Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Ready For Illini
11/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana and Illinois will meet for the 62nd time this Saturday, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m. EST/1 p.m. CST at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The Hoosiers are coming off a 30-21 win over then-No. 24 Minnesota, while the Illini dropped a 23-13 decision at home to then-No. 23 Iowa. The game can be heard live on the statewide IU Radio Network with Don Fischer (play-by-play), Dan Thompson (color commentary) and Joe Smith (pregame, halftime and postgame).
Senior strong safety Herana-Daze Jones, senior offensive lineman Chris Jahnke and senior wide receiver Courtney Roby discuss the team's confidence after the win at Minnesota, the focus for the remainder of the season and the upcoming game at Illinois.
On the team's confidence:
HJ: "It's great after a win, but our team goes into every game with the same confidence. We feel like we can match-up with every team each week. We just need to go out and execute."
CJ: "We are looking forward to the next game at Illinois and getting back onto the field to compete. A win always helps momentum. When a team gets momentum under their belts, they start to perform better. People start to make better plays and it seems to all come together."
On the team's improved tackling last weekend against Minnesota:
HJ: "We were in position to make tackles and we did. We had better pursuit against Minnesota compared to against Ohio State. Everybody was going to the ball. We have had good pursuit at all the games this year, but at Ohio State we just didn't play at the speed we needed to. We got back to that against Minnesota."
On the end of the Minnesota game:
CJ: "It was great to see that we started to move the ball again with the run, especially with that last drive against Minnesota. We put a complete game together and came out on top."
On the team's focus:
HJ: "We have to focus on one game at a time. We can't think about future games. We can't get lost in the future. We focus on our next opponent and that is it."
CJ: "Right now it's all a matter of pride and how bad we want to go out there and win each game. We just need to continue to stick together and play hard."
CR: "Every team in the Big Ten Conference can win any game, on any weekend. We need to take every game seriously. Illinois' record is deceiving. They are a good football team. So we have to go into every game with the same level of confidence and intensity. We can't look down the road. We have to play one game at a time and stay focused."
On the play of the offense:
CJ: "Everyone is out on the field doing their job. We are getting big plays out of all our wide receivers. They are all competing hard: David Lewis, [Courtney] Roby, [Travis] Haney. We are getting good play from all the running backs: BenJarvus [Green-Ellis]. Yamar [Washington] and CT [Chris Taylor]. Matt [LoVecchio] has been playing well and the O-line is really coming together. Don't forget, the defense has been playing well also."
On this week's preparation:
HJ: "We will continue to work hard at practice and keep doing what we have been to get ready for each game. We know that we have a big challenge ahead this weekend."
