University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
9/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Sept. 16, 2017
TCF Bank Stadium
Middle Tennessee at Minnesota
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota Head Coach
"Today showed the resolve of our football team. We had Shannon [Brooks] banged up so we held him out to make sure he is ready for conference play. Rodney [Smith] goes down and we have Kobe McCrary, you talk about a pair and a spare. That wasn't a spare. That was a monster truck tire. I am really proud of him for taking advantage of his opportunity offensively. I thought we finally got into a rhythm running the ball. The first couple of drives after the first drive, we stubbed our toe and beat ourselves with a couple of undisciplined penalties which is my fault. The defense inspired me with the way they played. We talk about the 'how'. The way we play should inspire everybody. As a head football coach I was inspired by the way they played. Next week, that is not going to be good enough, but good enough today. You talk about a guy like [Jacob] Huff who had a pick six. He has done that at practices. You watch him in training camp do it. Nobody is more valuable than our punter Ryan Santoso. He flips the field all the time. It was just one of those games where you have to find a rhythm because they were doing a lot of things defensively and you had to get into our groove."
On Jacob Huff emerging under Fleck's staff…
"The one thing I will say about Huff is he is one of the hardest workers we have. He is one of the best people we have. It goes back to better people will eventually become better players. He is not the most athletic and he is not the fastest. All Huff does is make plays. If you go back to the reality show and you watch training camp week one, all he does is make plays. But he also does all the right things off the field. I am very proud of him and proud of his family."
On the running backs' relationship with each other…
"The biggest thing is we talk about serving and giving. It is not about you. It is hard to take over and say whatever it is, it is not about you anymore. It is about giving it up for the guy next to you in all four areas of your life. If you look at our running back room, it does not mean they do not have egos, they all have egos and they are all really big. Which is good. You want those guys to have that. They do not care who gets the credit. Shannon is first one waving a towel. Rodney goes down and he is helping this football team. Then you hit Femi-Cole. You have to give credit to Kenni Burns and how he runs his room. You see just how much they really love each other. On this football team, you do not have to like each other but you do have to love each other. You must sacrifice, the running back room is a prime example of that."
On Rodney Smith's injury…
"It is too close to call. It just happened. I have not talked to our doctors but we have some of the most elite doctors in the country. Our trainers are two of the best in America. The biggest thing we talk about is the safety of our players. We will make sure Rodney is right before we put him back on that field."
On the success in all three phases of the game…
"We are not deep in a lot of areas. We have players but we are not deep in all the areas. We have to fix that with recruiting in terms of depth. One thing I will say is the guys that take the field on special teams is that they play for something. Coach [Rob] Wenger, when you sit in those meeting, those players play for not only each other, but for that guy. He is one of the most inspirational coaches, one of the most high-energy guys. They play for him and you see it in every facet of the game."
On the bye week schedule…
"Well I'll make that schedule here in the next 20 to 25 minutes. It depends on the way we played. It was not the win or loss it was how we played. I'll head out recruiting Monday night. We have to get the future Gophers and continue to build this into a championship culture. With the players, we will probably practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Our players have to continue to do all the right things and be smart and continue to earn things throughout the year."
Conor Rhoda, Minnesota QB
On his overall assessment of today's game…
"On the first drive, we came right out of the gates, ran it down their throat, but had to settle for three. From there, we stalled for a couple of drives, but we really got it going after halftime. We weren't pleased with the couple of penalties we had, offense stalled a few times, but after halftime we came out a lot better."
On what the pick-six by Jacob Huff did for the team's mindset…
"It definitely gave us a spark. We could be up by 20, we could be down by 20. When you get 37 points like that, it's a huge lift. Jacob is a great player and he made a really great play."
Kobe McCrary, Minnesota RB
On how much he enjoyed the opportunity to play with two other great backs on the team…
"All of the running backs are prepared. It's always the next one up. Rodney, Shannon, all of us are good enough to play if somebody goes down."
On the successful rushing attack against Middle Tennessee…
"We realized we were wearing them down on the first drive. Rodney had a great run on the first play, so we knew we were going to be able to run the ball. We came into the game and wanted to run the ball and that's what we did."
On the relationship of the running back group on the team…
"We all know we are capable to play, so during the game, the guys on the sidelines are looking to push and motivate the guy out there. We lean on each other. We all have a relationship. We are all very close. We laugh together and if one of us is down, we pick each other up."
Jacob Huff, Minnesota DB
On what happened during his pick-six...
"It was really a good call by Coach, and it was something that we game-planned for... It was really a team play."
On the last time he had scored a touchdown...
"When I played offense in high school, I played a little bit of running back my senior year so I had a few touchdowns here and there."
On his opinion of the Gophers' alternate gold helmets...
"I like the helmets. Ever since I've been here we've never worn all gold so I thought it was pretty sweet."
Thomas Barber, Minnesota LB
On how the defense has played...
"There's still stuff to improve on, but right now I think the defense played well."
On his interception...
"Mine was just getting to the ball. I didn't make an excellent play on the ball. It was just up in the air and I just happened to be there to catch it."
Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee Head Coach
"They've got a good football team. They did a nice job today and deserved to win that football game. They deserved to win with the way they played today. But I told out team afterwards we're disappointed. I'm disappointed. We're all disappointed, but I'm not the least bit discouraged. It's been a heck of a gauntlet for this team, this first three games. We've battled. We've competed. And I just think moving forward we've got a chance to be a good football team. It's not going to happen just by saying that. It's going to happen by the work and the effort that we put in and getting better at the little things."
On QB John Urzua's play...
"He was solid. Did some good things, did some not so good things."
On injuries limiting Middle Tennessee's abilities...
"You take your two best players out of this game and that handcuffs you tremendously. You don't have your quarterback, your receiver, that's tough.
On Minnesota's defense stopping MT before scoring...
"Minnesota didn't really do anything [...] on any of those drives that was any different. We made some plays and then got down there, we either missed a guy, or we had a couple chances to make a couple chances and we didn't."
On the defense's performance...
"I thought our defense played really well, they gave us a chance to stay in that game."
"I'm really excited about our defense."
On results of a tough non-conference schedule...
"There's a complete different mentality over there. They're playing faster. They're playing harder. We're doing a lot of things fundamentally that are a lot better."
John Urzua, Middle Tennessee QB
On when he knew he would start….
"As soon as Brent [Stockstill] went down in Syracuse I had a feeling about it and they told me the next day, so I was prepared. I was prepared early."
On how they adjusted the game plan when Richie James went out…
"We didn't try to change it too much. He's a great player for us. We like to give him the ball a lot so it's hard to not have one of our playmakers in there. We tried to spread the ball around best we could. Not a lot worked for us but we didn't try to change it too much."
On making big plays but not getting in the end zone in the first half….
"It's tough when you can move the ball a little bit but stall out and not score points. That's what we've got to work on this week. We've got to finish drives. I think that's going to be our main focus, finishing. We've just got to get the ball in the end zone and score."
On having a chance to tackle…
"I'm not the biggest guy so I try to get in there and take out the blockers knees, see if I can just trip someone out and make something happen but it's not an easy position to be in."
On the rhythm of the third quarter before the interception…
"My main thing this was playing with confidence and I think I did pretty well. I think I felt a lot more comfortable than I have before, especially last season and up until then you know, when we have things going well for us. I felt good back there, I felt comfortable, offensive line was playing well. When that happen there's just… one of the situations… you have to let it go and bounce back."
Javonte Moffatt, Middle Tennessee S
On the opportunity lost in the highly anticipated power conference game for MTSU…
"I think it was a good game for us, and for the future. They are a good team, and I feel like they just played better tonight but we can take some things from it and learn."
On MTSU's efforts in the first half…
"I think defensively we played really good as far as stopping the run and keeping the passing under control, but it was just a couple plays that got out of hand and separated the game for us."
On what the team can learn from starting a season off with three power-five conference teams…
"It was a big benefit as far as seeing a lot bigger bodies, different kind of styles such as running and passing and it should help us in the conference this week (against Bowling Green) and continuing on throughout the season."
Richie James, Middle Tennessee WR
On the final outcome of the game…
"They are a good team. Coach P.J. Fleck has done a really good job with his players and we have to tip our hats off to them. This was an opportunity lost. We got a lot of guys that went down and we had key players that needed to play that didn't play so at this point you just have to let it go. They played really well. Our defense played really well too. We've got a really good team."
Brent Stockstill, Middle Tennessee QB
Injury update...
"I wasn't really optimistic about playing this week. I am not really afraid to say it. I have a cracked sternum and I separated my collarbone from my sternum so it says day-by-day so whenever I can get back and get ready for the game I get excited about it. I was pretty upset about it, but that is part of the game and part of playing the position. It's not too bad I am just optimistic that they said it is day-by-day. Whenever they tell me I can get back as fast as I can, that is the best thing I could ever hear so I am going to do my best to get out there next week and hopefully get out to practice here soon."
