Wisconsin Football vs. Minnesota
December 19, 2020
Camp Randall Stadium - Madison, Wis.
OPENING STATEMENT: Well, it was a good football game and I'm awfully proud of the way our guys competed and played. There were some tremendous efforts by a lot of guys. This game means something and I certainly saw that and felt it at the end. Just really proud of the way the guys fought through a lot of different things and, to get this win, and the number of different guys that contributed sure is good.
Q. You mentioned a lot of guys contributing. (Chase) Wolf stepping in, (Eric) Burrell with a pick, (Jack) Dunn, (Collin) Larsh, but what about (Garrett) Groshek? You're down to not many guys who can tote the rock. What did his performance tell you today?
CHRYST: I thought it was a tremendous performance. I thought the way he finished runs and … they got off to a good start, had the big touchdown run. But I was just impressed with the way he just kept driving the pile and I thought he was a guy that played with a decided heart and put it all out there. It shows you that he cares about this team and was going to do anything he could to help this team.
Q. Can you talk about your continued struggles on offense and how hard is it for these kids to keep playing through that when it's obviously frustrating to them that they're not doing things on offense they usually do?
CHRYST: Yeah, I think that's part of the battle. I thought that they kept fighting through that and know that it takes everyone. Obviously, when you struggle it can wear on not just the offense, but the whole team. Yet you've just got to be resilient and you've got to keep going. I thought in many ways they did and came up with some drives.
And there were times where we didn't change the field, but I thought we had some good drives and guys stepped in. Obviously, we've got to be, and want to be, a lot better there. It's hard — you're going to be in a lot of games like this, you've got to be able to score points. But we found a way tonight to score more than Minnesota and that was big.
Q. When Chase (Wolf) came in the second time for, when Graham (Mertz) got injured, that's a tough moment. You guys are in the middle of a drive and kind of knocking on the door. What did you think of his poise in that moment and really throughout the game?
CHRYST: Yeah, that was a — we had a little package for him and tried to use that at the beginning of the second half. But to come in and, where we're at, obviously, he came up with a big play and showed poise on that play. And there's a guy that has a lot of respect in the locker room, shows up every day, competes and cares about his teammates. So he was good in many ways.
Q. You mentioned the way that you guys responded to some of the adversity today. Both times that Minnesota went ahead, you guys came back with a 75-yard touchdown drive. What do you think that says about your team that even with the struggles you've had that when they went down like that they immediately answered?
CHRYST: Yeah, you know we talk all the time, but to be able to do that is impressive, when you can answer a score with a score. We were able to do that in some other games, but they were field goals and that was a huge response. We had a lot of guys, you know, like Jon Dietzen stepped in and went to left tackle. Seltz (Josh Seltzner) went the whole game and Cormac Sampson did a nice job as well. I thought up front there were a lot of really, really good things being done, and I thought Mason (Stokke) played well. They care about this team and obviously we haven't been really explosive at all and struggling at times offensively, but we were able to put together some plays, some drives.
We had some good stuff in the passing game on those drives. The one that Chase (Wolf) finished, we had a couple big throws down to Ferg (Jake Ferguson) down the middle and there was a big third down where Dunner (Jack Dunn) stepped up. I mean, Dunner, I think he had six or seven catches and we had a lot of production out of the guys that, older guys that, you needed them to be productive.
Q. I think on the field after the game you were asked the meaning of this game. I don't know if you were watching the celebration. What does it mean to you? I know the record's not what you wanted, but this, just this day.
CHRYST: You know, when you can see your guys — I think what it means is, you saw it after the game. It's genuine joy. Obviously this game, growing up here and being around it has always meant a lot.
But we have got guys on this team that didn't know much about it until they got here, but they quickly realized that this game means a lot. To be able to find a way and come out victorious, that is special. There's guys on this team that the last time we played, we didn't win the Axe and so I think that certainly it's not taken for granted, but you just saw it at the end. It was every guy on that team rallying around each other and just celebrating together. Personally for me, that was a great sight.
Q. Was Jack Coan available for you guys today after not being available last week? And do you know anything about the extent of Graham's (Mertz) injury at the moment?
CHRYST: Yeah, Jack was — Graham was out there celebrating, so I think he's, obviously he was, he had the hit and wasn't going to play the rest of the game, but saw him in the locker room afterwards and he was out with the guys. So we'll find out more tomorrow, certainly.
