.png&width=42&height=42&type=webp)
University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
11/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery
POSTGAME QUOTES
Nov. 21, 2015
TCF Bank Stadium
Illinois at Minnesota
Tracy Claeys, Minnesota Head Coach
On the locker room atmosphere compared to the past three weeks…
"All the energy in there, that's why you coach. You go in there and those kids win, it's great. On the other hand, the last three weeks, it was painful. They've competed so hard and come up short so it was good to keep battling and they didn't give up and hung in there. Next thing you know we are in a position to win the ball game and then make the plays we need. Very proud of them. We needed a win to keep our energy."
On struggles in the second half…
"Yeah you know it was a change. All of a sudden we couldn't run the football so they were able to run the ball a little bit. Our defensive kids, we lost Steve (Richardson) there in the first half and I give them credit. They gave up some yards but kept battling and kept them out of the end zone. So it goes back to that old thing that you are defending every inch. Don't give up anything. As long as you can make teams try field goals you usually have an opportunity to win at the end of the game. So not our best, but I thought for how they played in the first half we played better in the second half and we made a few more plays."
On the defense making plays late in the game, mainly Julian Huff's late sack…
"No question, when we got Julian in there we figured they would do the drop back passing game. He did a nice move on the tackle and got around him and then the quarterback, rather than throw it away, tried to escape and JuJu is a pretty good athlete. He's strong. So when he turned out there he just added more yardage and the sack was enough so they couldn't recover off of it. Big momentum changer there, but it's good that that came from the defense because we haven't had many of those plays this month."
On next week against Wisconsin…
"The win will help us with the energy, but here's the thing with the Axe: Even with Coach Kill we put an awful lot of work into it and that's the one trophy he didn't get. We are going to put as much into this as we can because what a great way to reward him if we could get that Axe."
Minnesota Players
QB Mitch Leidner
On this game being the first win for Coach Claeys...
"It felt good, really good. We've been working hard and to finally to come away with that win makes a lot to play for next week."
On Shannon Brooks' running this game...
"He ran the ball hard, very physical. He does a good job with that, that's for sure. There's really no great way to put it. He's an explosive back."
On Illinois' defense in the second half...
"I feel like they did a good job at half time speeding us up a little bit. Overall, sometimes the game is like that when you have to keep battling through tough times. Sometimes you're not going to be able to go down and score every time. The guys did a good job hanging in there and fighting back each possession."
On the offensive line (no sacks, running for 250 yards, playing through injuries)...
"They did a great job with that from what they're working with. Jon (Christenson) and Joe (Bjorklund) are playing through a lot. There are a lot of guys banged up. Just a lot of toughness going on down in the trenches. Give those guys a lot of credit for protecting me."
On the freshmen's performance...
"They were all over the place, Rashad (Still) making a touchdown catch and Shannon (Brooks) running like crazy. It's a good group, they've just gotta continue to stay focused and enjoy the process. You can't get too big-headed or anything like that when you have games like this. So you just have to stay humble and enjoy the process."
RB Shannon Brooks
On Coach Claeys first win…
"He's a great coach and we're glad he got the job. He does a great job with us. It's great to have him."
On freshmen's contribution to the game…
"We all work hard in practice. We definitely came up this summer, studying the playbook and getting in as many reps as we can. It showed it paid off today. You've always got to come in with a good mindset. Don't be negative, and stay positive. Work hard and learn as much as you can. And when your opportunity comes, take it."
DB KiAnte Hardin
On the impact players of the freshman class…
"The coaches had a good game plan this week for kickoff return. It was executed well. I'm just trying to do my part."
LB Julian Huff
On freshmen preparing to play rival Wisconsin next week…
"We're going to enjoy this win tonight, and go to work tomorrow. We've never played in the game. We hear there's a lot of history with this game and we're excited about it."
WR Rashad Still
On the mindset of true freshmen having to contribute right away…
"You have to mature faster than the other freshmen. And you have to really put in the work and effort. You have to contribute even more."
Bill Cubit, Illinois Interim Head Coach
"Defensively, there were a couple drives but I thought our special teams put the defense in some bad spots. Offensively, we had our chances and we moved the ball but we didn't get some big plays down there. It's disappointing, there's nothing else I can tell you except for I don't think it was the effort, but again special teams for the second week in a row was really discouraging. We just have to keep working."
On resilience and how their team responded to being under pressure...
"After the game there was a lot of upset people in there, but I told them we have one more shot and everything you put into this thing when facing so much adversity, this is just one more, just another on the long list. So do I think they'll come out ready to play? I hope so. We just have to fix things, especially with special teams, so we can be good enough to win Big Ten games."
On how it feels to be 5-6…
"Sitting right here it's not a good 5 and 6, but we're still one of the teams with a chance to play in a bowl game. So Monday it will feel better, but right now it's still discouraging. First half I thought our offense played pretty well and the second half we did good at containing them, but we gave up too many points in the first half."
On how big the Minnesota touchdown was at the end of the first half…
"That was huge. We got the pass interference call and then they got the touchdown. Even if you hold them to a field goal you're right there, but giving up the touchdown was big."
Illinois Players
QB Wes Lunt
On the talk in the locker room…
"We are very disappointed, obviously. We've got one more game to meet our end goal and we really wanted to get that done today, but obviously it didn't happen for us. They (Minnesota) are a good football team and we just gotta keep fighting. One more week."
LB Mason Monheim
On the difference between the first half and the second half in terms of defense…
"You have to fit things tight. We seemed like we fixed the problem, but you know, one play not executed the way you want and they run for like 80 yards or whatever. Pretty frustrating."
WR Malik Turner
On how badly the team wants to get to a bowl game…
"Real bad. We've talked a lot. It's just something we need to get to again. We really wanted to get this game, but I guess we are gonna have to get it next week."
