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Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. South Florida
Sept. 27, 2014
Camp Randall Stadium - Madison, Wis.
Wisconsin Head Coach Gary Andersen
ANDERSEN: Well, that game was obviously a tale of two halves. Very proud of the young men in the second half the way they came out, kind of the concept or the idea that we had last week when we needed to get the game flipped in our favor kind of happened a couple times in this game.
We were able to score, we came back out three-and-out on defense, get a punt return, we score. It was big. Again, it's all three phases being involved. And then we also did a nice job of a huge play by Lubern Figaro. What an unbelievable play by a true freshman in a situation to make that play at that moment was impressive, great effort, great care factor. Those are the plays that change games and those are the plays that often times change seasons. You have to have a few of them.
South Florida, they're fast. Showed up, faster than I thought. They absolutely were, and they ran very, very well. I think their coaches did a nice job of identifying the man coverage that we wanted to be able to play, and they got a couple things on us that was executed very, very well. Good coaches.
But in the second half, there were really no adjustments. There were no magical speeches. I just asked the kids to settle down a little bit and just play. I feel like we were pressing. I don't think we were tight, I don't think we were prepared poorly, I think we were just pressing at that time, and they handled it well, came out and had a nice second half. Adversity hit us right in the face, and we came out and answered in a big way in the second half.
QUESTION: Regarding the slow starts at Western Illinois, Bowling Green, are you more mystified or annoyed at this point as to what's going on?
ANDERSEN: Yeah, I would say frustrated. We need to come out of the tunnel and have some success. I'm not saying you've got to go score a touchdown your first drive, but you've got to act like it's a football team that is in a situation to change the game at any moment on offense, defense and special teams in your favor, and whether that's a 10- or 12-play drive, or whether that's a big play somewhere. It just felt like we were leaving opportunities out there on the field, and you just can't do that.
So yes, it is frustrating, and it's a little frustrating for all of us right now. But those kids, they're frustrated, too. Very happy about the win. But they're looking forward to Monday.
QUESTION: Was this the kind of tough, physical game that went into the fourth quarter that you thought your team needed, especially since Big Ten play starts next week?
ANDERSEN: I don't know if I thought we needed it. Looking back it was definitely a four-quarter football game. We've played four of them now, and two of them have been there in the fourth quarter for an opportunity to win it or lose it. But we reacted well to all the situations that came in front of us. We didn't always execute well, but I thought we handled the scenarios, which is good to see. But getting out of a tough game and getting out of the fourth quarter is always good for a team.
QUESTION: What was your demeanor like at halftime?
ANDERSEN: Just like this. I was pretty mellow with them. I didn't feel like I needed to get after them at all. I didn't think it was that spot. Last week I felt a lot different at halftime as far as where we were, even though it was 40-10. It was just different. This game did not have that feel to me at all. I just wanted them to not press, and when I look at that, a lot of times, and I feel like that as a head coach or as a position coach or as a coordinator, I look right at myself first: Is there something that I can do to help them understand that, hey, the guy next to me will make plays, this offense will take care of itself, this defense will take care of itself? I'll put a lot of thought into that this weekend.
QUESTION: A couple times this year you've gone for it on 4th down. Today you opted to go for the field goal. What was the reason for the departure there?
ANDERSEN: A couple things. It made it a two-score game, which I thought was imperative at that moment. And we had not been doing a good job on the base power play. I mean, Tanner (McEvoy)'s foot got stepped on two or three times when he's trying to pull out and hand the ball off. We fumbled the ball when we got in the red zone once before. So at that point in my opinion, the right thing to do was to kick that field goal and get a two-score lead.
QUESTION: Obviously the Big Ten starts next week. Do you like where you're at or are there still some things that you're kind of wondering about that maybe you wish you weren't wondering about?
ANDERSEN: Yeah, there's definitely a lot to wonder about. I'm sure every football team in the country has that. I like this team. I love being around them. They're fun to coach. I've said that many times, and I say it because I mean it. We have a lot of work to do, we really do. The inconsistencies that show up, we can coach better, we can prepare better as individual players, and make sure that we're presenting it as coaches in the right fashion and we're prepared when we go out there on the field to do our best.
We'll work hard at that, but I'm always unsettled, I suppose. If we would have played very well today, I would still feel very unsettled walking into Big Ten play. But I like these kids and I know they're going to give it their best. The one thing I will say that has not gone away from four games is this team plays with unbelievable effort. You can pull it up on tape and watch these kids play very, very hard.
QUESTION: Can you describe your overall comfort level with the passing game headed into Big Ten play?
ANDERSEN: Yeah, not real good. It's just not. It's inconsistent and there's a lot of pieces, again, that go into that, and we're going to work hard as an offense to get better in the throw game and 3rd downs because if we can't, it's going to be a little difficult as we continue to move forward. You're not always going to hold teams to 10 points and eight 1st downs. It's not going to happen.
QUESTION: Two weeks in a row your defense has allowed kind of clusters of big plays that have been answered with making plays of their own, takeaways. Are you okay with that equation at this point in time?
ANDERSEN: No, not really. I'm okay if a kid makes a big play. The big tight end, No. 80, catches the ball, we're in man coverage, he makes a great play, and in my mind that's a big play. Do I like it, no, but hey, that's football. The wheel route down their sideline there when it's a 10-point football game, that's inexcusable for all of us, and it all starts with me. The big plays do have me a little bit concerned. It was nice to see us making a play on the deep ball; that play that Sojourn (Shelton) made on the deep ball today was very encouraging to get that ball out.
Defense is defense, but 10 points is 10 points, which is fantastic. They played very, very well. But we do not want to be known as a defense that gives us big plays.
QUESTION: Derek Landisch had another big game. How important has his leadership been for this defense? Game in and game out he's really stepped up for you.
ANDERSEN: Yeah, he is a tremendous leader. In fact I talked to Derek just before I walked in here, and it's gaining momentum, too. He becomes stronger and stronger. His presence is felt on the field, his presence is felt in the locker room more every single day and every single week, and you can see it on Tuesday just as well as you can see it on Saturday. He's a huge part of that defense, and there's some of those kids that are out there playing right now that need to continually learn how to prepare consistently, and they should follow Derek Landisch.
QUESTION: Considering you thought your team was pressing the first half, how important was it then to come out in that opening series the second half and the offensive line to establish itself?
ANDERSEN: It was big. I thought it was huge. I talked to them about this, just six more inches, how many times are we just an ankle away or a leg tackle away or Melvin (Gordon) sees a hole that's another foot wider instead of six inches, sure, he's going to break it and he's going to go, and that showed up, and it was big to have him react and have the positive plays that they had in the run game. That was great. It was a huge positive and got us moving in the right direction.
The 90-yard drive there after the turnover was huge for us to be able to move the ball down the field and have some success.
QUESTION: What is your level of concern with Melvin losing a fumble for another game? On top of that he obviously responded very well, 30-plus carries. Does that give you great confidence?
ANDERSEN: The fumble today, I don't think that there's any running back in the history of the world that would have any chance of not fumbling that football. We got a 3 technique running through the middle of the defense and hit him on the exchange. That doesn't worry me at all.
But if Melvin was standing right here, he'd say, that's my fault. That's just the kind of kid he is. But that's not his fault.
QUESTION: You mentioned the passing game. Obviously you're not going to change quarterbacks, you've got your offensive line the way it is. I know you've talked about the wide receivers have to earn trust to get playing time, but do you get to the point where you've just got to say with the young kids, you know what, maybe we can throw somebody out there and see if they make a play for us?
ANDERSEN: Yeah, and I didn't see a bunch of plays that I thought, wow, we just didn't make them today. Obviously we need to throw the ball better at times, and it's a fingertip to Sam (Arneson), and there's a throw here and a throw there. I'm a little bit more worried about the fact that when we throw the ball early, we're not throwing it real well, and that's something -- and hopefully we can continue to overcome. We'll continue to also work with the quarterback position, and like everything else, it's always -- we're going to battle through and we're going to work to throw the ball better. We're going to have to if we're going to, again, be a good football team and ever have a chance of being a great football team.
QUESTION: Those takeaways, what do you shoot for in a game, and how are you doing in that regard?
ANDERSEN: The goal is three. We're doing okay. I couldn't off the top of my head tell you what we had today. I should but I don't. Two? Our goal is to get three.
Now, the number of plays they ran today is going to be pretty difficult to get to three turnovers because their plays were way down. But I think -- I would say when we are moving towards an aggressive defense, we're making strides in that area, I think we're making strides in getting to the quarterback, but in this game early, we didn't. We did not, and we turned the ball over and gave them opportunities. Late we did.
QUESTION: With Gordon did you notice a demeanor change in the start of the second half? Was he angrier or did things just open up, because he was talking with players, too.
ANDERSEN: Yeah, he definitely had some physical runs that had a purpose when he came out at halftime, there's no question. But he had energy, he had excitement, he was ready to go at the first of the game, but when you get in that position, in that situation, trust me, I could never be that guy. I couldn't see what he sees on the field in a million years. But I just felt like he thought he was so close, and that probably frustrated him that he was so close, and that probably gave him a little bit more energy, a little bit more juice, and showed him, too. But he ran hard in the first half, too, I thought.
QUESTION: Was he pressing like everybody else in the first half?
ANDERSEN: I didn't feel that at all, no.
QUESTION: You didn't feel that?
ANDERSEN: No, absolutely not. I felt he was creeping the holes. There was a lot of those runs he was getting in there with four or five yards and sometimes there was absolutely nothing, and eventually it started to open up a little bit. But I did not feel like he was -- and I can't even say I look at one person and say that kid was pressing. I just felt that. That's myself. I didn't look at a kid and say, oh, man, settle down. Again, I look at myself and feel like for some reason if I have that feeling, then I'm going to share it with the kids and I'm going to try to get it fixed.
QUESTION: Melvin got racked pretty good during the fourth quarter. Is he okay?
ANDERSEN: Yeah, yeah, he seemed great after the game.
QUESTION: Melvin and Corey (Clement) have had pretty similar carry numbers coming into this game and then Melvin got a majority of them today. Was there a reason behind that?
ANDERSEN: No, not really, just the feel of the game. I'm sure Thomas (Brown) and Andy (Ludwig) just wanted to keep Melvin in there and give him chances, so a lot of carries for Melvin today, and I think he's deserving of those carries on this particular day.
QUESTION: Sam Arneson came out late in the third quarter, looked like he tweaked his ankle or something. Did you think he was 100 percent when he came back in, and overall how important is he to your passing game?
ANDERSEN: Yeah, the trainers cleared him to be able to come back in, so I'm assuming if he wasn't 100 percent, he was definitely good enough to come back and play. It's hard to keep that kid off the field. Again, he seemed fine to me the way he was moving around. He's a huge part of the throw game. We'll continue to grow and develop, and we need to make those lay-ups that we missed today with him on the one situation. But Sam is -- we're sure glad he's there because he's a big part of this offense.
QUESTION: You mentioned the fumble wasn't Melvin's fault. What happened on that run when a guy comes free that quickly?
ANDERSEN: Yea, I've got to see that on film. I don't know if it was a technique issue or a missed assignment, but we had a little bit of a problem today with initially at the point of attack on the line of scrimmage moving backward on the snap. Are they jumping our snap? Are we giving people an opportunity to not mix up our cadence, because boy, they were getting in there pretty quick, and we haven't had that issue.
Junior QB Tanner McEvoy
On his first half performance…
“You know I just have to go out there and execute what I do every day in practice and take it out on the field to do it on Saturdays. That’s all I can do, I just have to keep practicing, keep getting better, learn from my mistakes and keep going.”
On starting slow…
“It’s happening, so we got to be able to adjust. I wouldn’t say it’s too much for concern, we know we have a great team but we just have to come together and put all the pieces together. USF, they’re a good team and they’ve been a good team for the past few years. We knew that going in, we just had to execute the game plan. It was a little slow in the beginning, like you said, but we picked up in the second half. We just have to keep that ball rolling and we’re going to come out with it next weekend.”
On entering Big Ten play…
“I think we’re in good shape. We’re heading into our first game against Northwestern, and they just had a big win so we got to bring it. They’re a good team, we know what we can do, we just have to execute it.”
On second half adjustments …
“We had some guys step up. We made some adjustments on the offensive game plan, and some vocal leaders stepped up. We needed that, and we came out in the second half and made a statement. Melvin and Rob talked, they’re both our leaders, and they made some comments that got our guys riled up.”
On the team’s overall performance…
“It was a tough first half, but it’s a great win when you come back and have a great second half like that. So overall, I think it was a great overall team win. Defense was playing great and caused a lot of turnovers, and we got to capitalize when we make those turnovers.”
On the passing game overall…
“We have to connect on the big ball, we have to hit some deep passes. We had some today that we hit, just like third and fives, some 15-yarders. I mean it was good to get those, but we still have a lot more room for improvement and we’re working on it. I mean everyone wants to go 20-for-20 with a couple touchdowns, but it’s going to happen, it’s a football game. We’re playing great teams, and completions will happen but you just got to bounce back.
Junior RB Melvin Gordon
On regrouping at halftime:
“Big Rob (Havenstein) and I were walking in and we were like, ‘we have to talk to these guys.’ I was having flashbacks from Week 2 against Western Illinois. When we went in at halftime during that game I didn’t say anything and Big Rob didn’t say anything, and this time we felt like we had to rally our offense together and speak up. We motivated those guys and obviously we were a different team in the second half.”
On what he and Rob said at halftime:
“We just told them, ‘Catch every ball whether it’s a good ball or bad ball.’ Offensive line: ‘Block, do your thing.’ Running backs: ‘We’re going to run hard. We’re going to run as hard as we can.’ And that’s what we did. We executed.”
On slow starts:
“We have to do it for four quarters. Once we get into Big Ten play, if you have a slow start against a Big Ten opponent it’s going to be a long game. And you might not be able to bounce back or come back. You might be in a deep hole. We’ve got Northwestern next. They just beat Penn State. They’re coming and we have to be ready.”
On possibly setting the bar too high after last week:
“I didn’t set the bar at all. I wasn’t worried about that. I was just worried about going out there and making plays. Sometimes you have good days and bad days. My day was starting off bad and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way things were going and that’s why I had to talk to those guys. I had to talk to the offense. I had to step up. It was my first time stepping up and doing that—speaking to our offensive group as a leader. Those guys responded and they listened, and we went out there in the second half as a different team.”
Junior WR Alex Erickson
On how the season is going for him…
“It’s good so far, obviously today was a little bit of a struggle there for us, but it was good to see us fight through the adversity and trust each other as teammates and just keep rolling.”
On why the first half was so tough…
“I think it was more us, we kept getting penalties, we kept going back going one step forward and two steps back. So I think it was more on our execution, which I think is every week. It’s all about how you execute on offense because they know what we’re going to do, so we just have to execute better.”
On how the team started feeling the pressure in a slow first half…
“I think that’s just human nature, you know when things aren’t going you start clenching up a little bit and pressing harder and harder instead of trying to relax. Which I think we did at halftime, we regrouped ourselves, settled down a little bit and got back to what we do.”
On what he thinks of his current chemistry with QB Tanner McEvoy…
“I think it’s one of those things that’s obviously a work in progress. We’re getting better every single day in practice and at games, and it’s starting to show a little bit. We just have to keep continuing to work on it in practice and make the most of our opportunities.”
Junior WR Jordan Frederick
On what the team did better in the second half…
“I think we just got more comfortable. Obviously things just started fast and you have to get comfortable in the beginning, but at half time you kind of realize the things you’re doing wrong where the game moves so fast you get so caught up in what’s happening that you can’t really fix it on-the-run, so I think the biggest thing is just fixing what we’re doing wrong at halftime and coming out being confident and just doing what we do best.”
On whether the slow starts this season have been frustrating…
“Yeah it’s frustrating for everyone, for the crowd, for the players, for the coaches, it’s frustrating. You want to execute the plays and do well every single time. You don’t want to start slow and not worry thinking we’ll pick it up because one of these days we won’t pick it up, if we don’t start fast. So I think the biggest thing is like you said start fast, and hopefully the next game we will do that.”
On whether the team still hangs their hat on the good start against LSU, or needs to prove to themselves again what they can do…
“I mean, I think every week you’re proving yourself all over again, but at the same time I think we have been. We know we can do it, it’s just mental mistakes I guess really, and just knowing what we’re doing right away. So I think we’re just going to keep preparing more and more every week and just execute right away like we did against LSU.”
RS Sophomore OL Dan Voltz
On whether he was frustrated at half time at how the first half went…
“I wouldn’t say frustrated. We thought we were going to do better in the first half and start off a little bit stronger but we stuck to the game plan and opened it back up in the second half. We started running the ball well, so it’s all a matter of time when things are going to open up.”
On how the team adjusted after a slow start…
“Whenever you know things don’t go our way we’re going to stick to the plan, we don’t ever get nervous and start not doing our game. We stick to it and we saw that it came alive in the second half with that long drive we had toward the fourth quarter. That kind of put the game away so we just stick to the game plan and hope it works out eventually.”
On what the team did better in the second half…
“I think we just adjusted better, they brought some stuff that was hard to pick up in the first half and we came out in the second half and picked it up. They brought the same pressure that you know Melvin fumbled on and we picked it up and got a 40-yard touchdown on it, so it’s all a matter of adjusting and we did that in the second half.”
On whether he was upset the team didn’t go for it on fourth and 1…
“Yeah, you know obviously that’s a challenge and we want to get that opportunity but Coach Andersen is going to do what’s best for the team and he thought kicking a field goal was best so overall we’re all for that.”
Senior TE Sam Arneson
On the connection with Tanner McEvoy…
“I always kind of say to Tanner, ‘If you need someone to look for, I’ll be open.’ We’ve had success throwing it to me, making some tough catches in crowded areas. So, I think he has some confidence in me. Hopefully we continue that.”
On what difference was in second half…
“We were just shooting ourselves in the first half. We were so close every once in a while. That’s how football goes. They were playing hard. They are an athletic team. We were able to get it going a little bit and show up our schemes, maybe make some adjustments on where we wanted to run based on where they were blitzing. We came out in the second half and did some nice things. There is stuff to build on for sure.”
On reason for coming out slow the past few games…
“It’s tough to put a finger on what that is. It’s something we have to fix no doubt as we go into the Big Ten season and into some bigger-time games. I think we’re prepared. It’s a team that’s excited to play. It’s not like we’re coming out flat. We just have to have better execution.”
On South Florida being a faster team than expected…
“They had some athletes. I was blocking a lot of linebackers today and I noticed they were some athletic guys. You kind of expect that from a team from the south. They were doing a good job and making plays. We just have to be better.”
RS Senior ILB Marcus Trotter
On turning it around in second half...
“If it’s not going your way, you have to find a way to get the ball back. What better way than a takeaway? We’re getting better at that. The coaches have been focusing on that. We’re almost there.”
On positives and negatives of defense thus far...
“I think what we need to work on more is consistency. Mentality-wise, everyone needs to be on board. Most people are, but if you look in the locker room before LSU I think it was a different locker room than going against this team. I don’t know what it is. As a leader, I have to really address that with the guys—it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we need to be focused.”
On what’s not there as compared to the LSU game...
“Probably just the juice. We obviously have it. It was a close game. I think we played different when we were the underdogs than when we’re supposed to win the game. We have to have the mindset that any team we face, we have to feel like we’re the underdog. We’re almost there. It’s a young team, but it will happen.”
On being the four-touchdown favorite entering the game...
“I try not to focus on that. You can see that some guys are looser than others. We just have to start faster. That’s the bottom line. We have to start faster in all three phases of the game.”
RS Senior DE Konrad Zagzebski
On game energy...
“We came out in that LSU game ready to, we had a little bit more of an edge for that and I’d say we’ve had less in these weeks, so we got to get that back for Big Ten play. I think we can get that done, but right now we’re just focusing on Northwestern, getting that edge back and starting faster.
On starting slow...
“I don’t know, I wish I had the right words to describe it for you, but we really just have to come out and start faster, play with more of an edge and more energy to make more plays on defense.
On cooperation between the defense and offense...
“There’s times when they’re going to lift us up and we’ll lift them up, it’s kind of a back and forth game. As a whole team, we got to definitely start faster, especially when we get into Big Ten play. We had a few good warm-up games, had a good LSU game, now it’s time to really hone in and get serious.
Redshirt Sophomore OLB Vince Biegel
On the opening fumble...
“It was a big play, huge play by the first safety. Lubern (Figaro), one of our true freshman free safeties made a huge play. He forced the fumble and I was chasing down from behind and I was fortunate enough to have the ball fall in my hands. It ended up working out in the end for us and I was chasing down behind so I ended up in the right place at the right time.”
On second half adjustments...
“First half, that wasn’t the type of defense we wanted to do. We knew what we had to do, but I think we just lacked a little enthusiasm out there. We didn’t have our set that we usually do. We came into the locker room, just kind of huddled up as a defense and we said ‘hey boys, it’s Camp Randall, a lot of these seniors only have four more games left in here.’ I think we came out, rallied together, and the first defensive possession I think you saw high enthusiasm and that set the tone for the second half.”
Senior ILB Derek Landisch
On the defensive performance...
“It’s just details. Paying attention to details, and being on the same page, communicating. I think we definitely need to improve together as one unit. This game, we were just a little bit off with details, it was the small things."
On LSU vs. the past three weeks
“I think versus LSU we were kind of the underdog and we had that chip on our shoulder. I think we need to play with that all the time, because the offense came in here expecting to win. We need to play with that chip on our shoulder and play with that attitude because defense you can cut loose a little and play with more emotion, whereas offense you have to be a little bit more composed.”
South Florida Head Coach Willie Taggart Postgame Quotes
On his perspective after the game…
“I told my football team you can’t beat a top-25 team with 11 penalties and two turnovers at their place. It’s hard to beat a team like that.”
On the message to the team at halftime…
“I told them to just finish and to keep playing like we did in the first half. That’s one of the things we need to learn how to do as a football team is keep the intensity up and keep it maximum. We left too many plays out there on third down. A lot of those penalties came from third downs and extended drives for them and eventually it wore us down.”
On their defensive play…
“We played with great technique and fundamentals and in the first half, you saw eight or nine guys on the ball every time we got a tackle. In the second half, you saw a lot of broken tackles.”
On the receivers dropping the football...
“They have to catch the football. They just have to keep it in their hands. It’s the second week in a row where we had the ball right in our hands and we dropped it for an interception. Again, that was on third down to keep the drive going. You can’t do that against a team like Wisconsin.”
On the most backbreaking play…
“I would say the fumble by Kennard [Swanson]. It was a nice play and he got it down there in the red zone and could’ve really changed the momentum of the football game, could’ve punched it in there. I thought we gained momentum back with that play but we lost it really quickly.”
On their running game…
“We had the ball for 19 minutes. You don’t have that many opportunities. With 19 minutes and you’re behind, chances are you’re not running the ball anymore. Again, we didn’t convert enough on third downs to keep drives going. Penalties and turnovers killed us at the end of the game.”
On the positive out of the game…
“We played hard but we have to execute. We can’t beat ourselves; that’s what we end up doing. Defensively we’re doing great and we got them in position to get off the field. We could’ve actually had a game like we did the week before but on third down, I can count off the top of my head three or four times we got a penalty. That’s when they held the ball longer and we couldn’t get the ball back. We did some good things and we’re going to continue to build on them. I don’t think anyone expected the game to be that close and we just have to keep working and get our team to the point where we aren’t hurting ourselves in these ball games. These things happen; we’re really young, but we played hard. I was happy we played hard for four quarters.”
On Wisconsin’s running backs finding the cracks…
“They find those cracks when they extend drives. We get off the field, they’re not doing it. When we have the ball on offense, things are a lot better. We have to get on the field. We let too many drives extend because of penalties. The defense on first and second down got them in position to get off the field and we didn’t.”
On the team’s position after this game…
“We’re 2-3 and 1-0 in the conference. We have to get to work. We have a lot of work to do. We have conference play from here on out. We have to get in and continue to get better as a football team and continue to keep stretching our fundamentals and technique. I think that’s a big reason we were in this game; we did a good job of that and we have to continue to do that and be healthy and learn from our mistakes. This will be a good week to learn a lot about our mistakes and correct some things and be able to come out and put on a good show for our second conference game at home.”
On plans for a bye week this week…
“We work. We grind. We practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and watch a lot of film on Thursday.”
On the safeties having the highest number of tackles…
“Bad stats and good stats. It’s both. They tackled; they got guys down so I love that but when your safeties lead your team in tackles, it means the ball is getting to them too much and our front seven have to do a better job of getting to the ball. In the second half, we just didn’t do a good job of tackling and had too many missed tackles.”
