Indiana University Athletics
Head Coach Terry Hoeppner's Weekly Press Conference
10/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 10, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. Head Coach Terry Hoeppner met with the media on Oct. 10 for his weekly press conference in preparation for Iowa. He was joined by freshman wide receiver Nick Polk and junior kicker Austin Starr.
Opening statement
"The sun shines a little brighter and the water tastes better after you win. Obviously, in retrospect, I felt good about it after the game. Hopefully a win that we build on in that we gain confidence from it and use it as a springboard. That would be the script I would write for us."
Talk about how the team is feeling after the win:
"One of the first things I do is check with Coach (Mark) Wateska and find out how we lifted. How things are going in the weight room is a good test of how things are going. He said how the team was lifting with an extra smile on their face today. It's human that you feel good about something like that, and it's a confirmation of the hard work, and the fact that we haven't deviated from the plan and that we haven't panicked. I think also the fact that I challenged them that the thing we can control is your attitude, and that will be reflected in how we practice and ultimately how we play. I gave them a challenge to trust yourself, trust your teammates, trust your coaches. The third word I probably used last week was together. We're going to win this game together. It took everybody. We made a big deal on Sunday about the scout teams. What a great job they did simulating Illinois' offense and defense. They truly did have an excellent week."
Do you think teams will stop kicking to Marcus Thigpen?
"We've asked ourselves that question, and I was actually asked that on the Big Ten conference call. I've been there before, we played Randy Moss at Marshall, and people were not kicking to him. One of the fun things about coaching is that you don't want to get too cute with it, because we've got 10 guys plus the kicker, and they do the same thing. It's part of the challenge of the game. It's something we've talked about. Are they going to keep kicking to us? We've been relatively consistent with it. Coach Gerald Brown does as good a job at kickoff returns as any coach that I've ever been around. We practice it. It's no accident that those things have happened. Special teams are very revealing as to the talent of your players."
On the game-winning kick:
"We practice kicking from different areas of the field in practice. I thought they were going to try to ice him. I figured they'd use a timeout, I was glad they didn't do that. My words of wisdom facing Austin, hoping he was able to jog out to do it. And I said `knock it through, dude.' He smiled, and knocked it through. We practiced being in a hurry up situation it's called mayday. Fortunately, we got in field goal range and were able to spike it. It's mayday alert, but the kicker has time to do what he has to do, then kick it."
On getting the win on the road:
"A lot is made of that. Because we haven't played very well at home the last couple of weeks, hopefully that changes. I'd never been to Champaign before, one of two Big Ten stadiums I've never been to. The surface is exactly the same as our surface. Their student section was really into the game and really a factor in the game. I've issued a challenge to the Crimson Crew, that we need that. That's an advantage. They provided a home field advantage for them, and we overcame that. Considering everything, I think that adds an element of satisfaction to this win. Then to dig a hole like we dug in the first quarter."
On the coming game against Iowa:
"You can go back as far as 1987 in my admiration of Iowa. I visited Iowa during spring practice. I have always looked at them, because Iowa was not always what it is now. Iowa doesn't rebuild, they reload through recruiting and development of their young players. They're a Big Ten contender year in and year out. That's where we want to be."
Freshman wide receiver Nick Polk
On Iowa:
"Iowa's defense, they play mainly a cover nine. They're very confident in what they play. Getting in and watching tape, there are some different things we can do to break it down, but they're just going to play the defense that they've played against everyone else, they're not going to do anything different."
On the team's confidence after the win:
"The win was really big for us. It was a matter of going 2-4 or 3-3, and we talked about that before the game. It was really big and built a lot of confidence, especially coming home and playing a tough schedule. It will help us out with our next game, as well as games down the road.
"The last drive, it was really fun and everything was really quick. You're lining up, and lining up really fast. People making plays is great. It was really fun."
Junior kicker Austin Starr
On the celebration after making the kick:
"I haven't seen it all yet, but I did catch a clip on the internet. It's weird to watch myself. I actually saw who tackled me, Michael Hines and Tyson Beattie, and I think James Bailey assisted in the throw down. Looking back on it, if I had run away from them, that would have been much worse. What happened should have happened, celebration wise. I'm just fortunate that I didn't get injured.
"I didn't know the pile was that big. All I know is that once I got down to the ground, I saw light, then all of a sudden it got completely dark. After a few seconds I just started seeing daylight again. They shared the same opinion I had of being at the bottom of the pile."
Are you surprised they didn't try to ice the kicker:
"Everyone has been saying `didn't you hear the crowd?' But to be honest, we do this so much. We talked about the mayday, we talked about being downfield and making the drive and kicking the field goal at the end. I wasn't thinking about anything. I couldn't hear anybody, I was definitely in what people call `the zone.' One of the last things I remember is Tyson coming up to me and saying `take a deep breath, just do what you do.'"
