On Josh McCray's performance against Maryland
"That first game when he was in the bubble of playing in the game, I think that sparked some motivation in Josh. Last Sunday I told him that on Friday he's in and that he's going to bring one in. I think the fans knew it was coming, but I could feel it coming. Seeing the reaction from our incredible school section, who showed up again, was really special."

On how the team handles a close loss
"You treat a loss the same as a win. You should be analyzing them the same. I think our guys took their learning moments from this Friday just as much as they did against Nebraska."

On Brandon Peter's performance vs. Maryland
"Communication from BP was what he was putting a lot on himself. I encouraged him and told him, 'Hey, you experienced a lot of new things with our coaching staff in a game scenario.' There was a lot of good learning for him, but unfortunately because of how games play out, we have to learn through adversity."

On what Doug Kramer brings back to the O-Line
"I've been with a lot of good centers, and Doug is as good as all of them. He's got great balance and he's sturdy. He's one of the guys on the team that when he speaks, everybody listens. The same goes for Jake Hansen. Doug is truly an exceptional football player."

On in-state recruiting
"For us to be successful at Illinois we need to be built on Illinois players. We have to embody the University of Illinois and it's going to be Chicagoland, central, southern, just all over Illinois."