Oct. 29, 2005

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QUOTING ILLINOIS HEAD COACH Ron Zook...

On the game:
"We had many opportunities to stand up and make plays. It's part of the learning process and until we start to stand up, we're not going to win games. I'm tired of it, the coaches are tired of it, and a lot of guys in that locker room are tired of it."

On the fans:
"With about four minutes left in the game, I looked up and saw that a lot of fans were still here. I'd like to thank our fans because I thought that was great."

Thoughts on the game:
"We're frustrated because the game could've come out different. When you take them into the fourth quarter close, who knows what could happen?"

When the score was 13-10, thoughts on the kick and return:
"The wind was a factor. But no. 1 [Brandon Williams] was more of a factor. It was definitely something we worked on this week, because we knew we would have the wind. But it was a perfect kick, it was just were we wanted it."

On Tim Brasic and his performance today after last week's game:
"After his performance last week, how Tim came out and played today says a lot about him. Tim came back and gave it his all. I'm proud of him for that. That's just one reason why he's in there. He was 20 for 39 today, which is a record. And that's frustrating, because we got ourselves into many good positions, we just didn't execute."

On Jason Reda:
"On Jason's behalf, his hip has been bothering him all week. And we didn't know if he would be playing. The wind blew one of his kicks back, and I'm not sure what happened on the other one."

On Kyle Hudson being the go-to guy:
"He was today. And we want him to make big plays. And we also want to give Kendrick a couple of opportunities as well."

Thoughts on his team:
"We can't retaliate. We're not going to fall apart. We are going to play with class and win with class."

Thoughts about the younger players:
"We are going to continue to press and push. I'll tell the young guys that it's hard. It's hard with the demands of football and the demand of school. But it will be so much easier next year, and the year after that. They will be so much better for it, and in the future they will look back on this and laugh."

QUOTING ILLINOIS PLAYERS:

WR Kyle Hudson...

On his relationship with quarterback Tim Brasic:
"We talk about what's going on in the game while we're on the sideline. So far it's been a good relationship. If I'm open he's going to throw me the ball, and today I was open."

Thoughts on today's game:
"We felt like we had a great shot at winning this game, and we just kept fighting and fighting but in the end it just didn't turn out the right way for us."

QB Tim Brasic...

On the impact of today's loss:
"It's tough to say. The seniors here only have a couple games left, and I know me and the rest of the younger guys are out here trying to win for them. When we get down in the scoring zone we have to convert, that's a big key."

DT Ryan Matha...

On the outcome of today's game:
"We had our spots where we could have won this game. A few big plays by them here and there and some costly mistakes hurt us."

On the play of the defense as a whole today:
"I thought we played pretty well as a group. There were a couple busted coverages and a long run that hurt us, but I thought we played pretty well. We did a good job of playing as a group but we can't allow those big plays to happen."

QUOTING WISCONSIN HEAD COACH BARRY ALVAREZ...

On Wisconsin's play:
"I felt offensively we were very crisp and played very well. Every time they scored, we answered. Defensively, we gave up too many big plays."

On being 8-1:
"I was asked that question when we were 6-1 and last week. I'm just very pleased to be here. I don't think anyone expected us to be 8-1, so it's very exciting to still be in the hung and at the top of the conference."

On running the ball:
"We came in wanting to establish the run; that was one of our plans. For this game, we really squeezed our game plan down, we just wanted to execute well. We thought we might have been doing too much, so we really only went over a couple of runs all week and I think it paid off."

On overlooking Illinois:
"I really don't think we overlooked Illinois at all. I thought our guys were focused. I was just hoping our guys didn't read the newspapers down here. I didn't want our guys thinking this game was going to be easy."

QUOTING WISCONSIN PLAYERS...

WR BRANDON WILLIAMS... On Illinois' effort:
"We came out here to win. Illinois performed today. There was a lot that they did today to stop us from doing that. There were a lot of times I had to kick it into extra gear and push myself a little harder. Illinois was tough out there."

P KEN DABAUCHE... On the bad snap:
"I wasn't sure if I would get it out there, or get a chance to get down. When I realized that no one was open, I just had to throw it away. We had some pressure on us."

QB JOHN STOCCO... On Illinois' effort: "I think that one thing we learned today is that nothing comes easy. They did some good things today and put some pressure on us that we didn't expect. Illinois did a lot of things right, and we know that we have a lot to improve on still and clean some things up. We have a young team, and we still have a while to go"