University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
10/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
POSTGAME QUOTES
Oct. 21, 2017
TCF Bank Stadium
Illinois at Minnesota
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota Head Coach
On winning after three straight losses…
"It's been close to a month now. Never take winning for granted. The result is really nice but I go back to how we got to that point. We have so much to get better at. We have so many kids to develop and keep getting better. We have so many kids that we have to continue to instill the belief in them. The big story to me is Jonathan Celestin's interception. There was some other greater power making that work. I am proud of him and all that he has been through. I think I speak for the entire team when I say that."
On having an upperclassman leader like Celestin impacting the games for the defense…
"That is what we need. On elite teams, players lead. We needed someone to step up and make a play. We have to give Illinois a lot of credit. They took advantage of a lot of things and threw a lot of things at us that we had not seen before. They were executing pretty well, especially on third down. We said at the beginning of the week that we needed everyone to step up. We needed this to be a complete team effort. We are going to have to have special people step up and make plays. We are not going to be able put together 14-play drives that go on and score touchdowns. We are going to have to step up and I thought it definitely had to come from the defensive side. We were stagnant on offense for a while. The first drive was great but after that we kept stubbing our toes. It was a complete team effort. We were not perfect in any of the three phases but we really played hard. That is all I can ask of these kids."
On Kobe McCrary's day…
"He is so big and so powerful. He is going to play a lot. He is earning himself playing time by the way he runs the football. He runs hard, he has good vison and good feet. He has done a tremendous job. We have called him. We have some guys banged up in the back field and it is nice to have your spare be that big."
On Demry Croft's day…
"It is his first start. I was told a long time ago that you cannot judge something from it being a first. We have to play our style of football. We cannot turn the ball over. We cannot throw interceptions. I thought at times he looked a little bit hurried and he was speeding up the game. We have to get him to slow down. When he slows down and focuses, he is a really good quarterback. You saw that last week. This is going to be one of those things all year when you have two new starters. You have to continue to build the game plan around things that they do well. That is what we will do. We have to keep getting better at the little things, day in and day out. That is what we are going to focus on, keep getting better. The story does not change just because you win a game. We have to keep getting better in a lot of different areas. The new pieces we keep adding to this, that is tough to master right away."
Jonathan Celestin, Minnesota LB
On what his pick-six meant to him…
"It meant a lot to be able to catch that ball and score for the team. For me, it was a great accomplishment. It was something I have been trying to do my whole career here. I dedicated that score to my father, so it meant a lot."
On playing through injury…
"It was a battle. Last week, it was more of a battle than it was this week. It's not easy playing through an injury like this because it effects how I fight off blockers and make tackles."
Kobe McCrary, Minnesota RB
On his mindset going into today's game knowing he would get more touches…
"My mindset was to make sure that the running backs didn't skip a beat. We lost Shannon (Brooks), and he is one of the best backs in the Big Ten, so I knew I had to step in and fill his role. We came in the game knowing we had to run the ball and dominate the line of scrimmage, so Coach got me prepared to run hard like I did."
On Coach Fleck saying McCrary earned more carries in future games…
"It's an honor, especially playing behind two great running backs with Shannon and Rodney (Smith). Watching them, I feel like I have learned a lot. It's again just a great honor to get to run with these guys."
Carter Coughlin, Minnesota LB
On how the Gophers prepared for this game during practices this week…
"We like to apply everything that Coach says. We want to prove to him that we truly do listen and we want to execute what he tells us to do."
On his personal success today and how his game has grown…
"My game has improved by just being able to use my speed. As I get more comfortable in my position that has been the biggest difference maker for me since we've started Big Ten play."
On Kobe McCrary getting more playing time and his success…
"It's awesome to see him have these opportunities throughout this season. It wasn't like that for him last year and he's getting a lot of opportunities and he is making the most of it."
Thomas Barber, Minnesota LB
On how has personally worked to get better each week…
"I'm glad we got the win and I've just been working on executing my plays and getting better every week. The game has been slowing down for me a little more and I'm getting more comfortable in the system and in my position and my role on the team."
On getting the first Big Ten win in front of a home crowd…
"It means a lot to us. We're excited and we're going to enjoy it for a little bit and then get back tomorrow and focus on next week so we can keep getting better."
On how the defense was able to contribute to the win today…
"Our focus this week was dominating the line of scrimmage and being able to stop the run game. We were able to do that this week more than in the past few games and that was the key to getting the win today."
Lovie Smith, Illinois Head Coach
"A loss is a loss. It's hard, especially right away, to think about good things that you did. I thought guys fought hard throughout. It didn't start the way we wanted, to let them go down and grab the ball on us, run the ball on us, and go up 7-0. But defensively, we settled down after that. Whenever you can take the ball away-I think we had three takeaways-it's a good thing. I thought the defense did some good things. But the way we started and the last drive, the way we finished, for them to go up seven at this point, and tackle as well as we had earlier, kind of pushed off the ball a little bit. Offensively, we were looking for ways to generate some offense while playing two quarterbacks-that was the plan coming in. Obviously, they're two different quarterbacks, so you have to prepare a little bit differently for both of them. We never really established the running game to go along with that. In the end, turnovers really hurt you, and that's the difference in the game, as much as anything. We had a couple injuries-Bennett Williams was able to come back, with his elbow. Ra'Von Bonner was not able to finish with a head injury."
On playing Cam Thomas…
"For the first action, freshman, first time playing, you had to like some of the things he did. He can move the ball. He threw a couple good passes early on, and a couple we'd like to have back later on. That's what you normally get the first time a quarterback plays."
On playing Jeff George, Jr…
"We're going to do what we think we need to do. Jeff's a team player. I thought both of the guys handled it well. We just need to get better play from the quarterback position overall."
On playing two quarterbacks…
"By playing two, we felt like we needed more at the quarterback position. We felt we needed both guys to give us something. In the end, if we're in a passing game, we thought Jeff [George, Jr.] would give us a better option. But just normal down distance, we wanted to give Cam [Thomas] some reps and see what he could do."
On the freshmen in the lineup…
"I think every game the young guys have played has been a learning experience for them. It's Game 7 now, which is a bad thing. But all the young players are playing, and when there's a new situation popping up each week, it has to help in the long run. But right now, we put you on the football field, we feel that's our best option to win. We need better play at all positions."
Cam Thomas, Illinois QB
On when he found out he was going to play…
"I found out I was going to play earlier this week. Coach (Garrick) McGhee and coach Lovie Smith came up to me and told me to come into this week to prepare like I was going to be a starter, and throughout the week I got good quality reps with the first string against the first defense. That's how I knew."
On what it was like to get into the game…
"It felt good. It felt good to finally play on a college football field and it wasn't as bad as I thought. It's still all football. It's still the same sport as it was growing up."
Cam Watkins, Illinois DB
On forcing turnovers…
"Of course we always want to take it away. We always want the ball back to our offense. I think we did a pretty good job I think we ended up with three takeaways today."
On if he was paying attention to the quarterback situation…
"I just think whoever is out there is giving us the best chance to win. Cam did a god job today. Jeff did a good job today, too. We just have to make those key plays so we can win games."
Jeff George Jr, Illinois QB
On struggling today…
"They're a great defense. They were flying around and they had a lot of energy. As on offense we just have to do what we're supposed to do every play. We had a couple of miscues and things we really need to clean up in order to move the ball and score."
On when coach told him backup Cam Thomas would be worked into the game…
"We knew about it all week. He's been getting reps, I've been getting reps and we knew that was the game plan going in and we thought that it was going to give us the best opportunity to get a victory."
On the challenges of splitting snaps at QB…
"It's different, but whatever the coaching staff wants us to do, they feel like they're putting us in the best position to be successful, so I trust that 100 percent."
Stanley Green, Illinois DB
On Illinois getting a couple turnovers today…
"My motto is three-plus takeaways every game, that's our goal to accomplish that today. But we didn't get the win so we still have things to work on."
On holding Minnesota out of the end zone at first-and-goal on the 1-yard line…
"We had to stop them. We needed the stop. The key was to play hard and don't give up."
On how the defense needed to improve today…
"I'm not sure what happened. We still need to watch the film to see that. My job was just to make the play when the play comes to me. Make the tackle, break the frontline, we got our takeaway. We didn't get the win today, so there's nothing good we can take away from this.
Blake Hayes, Illinois P
On how he has been settling in so far in his first season…
"I've found that I'm settling in pretty well so far. In terms of football, all the boys have really helped me settle in and find my feet. In terms of school, I love the school side of it. That part's been pretty easy."
On the biggest thing he has improved on while learning his position...
"I think over the past few weeks I've started to get a better feel for the rush. I'm starting to identify what the front looks like and that goes back to working through the week watching past games. The first few weeks I wasn't really taking note to that and I was just trying to catch the ball and kick it."
