Oct. 6, 2001

Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes

Illinois Head Coach Ron Turner
On the offensive drives...
"We want to have long drives. If the defense is on the bench, that's the best kind of defense we can play."

On Brandon Lloyd...
"It was nice to get Brandon in the flow. He had a tremendous week of practice, and hopefully he will understand that is what he needs to do every week. When guys see him practicing as hard as he did, it lifts everyone else up."

On the win...
"We did not play a perfect game. We got a win against a good Big Ten team, but we can play a lot harder."

On John Gockman...
"Gockman has shown a big leg in practice. Anything over 42 yards today we were going to go with him."

On recovering from last week...
"I was not concerned about bouncing back. We have tremendous leadership and character."

On the celebration penalty...
"We can't have penalties like that. It cost us a point. Brandon (Lloyd) has a swagger and confidence and I don't want to stifle that energy. If they are having fun and not disrespecting our opponent, I think that's okay."

Illinois Players On the offensive drives...

Kurt Kittner
On Today's win:
"We have a great feeling. We had a much more improved running game and we did a great job pounding them and taking time off the clock."

On Brandon Lloyd:
"Brandon had a great game, and it was the right coverage at the right time."

On the team:
"The team did a great job bringing the ball down the field. There was no added pressure going into this game. We just did what we know we are capable of doing. We practiced hard this week and came out and won the game today."

On Indiana next week:
"We had a big time win today, and for the next game we are going to approach things like we do every game."

John Gockman
On today's game:
"They asked me if I could kick the ball and I said yes. I went out and kicked the ball. It was exciting for me and a great way to start off my collegiate career."

Jerry Schumacher
On today's game:
"We came out today ready to go and to show everyone that we are not last's year team. We cannot let one game affect the whole season. Our defensive was successful and we were just trying to keep Minnesota from the endzone. We didn't do anything different - we just came out and played our game plan."

Rocky Harvey
On today's game:
"It's a good feeling to be 4-1 because we have not had this feeling in a long time. We want to win more games, have a positive season and go to a bowl game."

On the running game:
"The linemen were making holes for us to get through and the coach told us to run north or south and you get positive drives and everything came out positive with the running game."

On next's week game:
"It is going to be tough going to Indiana because we beat them last year, but we are going to come out ready like we do for every game."

Minnesota Head Coach Glen Mason
Mason on his team's play in the first half
"Our offensive consistency hurt us today. We left a young defense on the field in the first half, I felt fortunate to only be down 13-0. We have a lot of work to do."

Mason on the Illinois rushing attack
"They blocked well today. They have an offense that makes it hard to cheat, because they have a lot of weapons all over the field. I was concerned about their deep threats, and they hit a bomb on us today."

Mason on Illinois receiver Brandon Lloyd's performance
"I know he did not play against us last year because of his injury, but he has made big plays against everybody he has played against this year. He is a good receiver."

Minnesota Player Quotes

Wide Receiver, Ron Johnson
Illinois' Defense:
"They were good, they were tough, they just executed well all day."

Illinois' coverage on him:
"They tried to box me in all day and for the most part they did, but I still got my catches."

Linebacker, Phil Archer
Illinois as a team:
"They were focused and did things well, but we could have done things better and not help them out as much as we did."

Illinois' running game:
"We knew they were a power running team. I think we did a good job on them for the most part but we just let a couple slip by."