Postgame Quotes: Michigan 27, #9 Wisconsin 25
9/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Player quotes from the Michigan locker room
Michigan Head Coach Rich Rodriguez
Opening statement ... "I'd like to tell you things looked okay at halftime but they didn't. Wow -- there was no panic. We were just trying to make some corrections, but if there was a hole to crawl into, I'm sure a bunch of us, including myself, would have liked to crawl into it. But we didn't. We hung in there with the guys and they did a tremendous job on defense to keep us in it. That's why I felt at halftime that we still had a chance, because the defense played so well. If we could just get a first down on offense, get a rhythm and get excited, we had a chance. We got a few plays in the second half, then the big turnover (for a touchdown) by John Thompson and the offense got a few big plays. It is just a great win. I am so proud of these young men. I think the way they worked this summer in camp with their conditioning really showed. Obviously, the crowd helped us in the second half. We had a bounce in our step in the fourth quarter and we pulled of a great win. We can enjoy it for 24 hours and then we have to get ready for the next one."
On quarterback Steven Threet ... "He was just pressing a little bit. He did not play well the first two and one-half quarters. He normally makes great decisions, but he didn't make good ones in the first half. He hung in there, and we had to hang in there with him because he is our best one. He did a nice job in the second half. We had a couple of big runs. We hit a big run when they blitzed us up front for the (Brandon Minor) touchdown. Our guys up front hung in there. They didn't play very well in the first half, but in the second half they did a better job."
Sophomore/freshman Quarterback Steven Threet
On the differences from the first half to the second half ... "Execution. Too many times in the first half, there were too many mistakes. Obviously, with the turnovers and three-and-outs, we weren't able to get rolling. I have to take my hat off to our defense. They played amazing and kept us in the ball game in the first half, and we weren't doing it ourselves. It could have been a whole lot worse than 19-0 at half, that's for sure."
On the half time adjustments ... "It was the difference in reads and execution. We got some things clicking. They were similar plays in the first half and second half with some adjustments. It wasn't the play calling, it was just about us (the players)."
On his career-long 58-yard run ... "It was 20-19 and it was a read play. They were giving the read play all day, and finally they gave me the pull key. Mark Ortmann had a great block on the linebacker and sprung it loose."
On the defenses performance ... "It is unbelievable. They played an amazing game. They gave up 19 points and we had five turnovers in the first half. For them to give up 19 points to Wisconsin, who is a great team, it is a great statement about them and the kind of guys that we have on defense."
U-M Junior Running Back Brandon Minor
On his touchdown run ... "It was set up perfect because the two linebackers blitzed, so I just had to beat the safety one-on-one and outrun the corner. I just give it up to my linemen for holding their blocks."
On the reaction to the win ... "This gives us a real boost in morale. Now we just need to build on this and not take it as an advantage and slack off against Illinois, because we haven't really done anything yet. All we've done is beat Wisconsin. We got to win the Big Ten."
U-M Fifth-Year Senior Linebacker John Thompson
On the interception return for a touchdown ... "My first goal was to get to the end zone. The ball popped up -- coach tells us to run to the football -- so I ran to the football and got my hands on it and as soon as I did I was thinking end zone."
Wisconsin Head Coach Bret Bielema
On the game ... "From our locker room and from the head coach's standpoint, we are very disappointed in the result today. In the second half, I really believe that we came out here with the attitude that we can come out and execute. In the locker room at halftime, we talked about the fact that there were a lot of missed opportunities out there in the first half from an offensive standpoint. We couldn't just let that happen, and in the third quarter we started out not converting on a third and one. I really thought that was a poor sign of how we were going to progress there. Obviously on the first possession their defense held, and they got that first score. It just kind of got away from us in the end. For us to come back there at the end, it was the sign of all times when we lined up improperly and had the two-point conversion called back because of an illegal man down field. It was improper alignment on our part, which was kind of the story for us all day. We missed opportunities on our end. I give all the credit in the world to Michigan to come back after hearing all the things that I heard being yelled at them at halftime. To come back in the third quarter was impressive."
On the emotions at the end of the game ... "Well, you don't like to deal with it as a coach or as a player. Our kids have put a lot of time and effort into being able to beat Michigan at Michigan Stadium, and to have it go down the way that it did was very disheartening. But we have to take this and look at the opportunities that we had and figure out ways to improve and move forward."
On what happened with Travis Beckum on the failed two-point conversion ... "Travis wasn't lined up correctly. He was lined up originally on the right, but we got him to the left where Kyle [Jefferson] tried to adjust him. He lined up on the line of scrimmage when he should have been off the ball. We all knew where he was supposed to be, but obviously without him practicing this week, that was tough to deal with."
On the number of dropped passes during the game affecting the outcome ... "There were certainly a lot of them out there. We hit on it at halftime and on the very first touchdown opportunity, Nick [Toon] had one go through his hands, Lance [Kendricks] had two bounce off him and David [Gilreath] had one bounce off him. Kyle [Jefferson] had one bounce off his hip, and it ended up being an interception. We can't expect to come into a hostile environment like Michigan and play against a good football team and not have those things count against you."
UW Senior Defensive Back Allen Langford
On the loss and Wisconsin's missed opportunities ... "This one is really tough. It's definitely a hard loss. We got up, but we didn't play four quarters. We didn't play like we were supposed to. That's one thing that we'll have to talk about. We started fast; we just didn't finish fast. We had a chance to go out there and make history. We had a chance to go out there and beat a good team that we haven't beaten here in a long time. We had it right in front of our hands and we let that opportunity slip away. But the thing we can't do is let Michigan beat us twice. We just need to go out there next week and play the best we can."
UW Senior Quarterback Allan Evridge
On Wisconsin's missed opportunities ... "It's frustrating, but you have to just keep playing. You have to go and you win as a team and you lose as a team. It's frustrating. There were so many opportunities lost. Especially tomorrow, it's going to be even more frustrating to see film the opportunities you let go."
On the difference between the first half and the second ... "We just weren't executing. We weren't executing in the first half either. We've got to do the small things. That's all it is -- the small things. We just got to do the job and get things done."
On Michigan's play ... "There were doing a great job up front and bringing guys that have a great group back on defense. They bring things, but that's football."
