Opening statement:
“First and foremost, the game that we play is a very physical game. The part I think I share as a head coach on my sideline and all the respect that I have for that opposite sideline, I really just hope and pray that all the players that we saw get injured are going to be OK moving forward.
“I just want to thank my wife for giving me a surprise visit. I didn’t know she was going to be there today, to have her with the girls after. My oldest, all she wanted to know if we could go swimming tonight. She didn’t really care about 20 years of a drought here. I’d like to thank Josh Whitman. He gave me a game ball in there, but really the opportunity that he gave to me to come back here and every week to be in this position, I can’t say thank you enough.
“There’s a lot of logistics that went into making today happen. Everybody just thinks we’re worried about this game this week. We have a 12-slate schedule. We’re 4-1, and where this team is, I told them last night in a team meeting at the end, I had a feeling that we were going to play well, and if we played our kind of football and played the way that I’ve seen them play and the way that we asked him to be coached, I thought we could have success. I can’t wait to get on that plane, get back home, go swim with my daughter tonight, and then start to process tomorrow and our opportunity to play against Iowa. I think these kids really feel that, and it’s an exciting thing to be around.
“I thought our offense and Barry Lunney had a plan. We knew they’re a good team. I told our guys we always talk about maximizing our opportunities, but I was very cognizant and aware that they’re a good football team, and when their opportunities come, we got to survive them. I know they were going to have a play here or there on offense and defense, and we need to survive those moments. I thought they did that, especially offensively. We just kept chipping away. Literally, at the halftime break, I said, ‘Hey, keep doing what we’re doing. I know one’s going to pop,’ and then low and behold, obviously Chase delivered that opportunity there.
“We went over last night in the team meeting, the last five games that Wisconsin had lost here in Camp Randall, the turnover ratio was 12 turnovers to three for their opponent. I told the guys, ‘Hey, there’s a lot of way to get to four. Two plus two is four, three plus one is four, six minus two is four.’ The math is immaterial, but the math is the math. If we can hold on to the ball and take it away, we’d have a chance to win the game, and I think that was a big part of today’s success.”
On the team’s progress over the last year:
“On the program’s progress from one year ago: There’s a lot of guys in this team that were with us from day one. I do football 101 a lot. It may be five minutes, might be 15 minutes. One of the first football 101 graphics I showed them was when I arrived here, the last five Big Ten West titles were Northwestern and Wisconsin. Wisconsin had won three and Northwestern won two. Obviously, Iowa did last year, but when I got here, that was the graphic I showed him, and I said, ‘If you want to get to where you want to be, we’re going to have to take care of these teams. At the end of last year, we played Northwestern. We have them back up on our schedule, and then I put that graphic — that same exact graphic with the same font and everything — in front of them on Wednesday and expressed to them, ‘This is part of where we wanted to be.’ I’m very excited for the diligence they put into it. I couldn’t be prouder of my coaches and our players. A lot went into today beyond the preparation of this week, and I’m excited to see that.”
On the emphasis the Illinois defense put on stopping the Wisconsin run game:
“I think one of the things I took during my early coaching years, and then as a coordinator, and even my first couple years as a head coach, there are certain players on your team that can beat you when you’re watching an opponent. I knew that their running back and really the run game in general, the way it did last year, it was won that game. I knew if we wanted to have a chance, we couldn’t let him run the football on us like we did a year ago. Ryan Walters, from last year at the end of the season to where we are today, I would bet you there hasn’t been a day gone by where he hasn’t watched that film from a year ago and put a lot of changes and a lot of nuances into where he is today. That was a big one, but also we knew we needed to run the ball, and even though it wasn’t going as well as we wanted in the beginning, we just kept pushing the rock and then eventually it broke through.”
On Tommy DeVito:
“Tommy just continues to impress me, just his diligence, his work ethic. He’s got a very live arm. He’s very accurate, very conscientious. Him and Barry have a great rapport. I was telling the story on radio. I think it was Wednesday, I think the Big Ten Network or somebody put out a graphic that had six Big Ten quarterbacks, and it said, ‘Who’s the best quarterback in the Big Ten?’ I captured it,, and I sent it to his dad, Tommy Sr., and Tommy Jr. I said, ‘I want to vote, but my guy is not on this picture frame here. What do I do?’ First, Tommy Sr. sent back, ‘Coach, we don’t care about any of that. We’re just trying to beat Wisconsin. Good luck on your road trip. I’ll see you there.’ So apparently, he’s here in the stands, and then Tommy just liked his dad’s comment. I think that’s just what he is. I think we gave him a rebirth on life and football. I don’t know how much he enjoyed the last couple of years there, but he has a lot of fun in our room. We have a lot of fun with him, and I think it also probably gives light to quarterbacks in our system, even the ones that we got and our future ones, of how well this offense can play to a quarterback and let him do what he does.”
On the team’s confidence:
“One of our team goals this year, was to prepare and expect to win. It was just a little subtle comment, but we constantly preached that. The third thing on our door walking in is to be here. It’s really easy there at practice. I know whether they’re there or not there. If they’re not there, they’re gonna be in trouble, but sometimes you can be present, but not be there. I tell our guys all the time, ‘Let’s go over practice, but let’s be in the moment. Let’s expect to have success.’ It’s just a bunch of these little chips in the wall that have led to where we are, but I will tell you this: Nothing builds confidence more than success.
“We have an opportunity this week to play against Iowa, which is another rematch game and a very physical football team that’s going to come into our place. I would say right now, anything and everything that anybody can do to make Memorial Stadium next Saturday be as loud as you can at 6:30. It’s a perfect kickoff time. You can come and tailgate and experience Champaign with all of your friends. Bring a couple of friends with you and let them bring a couple of friends, and let’s make Memorial Stadium what it should be.”
On winning in Madison for the first time in 20 years:
“It’s a big deal. I told our locker room, ‘To do something that’s never been done in 20 years, that’s not common. You don’t get those opportunities.’ To have that moment was very special. I just kept going and putting things in front of our team about game five, rematch number two. On Tuesday morning, I broke it out with, ‘Hey, you get a chance to do something. There’s been a lot of really good football players come through Illinois football over the last 20 years that haven’t been able to do this. For that reason, it was a big deal.”
On capitalizing on turnovers:
“It’s one thing to get turnovers but get points off them. We talk all the time about complementary football. I promise you, I’m gonna go into my phone, and I’m gonna have a bunch of messages from last year’s seniors that aren’t with us, that are around the league, or out there in their real lives now doing what they’re doing. I think a year ago, we talked about complementary football, and it sounded cool and they could regurgitate it, but now our guys know what it means.”
On the team’s confidence moving forward:
“Wisconsin is known traditionally to run the ball, and for us to stop that is a big statement to what we’re capable of down the road.”
On stopping the run:
“It feels great. I know that’s a large part of what they do, how they run everything. For us to limit them as much as we did and not allow them to get things going, I think that that was reflected in the score.”
On the importance of the win:
“It’s just us being able to come out here and win. it hadn’t been done in 20 years. Illinois hasn’t beat Wisconsin at Camp Randall in 20 years, so it’s a statement for us to continue to build on that.”
On the team’s confidence:
“It’s been there the entire time. We trust the play calls, we’re following the scheme, and we’re getting better. The fact we were able to do it here for the first time in 20 years feels really good.”
“It doesn’t feel like an upset. We came in here expecting to win. At the end of the day, we got the job done. …We’re a good football team at the end of the day and people shouldn’t be doubting us.”
On his touchdown run:
“I knew something big was going to happen at some point. We were going for three, four, sometimes negative (yards), but when we came on second half, I think it was like an 8-yard run. I could just feel things change.
“Put it through the back of the end zone. That’s all I was thinking. Put it through the back of the end zone. … We’re trying to win the game. I could hear Coach B’s voice in my head to put it through the back. It felt good.”
On his chemistry with the wide receivers:
“It was good. First drive, we took a shot with Brian (Hightower). That was good. After that, there were a lot of (pass interference calls). They were not trying to let us take any shots downfield.”
Quan Martin
On the statement the team made with the win:
“Big statement game, and our first win against a Big Ten West opponent, so just going in next week, preparing the right way, and getting ready for the next one.”
On the team’s momentum:
“That’s huge. Coach B talked a lot about winning back-to-back games, and just going into games with that confidence that we are ready. We know we prepared the right way, and we came out here and played our butts off.”
Keith Randolph
On the team’s mindset:
“Coach has this saying: ‘Illinois versus everybody.’ That’s where our head’s at. We won a Big Ten road game, which is hard to do, but that’s just Illini football.”
