Indiana vs. Wisconsin quotes
9/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 30, 2006
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Indiana vs. Wisconsin
Indiana Head Coach Terry Hoeppner
Opening statement:
"I'm in shock. After the week of practice we had, I didn't see this coming at all. But the reality is, give all the credit to Wisconsin. They outcoached us and outplayed us in every aspect of the game. The only solace I can draw right now, and I just talked to the team, the challenge at halftime was, `See what we're made of. I'm not going to quit, are you?' And they didn't. The reality is we played a good football team that played very well today, who executed very well in every aspect, I thought. I bet (Wisconsin quarterback John) Stocco wishes he played us every week. John Stocco, wow. However many yards they had passing, 330 yards passing or something like that, that's got to get fixed, and it starts right here. It starts with me. We didn't quit. I challenged them not to. It happens to you sometimes. You're not always going to get what you want. We need to learn - not just observe, but learn - some lessons and get a whole lot better, because we've got some things that have got to get fixed. I know we're young, and I know we've got guys playing their first Big Ten game, but this is unacceptable, and we're going to start getting it fixed, starting tomorrow. We're on the road, it's the Big Ten, the deep water with the big fish, but we need to start playing better, start coaching better. It starts with the coaching staff and the players have got to start playing better. This becomes a gut check. It's a gut check week. I can't think of a better word to describe how I feel right now than shock. I cannot believe that we played like this today. But it's not a judged competition. The Badgers had a lot to do with it. Hats off to them. They're a good football team that played very well."
On the first drive, and the improved running game:
"A lot of times, momentum hangs in the balance and you can gain momentum and gain some positive feelings. You come out and you move the football, you cross the 50 and then we get three penalties called on us. We get an offensive pass interference penalty. We get a holding penalty on a long run and so we end up not converting on that drive. What if we go knock that one in? Who knows? Who knows what kind of confidence that gives us, who knows what kind of momentum that gives us? It didn't happen. How do you respond after that? The fact that they were able to throw the football like they did was the most disturbing thing. I can't handle it. That's got to get fixed. I know we're a work in progress, but this was unacceptable today."
On whether he reflected on where has been and on being back on the sidelines:
"No, not really. Obviously it's been a week where I wanted the transition for the team to be smooth. I told the team last night, and I told them again, I felt so confident going into this game. I wasn't surprised when we came out moving the football. That was exactly what I thought. I challenged them at halftime, `We need to win this second half.' And the last thing I told them going onto the field, `Overtime. Get ready to go to overtime. We're going to kick the point and go overtime.' And it didn't happen. Once the game got going, except for not playing very well and them playing well, it was a football game."
On whether it was a scheme issue or a talent issue:
"My job and our coaches' job is to make sure that we do a good job, and I thought we would be so much better at it this year, and that's why I was optimistic and felt like we really had a handle on things, that we were going to put our players in position to make plays. We knew them so much better this year. But I think that's an ongoing process. We need to continue to examine and re-examine what it is we're asking our players on both sides of the ball to do. We want to make sure that we're not confusing them, not asking them to do things that they're not equipped or experienced enough to do. So that's the challenge and the fun of coaching is getting your players in position to make plays and then letting them make the plays."
On the decision to have Kellen Lewis play the whole game:
"It was discussed last week, and I was involved in the decision, obviously. And we decided that based on practice performance, based on the game plan, that we thought that was our best chance to win the football game, to go with a quarterback. We told the quarterbacks. I met with them, we talked about it and made a decision. We didn't win the game, and hindsight is 20/20. I wouldn't say we didn't win the game because of Kellen, we just didn't put together a consistent offense. You can't turn the ball over. That was a decision we made, and we'll evaluate it as we go into this week."
Indiana Player Quotes
Junior fullback Josiah Sears
On the offense's performance against the Wisconsin defense:
"The mistakes we made were our own mistakes. They did the things we thought they were going to do as we prepared this week. It's more of our mistakes than them trying to stop us. They did a great job in stopping us, but we made too many mistakes."
On the team's confidence:
"We will find out as the week goes on. We will start tomorrow, and we have to come back and get ready for Illinois. We can't let it do anything to us, but build on it. We did play a halfway decent fourth quarter, and that is something to build on as we go into Illinois next week. It's tough to play on the road. We just have to play hard and get a win against the Illini."
Sophomore running back Marcus Thigpen
On the team's reaction to how the game went:
"It was shocking. We were very confident coming in. We had a good week of practice coming into today. And when you see that outcome, it just wasn't what we expected. We had a lot of hope for this game. We came out and had a good first drive, and after that is just started going downhill, like we lost focus."
Senior defensive back Troy Grosfield
On Wisconsin's offense:
"It was everything we expected. The coaches got us prepared well to play this game. It was all stuff we had seen all week long against the scout team. So they really didn't throw anything at us we didn't expect."
On the mood of the team:
"It was tough going into halftime being down 35 points. We came out in the second half thinking, "If they can score 35, we can score 35." We have to keep everybody working hard, and move on to next week."
Freshman quarterback Kellen Lewis
On his performance today:
"I can't really grade myself from one to 10, but it wasn't good enough. The offense only put 10 points up today. We have to get better offensively."
On the mood of the team:
"Anytime you get beat like this, you are always going to be shocked, especially when we got down that much in the first half. We have to play better, and in the second half, it was just too late."
On the disappointing play with Coach Hoeppner returning:
"There is disappointment, not only because we lost a football game, but also because it was his first game coming back. You always want to go out there and play your hardest for your coach. We didn't get the job done today, we have to come out next week, play Illinois, and forget about this one."
Wisconsin Head Coach Bret Bielema Quotes
Opening Statement:
"After last week's game we wanted to get across to our team that how they prepare during the week would determine our success on Saturday. I liked the way they approached the game, how they practiced during the week, even the way we traveled. This morning we woke up and we knew that it was going to be one of those days with overcast. It started out with a little sunshine, and I wanted our guys to go out and enjoy the day. They played football, they put a lot of time into their preparation, and I wanted them to come out and have fun today. I wanted them to set a tone; that we controlled this game. Progression was key. I really liked their attitude, and that's why we got off to a fast start."
On the game:
"I think our team needed a game like this, our defense has been playing well, but I have always said all along that it takes just one play for someone's light bulb to come on. Once you make a big play it becomes contagious, and I think I saw that today in some of our guys."
On the team's passing game:
"There has always been a huge emphasis. To get better, it takes time, it takes practice, it takes effort, and it takes coaching. It takes players to execute the plan and today John (Stocco) was on. The receivers were catching the football, I don't remember seeing too many drops out there, which greatly affects your success ratio."
On the team's confidence:
"We ran a play today that went for a touchdown that we had practiced on Thursday. During practice, John Stocco threw his hands up in the air which showed that he had great confidence in that pass."
On the running game:
"P.J. Hill is only five games into his career, and he keeps moving in the right direction. I like the tandem. We didn't get Lance Smith in the game last week, so we made it an effort to get him in the game early on. I can't say enough about all three of our guys, the way they go out there and work together is great."
