QUOTING ILLINOIS HEAD COACH Ron Zook...
Overall thoughts:
"The preparation was there and most of the time even the effort was there. We kept it on the gas pedal but at times it wasn't there. We have to go back and regroup because these guys aren't going to quit."
On the team's effort:
"The effort was there, but the emotion was not there at times. I think there's a big difference. When you talk about effort, you're talking about guys that don't care, who aren't playing hard. That's not the case. I do believe they were emotionally drained a little bit, but you have to come back. That was an emotional win last week. They laid it on the line last week, but we have to come back."
On how the game unfolded:
"The bottom line was we didn't go out and execute in the way we need to execute. Indiana did, and we got ourselves in a firing squad. I think they did a great job. I was very explicit in my press conference on Tuesday that we're not even close to being out of the woods. Just because we were fortunate enough to go to Michigan State and win a game does not mean that things are going to get easy."
On the importance of the game:
"What happened today was a brutal, tragic awful lesson. It's a great lesson, but it's awfully painful. It was painful to the players. It was painful to the coaches. It was painful to our great fans. It's just one more thing that we have to learn from and make sure that it doesn't happen again."
QUOTING ILLINOIS PLAYERS:
RB Pierre Thomas...
On the offensive performance:
"I believe we played our game, but lately we have looked just too relaxed. It especially happened in the 2nd quarter today. The first quarter we came out playing on point with everyone doing their jobs. We were completing our passes, getting our blocks, just everyone doing their right assignments. In the second quarter we just got too relaxed. We thought we were going to keep taking it to them and putting points on the board."
QB Juice Williams...
On Indiana's adjustments:
"They switched things up a little bit and started rolling coverages. They sent a lot of blitzes that put a lot of pressure on me. They did a good job in the second half adjusting to what we did."
On blitzes:
"Blitzes are definitely still a problem. I've seen a lot of things I never saw in high school, but it is just a matter of getting out there and going through plays and getting those reps. I have to keep learning to get the ball out quickly and keep posed under pressure."
On Indiana:
"Indiana came to play today. They didn't get discouraged when they were down. They kept fighting and did an excellent job of coming back to win the ballgame."
LB J Leman...
On lessons learned from today's game...
"Anybody can beat anybody. If you win one game you are not the world champions. We have to come out and be consistent every game. There are a lot of things we can take from today."
WR Kyle Hudson...
On the emotions after last week...
"It's a completely opposite feeling right now. We were on a high last week, but we forgot about that on Monday. We moved on to Indiana and right now it doesn't feel too good."
"In the first quarter we came out with a lot of emotion and got up a couple touchdowns. The emotion kind of let down a little bit and we can't let that happen."
On the offense on third downs...
"We have to come out and make those plays. We had a couple dropped balls and other things so we are going to have to fix that. We will continue to work on that and practice and it will turn out fine."
QUOTING INDIANA HEAD COACH TERRY HOEPPNER...
On Illinois:
"Congratulations to Ron Zook and Illinois. Wow, what a tough football game. They have a lot to look forward to. That is a talented football team."
On the win:
"We finally put some plays together. I'm really proud of this staff. I'm really proud of this team."
"When all the chips were in the middle of the table, we made the plays when we had to."
"It should give us a great boost of confidence and a big emotional lift knowing that when we play like we can play then good things will happen."
"We ought to have some disciples now. We ought to have some believers now."
On the game winning field goal:
"I'm really proud of Austin Starr. That's tough. That's tough for a young man who already missed one."
On the comeback:
"We started attacking. We really started blitzing a lot from that point forward and I think that suits our personnel better right now. Maybe when you're inexperienced if you're not sure what you're doing, do it fast."
On the final drive:
"There's now way I could ever simulate that situation. You can play a whole career and never, ever get put in that situation as a player."
"That was fun. That was a lot of fun. That's what I told the offense, 'Let's go have fun. Let's go win the game.'"
QUOTING INDIANA PLAYERS:
K Austin Starr...
On hitting winning kick after earlier miss :
"I was pretty sure it went in, but they call what they call. There was no hesitation from the referee. I was just lucky to get a second chance and made sure it wasn't close. Kind of ironic that was the exact same spot right in the middle of the field just as the first one. It was exciting great win for coach he deserves it. I was glad I got a second chance and I converted it."
RB Marcus Thigpen...
On the kick return:
"I saw a lot of holes. My coaches tell me to expect those balls and I have no problem with it. It gave a lot of momentum to our side. Every time I run a kick back the defense get real fired up. I just needed to hit it as fast as I can. I just knew I had one man to beat and that was the kicker."
On being down 25-7:
"Our motto is just to believe. We just believe we can do it. This boosts our confidence and we need to just keep winning on the road. "
On Kellen Lewis' demeanor in the huddle on the last drive:
"He was real calm about it. He just said to give him a lot of protection to give him time to make his reads."
QB Kellen Lewis...
On the last drive:
"I knew we had to go down and at least get a field goal. Coach told us from the beginning to realize we didn't need to get it all in one play. So I threw a lot of stuff underneath. My receivers made some plays after the catch, broke some tackles, and we were in field goal range before we knew it."
