job. We got them down to the twins set and had three over two. The receiver shook two and made the catch. That's the one place with the two safeties out right now that we are going to have to address and get better, but the kids that are in there are playing hard. They made one more play than we did."
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Head Coach
On being on the winning end of a bizarre finish after losing on a blocked punt last game...
"It feels tremendous for the way the players played. A phenomenal learning experience for our men, to be able to win a tough one. It's a great learning experience because it reinforces everything that you tell them about never giving up, fighting to the end and not letting them into the end zone. ...The thing I'm most excited about is our team has learned a very important lesson and accomplished winning a really tough game."
On when he decided Wilton Speight would be the No. 2 quarterback, and his play in the game...
"The last two, three weeks. He made a great throw on a double post, then did an excellent job on the 2-point conversion. That ended up being huge. Really, they were probably kicking a field goal at the end if it wasn't for that 2-point conversion. He really had to step up and make a play on that on. I thought he settled down after a couple series. Phenomenal thing for him. What a valuable learning experience for Wilton Speight to get his first action with a fourth-quarter comeback."
On Jabrill Peppers' play...
"Very explosive performance by Jabrill in all three phases. Very close to kicking out of a shoestring tackle on offense to score a long touchdown, the one he picked up the first down at midfield. He got into the end zone for us on a sweep play. I thought he made a good decision. We had a halfback pass dialed up. He kept it. The punt return game, he was one away from making that one go the distance. He's an explosive, great player."
On Minnesota's play...
"They were really good. A heck of a game plan by their offensive staff. They had some really good concepts. The quarterback played a heck of a football game. The receivers were finding the ball downfield. They were making explosive plays. They were protecting the quarterback. Their backs were running hard and good. They performed really well."
De'Vondre Campbell, Minnesota Linebacker
On the disappointing outcome of the game...
"It's a tough situation having the ball on the half-yard line and not getting it in. But that's the beautiful thing about football. Things happen. Michigan is a great team. They made the stop when it mattered most and it hurt."
On the emotion of the whole week with regards to coach Jerry Kill retiring..
"We definitely wanted to come out and get this win for him, because I know he was watching, and he's probably upset, too. He probably shouldn't have watched it. But we wanted to come out and get this win for him and that was something that was in the back of our minds."
On how the defense played overall…
"I felt we had a really weirdly good game. They (Michigan) got some really good plays. They made a couple of plays against us. We went to the sideline and make a couple of advancements. Overall I think we played really, really good. We took away a couple of plays that they wanted to do. They tried to run a lot of power and tried to get the ball in the hands of playmakers. We took that element of the game away from them. We forced them to beat us by passing.
Mitch Leidner, Minnesota Quarterback
On his reaction after the touchdown was taken back after replay at the end of the game…
"Overall I feel like it was an emotional game, at least for me. We were all playing for Coach Kill out there. With it not being called a touchdown, at that point we went out there with the same mindset. We were going to punch it in, but unfortunately that never happened."
On his confidence level for the last play of the game…
"I had a lot of confidence. I haven't missed a quarterback sneak since I've been here, at least I'm pretty sure. So it's crazy because nobody usually stops us in that situation."
On carrying the Jerrysota flag and running in front of the student section with it…
"Coach Kill is so important to the state of Minnesota. The entire student section loves him. He's done so much for this team, this program. I was honored to be able to do that tonight. They asked me earlier in the week if I wanted to do it and I said "Hell yeah, I want to do that. I want to do that so badly." To get the opportunity to do that tonight for Coach Kill is something I'll never forget."
On his emotions after the completed pass to Drew Wolitarsky at the end of the game…
"The whole game was just emotional, when you think about Coach (Kill) the entire time and then think you got the lead. For all the work every single person on that sideline put in to play for him, it's just an overwhelming feeling."
Steven Richardson, Minnesota Defensive Tackle
On the emotion of the team…
"Disappointed. That's probably the biggest word I can think of. I know we have a hard team and we can go into next weekend and definitely get this off our back. We're not going to think about this next week.
Brandon Lingen, Minnesota Tight End
On if he was in favor of going for the touchdown at the end…
"Yes, sir. It's my job to play and their job to coach, and I support what they do. I do truly believe they are the best coaches in the nation and I'm very proud to play for them. I did not question it all. I would do it all over again. Obviously it's unfortunate how it ended, but that's the game of football. It's a game of inches. Right now it definitely hurts but all we can do is come back Sunday and learn from it and get ready for Ohio State."
On the outlook for the rest of the season…
"The rest of the season we're just going to take it one game at a time. Just have to keep believing in what the coaches are telling us, like I said earlier, best staff in the nation. As long as we keep doing what they preach we're going to be alright."
On if the pass he caught off a defender's hands gave him a feeling that Minnesota would get some breaks in the game…
"Yeah. I mean I thought he was going to intercept it, and luckily it went through his hands. It's little things like that which got the ball rolling and kept it rolling. I definitely thought it was one we were going to pull out but it just didn't happen."
Michigan Quarterback Wilton Speight
On coming into the game…
"Well when I saw Jake (Rudock) go down I was not sure how serious it was. I didn't know if I would be coming in for one play or the rest of the game. Coach Harbaugh and Coach Fisch prepare me and Shane (Morris) the same as they do Jake just like we are starters, so I felt comfortable with the game plan and knew if I just went in and managed the offense and made the throws I needed to then good things would happen."
On if he knew he would be the next guy in…
"That has been the plan so I was prepared for that."
On how comfortable he felt when he entered…
"The first couple drives I was not really comfortable. I was probably flushing myself out of the pocket when I did not need to. I talked to Coach Fisch on the phone before that last drive and he said, 'Look, just relax and have fun and smile because we know you can do it and the team believes in you so just go out and do what you can.'"
On the Gophers' energy playing for retired coach Jerry Kill…
"Coach Kill is known as being an incredible coach that always has his team prepared and just because he stepped down earlier this week did not mean they weren't going to follow how they have been coached by him."
Michigan Saftey Jabrill Peppers
On winning the Little Brown Jug…
"Well I was one of the first ones to run over there and try and pick up the jug. Growing up a Michigan fan, I know there is something special about the jug and it is an incredible feeling to have it back here in Ann Arbor."
On his big returns …
"I tried to do what I am coached to do and get us in the best positon possible. That definitely worked well tonight."
On the defense making the big stop at the end of the game…
"You know what they say, defense wins games. We like to call that giving us a place to stand. Having them down to the half-inch yard line. Those big guys do a great job of preparing all week."
On the Gophers' game plan…
"They had a great game plan. They stepped up and made big play after big play and you cannot ask for a better game than that."
