Sept. 17, 2011
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Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Northern Illinois
Sept. 17, 2011
Soldier Field – Chicago, Ill.
Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema
Opening statement...
“The one thing I wanted to see today is our guys play in the fourth quarter. We haven’t gotten a fourth quarter to work for us this year, that’s the reason I brought those guys back out to start the fourth quarter. For them to come out and play the way they did in the second half was great. The score was 28-7 and we had the game in hand but the defense responded great after the missed field goal and our defense was opportunistic on third down. I tell you, Russell Wilson was looking like the guy. He knows the plan that we have and he is going to stick to it, but he will adapt and he is very creative. If there is a better guy out there, I would like to see him because he is an exceptional football player.”
On if the onside kick was surprising...
“Yes it did. I know that Dave has that in his bag, he likes those pop kicks. Our guys were on it but the ball kept bouncing around like a hot potato, even had some guys run into each other. Then Jacob Pederson came out with it from the bottom of the pile”
On if the onside kick was the turning point …
“You can’t just point to one point in the game. That was a big momentum play because we recovered, scored a touchdown and got the score back to where we wanted it.”
On Russell Wilson’s running ability …
“That is one of thing as a defensive coordinator, if you bring all that pressure, all he has to do is make one guy miss and then he is running for a while. That is exactly what happened on that one play. I told Russell that they might come back to that if we go to a no back look. He is so far ahead in the game, to have a play covered and have him make the play he did.”
On if Russell Wilson is better that he expected …
“I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never been around him. Everyone saw his first snap just like I did. I have only been with him for three games and nothing changed for him. Day-to-day his preparation is detailed, it is just all the same.”
On the flexibility of the offense with running backs catching the ball from the backfield …
“I think it is, coming in to the season I knew (Montee) Ball and (James) White could catch. They have nice soft hands and are talented. They bring an option to our game that we have never really had before. But I am really excited about Jeffrey Lewis and Melvin Gordon, everyone is talking about Ball and White, but I think Lewis and Gordon are going to be really good.”
Senior WR Nick Toon
On the play of Russell Wilson…
“Russell played great today. That’s one of the assets of his game, he’ll throw to the open guy and spread the wealth. He did that today and was smart with the ball.”
One gameplan of using the pass to set up the run…
“We obviously want to go with what’s having success. We were having some success through the air and we also had success on the ground, but when you can mix it up, it keeps the other team guessing.”
Senior QB Russell Wilson
On this team’s potential…
“The sky is the limit in terms of our ability to keep getting better. If we do that, we have a lot of potential. But potential is not anything until we keep doing it every single day. That consistency is what’s very important for us.”
On spreading the ball around…
“We have a lot of guys that can make a lot of great plays. My job is to get the ball to the right guy at the right time and make plays when we need to. The offensive line is doing a tremendous job too, they really are.”
Sophomore TE Jacob Pedersen
On the onside kick recovery…
“In practice we’re always preaching take it off the tee. I could kind of tell that the kicker might have had a different approach to it. I thought sky kick at first, so I kind of went back, but then when he did the onside, I kind of rallied. I was thinking to protect Conor (O’Neill) and hit the first guy I saw. After I hit him, I just kind of peeled back. I saw the ball bouncing around, ran in and got a lucky bounce. It hit an NIU defender and it came into my arms. I wrapped it up and said to myself, ‘Don’t let go.’”
Senior FB Bradie Ewing
On how Russell Wilson is playing…
“He’s playing great. He can make plays. You saw it today, when the pocket breaks down he can get out of there and make a play, get a first down for you. He makes great passes when he needs to and he gets the ball out of bounds when he needs to. He knows that fine line. He’s great at reading defenses, but I think he’d be the first to tell you that he can improve, like we all can.”
On recovering the onside kick…
“I think that could have been a huge momentum swing, so I’m glad we came up with it.”
Junior OL Peter Konz
On using the pass to set up the run…
“We were just trying to do whatever works. I guess everybody tries to do that, but some of those play action passes were really working. They obviously wanted to stop the run so with some of those passes, all of a sudden they think they have to get into more of a pass coverage and then you run the ball and keep them on their toes. Russell (Wilson) did a great job in there finding the open man and it worked for us.”
On playing in Soldier Field...
“It was pretty cool. Playing here was fun and a great experience. It didn’t really affect us too much. We pretty much just stuck to our gameplan and felt confident that we were going to get the job done.”
Senior DB Aaron Henry
On facing former UW defensive coordinator Dave Doeren…
“It was truly a blessing and an honor to go up against him. This is somebody who went all the way down to Immokalee, Fla., to recruit me. He will always hold a place near and dear to my heart. But, when we’re out on the field, Coach Doeren knows it’s all business. He would only want my best effort, and vice versa. When we’re out there on the field, it’s a love-hate relationship just battling against each other. At the end of the day, he knows I’m competing my butt off and he’s trying to scheme something up to go against us.”
On Doeren being proud of UW’s defense this season…
“I think he is proud. I had a chance to talk to him briefly after the game and he knows what kind of talent we have. He simply told me to ‘go out and win the whole thing.’ He knows how special this group is. Not to bring up last year, but we were able to reach the Rose Bowl and we’re that much better this season being that we had success. We realize what success holds and if we bring this whole thing together, we can be a really special unit.”
Junior DB Marcus Cromartie
On playing well in front of former UW defensive coordinator Dave Doeren…
“It’s important to play well every week and not just this week. Our goal is to get better every week. We took a step after UNLV, we took a step vs. Oregon State and next week we’ll take a step from Northern Illinois.”
On being challenged by Northern Illinois’ passing game…
“I feel like if someone is throwing at you, you get a chance to prove yourself as a corner. Any corner that tells you he doesn’t like competing isn’t really a corner. When I go out there I want to compete and I want to make plays. I feel like that’s the best chance to make plays when you throw the ball on my side.”
