Postgame Quotes: Illinois

Curt Cignetti | Indiana Head Coach
Opening Statement…
CC: Great night for Indiana Hoosier fans. Stadium was hopping. [I'm] Really proud of the team. Dominant performance. The punt block got us going. Then we busted a coverage on their touchdown. And then we made a lot of explosive plays, pressured the quarterback. I think we sacked him seven times, really tried to get out of the game and shorten the game at the end and broke their will, I think.

So, it's a great win, and proud of the coaches and the players. I think we've gotten a lot better the last two weeks.

On "silencing critics" after top-10 victory…
CC: I don't control that. I only control the development of our football team. I felt very confident about this game going in based on what I saw on film, and there's a lot of football left to be played.

On redshirt junior Fernando Mendoza's Big Ten debut…
CC: I thought he took a major step forward last week and again this week and really had a lot of confidence in him going into the game. I think his progress has really accelerated the last couple weeks. And I thought he was right on target.

And what I really liked about the team is the way they play every play, one play at a time, first play to last play of the game, regardless of the circumstances. To me that's key to the drill.

On defensive line…
CC: That's what I saw on tape, too. I thought our defensive line could whip their offensive line, and we did. They came out and played with tempo early. And give him time to throw, he's going to get the ball where it's gotta go.

But I think the sacks were huge. The blocked punt got us going. And then they couldn't stop us. They couldn't match up on the perimeter. And then we broke their will and just pounded them.

He's a good quarterback. But he took a lot of sacks last year, too.

More on Mendoza…
CC: Well, [it's] physical attributes. He's got a quick whip, strong arm, accurate, mobile. The biggest thing when he came to us was working with him in the pocket and the drop-back game, being a little bit more patient, poised going through his progressions.

A lot of the stuff is RPO stuff with us and in this game, too, because we thought there were some things there we could take advantage of.

I think he's got a tremendous upside, and he prepares. He's a tremendous person. He will do everything he can to be the best he can be. It means a lot to him. He wants to be great. And he's made great progress the last couple of the weeks.

On team's potential…
CC: I don't know. I mean, you guys control all that stuff. I just gotta get them ready. And then we all play our games and see where it shakes out at the end of the year.

On running game…
CC: It's a mentality. I mean, our guys – we're tied in together. We don't talk a lot […] We hit the field. It's all business. I know I stirred things up last year media-wise because I felt I had to. This place, the fan base was dead and needed to set some expectations.

We kind of go about our business. [We're] Kind of a blue-collar outfit. And I think there was a point in that game where we broke their will.

On crucial first-quarter decision to go for it on fourth down…
CC: I think they had 12 on the field. I threw the punt team out there. I was a little torn what to do. And kind of had a déjà vu of about 14 years ago once that happened.

We elected to go for it at that point and converted. And that was a pretty big play.

There were a couple special teams plays there. The blocked punt, that play and a third one – I can't recall what it was exactly. They had another penalty on the punt I think that negated – I don't know. I can't remember.

But that one, you know after I thought a little bit more about it, we felt we had a good play and it worked.

On offensive line…
CC: Potential, this and that, it's what you put on tape. And I felt really good about our line coming into this season. We got some really good players there. They reflect the personality of their coach, Bob (Bostad). They're tough guys, gritty guys. And they've been playing well. I expect them to continue to get better and play well.

On defensive pressure…
CC: I mean, put the Duke game (from week two) on. The same thing happened. The difference in that game was Duke turned it over five times. They got to them right off the bat, beginning of the game four or five times. And I thought we could too.

On team's greatest improvement…
CC: Based on what we're putting on the field, from the beginning to end, the way we're playing in all three phases. And there's no let-up in these guys.

More on Mendoza…
CC: Positive performance, confidence, belief, and it becomes a cycle. And I've seen it with all these quarterbacks. He probably has more physical ability, he does, than all the other ones. And I think (quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer) is doing a great job with him too.

And I like the way it's going in the game plan sessions and kind of the plan the last two games. And Fernando is the kind of guy – he won't get big-headed. He's going to keep his nose to the grindstone, doing a great job preparing and improve.

Indiana Student-Athletes
Fernando Mendoza / QB / Jr.
On the fans...
FM: Fantastic. Pre-warmups, the student section – you couldn't see an empty seat. So, to have that support from the student section, hearing their chants throughout the game, hearing their energy, it energizes us as well. When it was 56-10, we keep on going because everyone's still in the crowd, although it's raining, they're waving the towels. And it really just adds another layer, and also I think it made it really hard for Illinois to play here.

On improvement week-to-week…
FM: I would say it's the coaching and then also the confidence my teammates have in me. My teammates have a ton of confidence [...] I want to serve my teammates.

Early in the season, like Old Dominion [...] I wanted to have too perfect of a season. I was trying to force completions here and there, but as soon as I kind of went back and was coached by Coach Whitmer, Coach Shanahan, Coach Cignetti – 'hey, you gotta stick to the process, one play at a time, zero-zero, no emotion' – I got back to being who I am. Trying to accelerate my footwork, finish throws and really just trust my eyes and to rip the ball.

On mental focus...
FM: I felt pretty locked in. I've gone into a good routine here where I'm trusting my preparation, I know what's going to work, I know how it's going to pay off. And the intentionality that our offense is able to bring to practice was at the next level.

Aiden Fisher / LB / Sr.
On narrative…
AF: We heard a lot of things over the week. A lot of people were saying that [Illinois] was a lot more physical than us. They were going to come in and run the ball and dominate us physically. That puts an edge onto a team that already has a lot of players with an edge on their shoulders. When it comes to games like this, the preparation and the time we put in really shows, especially on the scoreboard in the dominating fashion we played with on defense.

On the fans…
AF: This was the loudest I've ever heard [Memorial Stadium]. It was electric. Everybody did a great job with the red out. It was awesome. By the time we ran out on the field, I couldn't hear myself think. We have signals for a reason, so we need to keep that going. It was great having that community that engages with your football team and supports and shows up like this in a big time matchup is huge for your program.

On defensive line…
AF: They were phenomenal. It made my job really easy tonight. I didn't get to really see a ball a lot because I had the D-Line having a day. [They were] dominant and physical and elite at the point of attack. We do a lot of stunts and movements, and I think they did a great job with it and getting vertical. When they had the chance to tackle the ball carrier, they did that all night. It was really good to see from them.

Omar Cooper, Jr. / WR/ R-Jr.
On setting Big Ten standard for points scored against AP top-10 opponent…
To us, we weren't really paying attention to that until we (the starters) weren't playing in the fourth quarter. We [were] just trying to go out there and give our best effort every play. You never know, it's football, momentum could shift, and they could get things rolling. But our defense did a great job today, so it helped us offensively a lot.

On how team put together dominant performance…
The coaches had a great game plan. O-Line played amazing. Fernando has an NFL talent arm. The defense today had a really great day today.

On narrative…
This just shows that no matter who we're playing, we're always going to come out hard. It shows that we're still hungry from last year. We feel like we missed out on a chance, and we're trying to get back and do better than we did last year.

Elijah Sarratt / WR / Sr.
On wide receiver depth…
It's great. I think I said this in one of my interviews not too long ago. If one of us is doing good, then that's just going to open [it] up for the rest of us. If they want to focus on me, we got No. 3 (Omar Cooper, Jr.) and No. 7 (E.J. Williams, Jr.) out there that (are) just as good and can make any play that I can make. They make the job easier for us, and when we have a run game going, that makes it easier for all three of us. I'm glad we have some things clicking right now, we just got to keep it up.

On redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza…
He just puts that time in. He watches film, he studies, he knows what the defense is doing out there and puts the work in every single day.

On blocking for teammates…
It gives me a lot of pride. My coaches preach every single day you got to block. If you don't block, you don't get the rock. That's what we preach. The explosive runs that our running backs have, a lot of that comes from us guys blocking down the field. I know we can do better, we just got to put in the effort.

D'Angelo Ponds / DB / Jr.
On punt block touchdown…
We were talking about it all week. [In] Big games I like to make plays for the team. I feel like that was a big play, and I just did my job and came off the edge.

On team's potential…
I feel like we can be dominant. Like I said, just not taking our foot off the gas, and I think we did that today.

On special teams…
It's an emphasis on this team. I feel like there (are) three phases of this game we have to be dominant in. I feel like that's not something that we take for granted, as you can see. We take [pride] in all three phases of the game.

On what sets redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza apart…
[It's] His knowledge and his IQ of the game. He can tell what coverage you're in, even if you're disguising. I feel like his IQ of the game is very high, so that's what sets him apart.

Tyrique Tucker / DL / R-Jr.
On dominant performance…
That was our goal, and that's what we wanted to go out there and accomplish. I feel like Coach Haines really challenged us to do so, so it kind of felt like we had a chip on our shoulder to get it done. That's kind of what we want to do every game and every week. Just keep building, building, and building on what we've got going. Keep looking inward and get better every week, and I feel like we were able to put that out there.

On three straight weeks with double-digit tackles-for-loss…
We just want to go out there and play fast and physical. Just like Coach Cig always says: Relentless. Just keep going vertical and attacking, attacking, attacking, and our backs will make us right. I think it's pretty good that we've been able to keep getting this done, and we just got to get better and better every week.

On "breaking their will"…
You know we really didn't look. We keep it play by play, and every play is zero-zero. We just want to keep doing that every game and every play, so we really don't look at it until the end. And then we see the byproduct of what we've been doing. We don't think about it until after, and then we celebrate in the locker room.

Bret Bielema | Illinois Head Coach
Opening Statement
BB: Obviously, we're still disappointed. But first give credit to Indiana. Not only their football team, their football coaches, their staff, to that entire stadium, to the administration, anything that they did. I think it's a very impressive venue. Obviously we didn't start off good, which added fuel to the fire. But you know, I've been around this league a long time, and that was a very very impressive atmosphere to be in. Good credit to them. If there's one thing I saw right away, the momentum swung, and we were never able to get anything back on offense, defense, special teams. Obviously the punt miscue, we actually only had ten players on the field, which threw our guys count off and freed up a guy on the backside edge, and we walked into it in our direction of the punt. Defensively, they really attacked some of our leverages, and some of the things we obviously put on film and they had a good plan for us. This staff traditionally over time, we've watched them the last couple of years, have taken advantage of what you give them as good as anybody. Gonna really assess what we do defensively and offensively. We just never got anything going. We had too many second-and-longs, which led to third-and-longs. Obviously, too much pressure on Luke (Altmyer). We can't play a game like this, so we gotta look at our protections and what we're asking our guys to do. We can't have him get hit the way that he was and have any success. And obviously we gotta be able to run the football a little more consistently. However that has to happen with the personnel groupings, or the schemes or the plays. It's definitely a recipe for failure when that happens. I'm at a loss for words. I've never been a part of anything like that.

On issues protecting quarterback…
BB: Well I think two things. What we're asking them to do, we have to make sure, assessment wise. I also give Indiana a lot of credit. But we definitely can't live this way [...] That's one opportunity I had a really good feeling. We have some good players up there. But obviously we were not playing that way. The numbers speak that, so we gotta find the right answer and circle back.

On not finding answers for Indiana…
BB: Obviously we did a lot to get to this point. And a couple of our guys driving over here yesterday on the bus were really excited to see this team play and excited to play in this environment. But the way that it unfolded, it looked like we didn't belong in that environment. That was a concerning part to me. I think the biggest thing that we have to do is, if we have good players, which I think we do, we have to be able to let them play fast. If we're giving them too much, and they aren't able to perform because we're clouding them with anything before the ball is snapped, that's something we gotta really look at closely. I'd rather do very few things and do them very very well and be efficient with what we're doing than doing too much.

Illinois Student-Athletes
Luke Altmyer / QB/ Sr.
On team performance…
LA: Just various points of error, a lot of frustration. It's sickening, it really is to go in full confidence expecting to win. I address the fans, the team in general; I didn't play well at all, I just didn't. Overall our whole team, it's hard to face right now, but it's two options; sit around and mope and point the finger and feel bad for yourself, or get up and take advantage of the next opportunity and the next day. The sun's going to come up tomorrow, and we better make the most of it. Next Saturday's coming for sure, and I am very confident this entire group will make the most of it. But it is very sickening and very frustrating.

On self-evaluation…
LA: The last thing I want to do is point the finger. I didn't play well. Credit to Indiana for playing well and flying around and making a difficult force. I didn't help us out in that fashion, in that world. Like I said, each individual I don't think played well, is the bottom line. But credit to them. We'll go back and watch it and see it, but I love these guys. I love this team. We've been very successful with the same people that we just went out there on that field with; the same five offensive lineman. We went 10 games with those guys last year, and we will figure it out. I know that.

On moving forward…
LA: It's not easy. We have good leadership in the building. You have to move on. Saturday's coming, and it's going to be here, and the sun will come up tomorrow. There is going to be work to be done, so we just have to maximize it . Like I said, we have been through a lot. A lot of these players play together and have been through a lot of highs and a lot of lows. We know how to just keep moving forward. We're confident we are a group with a lot of ability, and it's just that tonight wasn't our night. We will maximize the day tomorrow and move forward to put ourselves in a good position and stay level headed. But, pray to God. He is still so good in every single moment, and we are going to bring ourselves back up.

Dylan Rosiek / LB / Sr.
On injuries…
DR: I mean, obviously, you'd love to have the 11 that you started the game (with) finish the game. It's hard, but we keep plugging and playing. You know, that's the standard. It doesn't matter if you're the first team out there or the third team out there. We need to find a way to get out there.

On moving forward…
DR: We will come in here tomorrow, same time as always. We watch the film, learn from the mistakes and learn how we are going to critique it. Then we play, and we attack this week. A big quote that I like is, 'Can you commit to the process without being emotionally tied to the results.' So, we didn't have the result we wanted tonight, but at the end of the day we have to commit to the process just like we did this week.

Players Mentioned

Aiden Fisher

Fernando Mendoza

D'Angelo Ponds

Elijah Sarratt

Tyrique Tucker

Related Videos