Audio was provided by Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (still waiting on players).
DeShaun Foster
OPENING STATEMENT:
"We put together somewhat of a four-quarter game. That fourth quarter might not have gone the way that we wanted to go, but the first half really did. Thrid quarter, we were in there. We kind of stopped and they scored a touchdown also, but my players are resilient and they continue to show that each game. Ethan came out, played a really well game. I think these are all career highs for him, completions, attempts, touchdowns and yards [passing]. So that was really huge. All three running backs scored a touchdown – and they were all receiving, actually. So, I was just fired up for the way that they played. Schwes got his, what, 10 tackles in a game. So what is that, five in a row? Yeah, five in a row for him. So, I'm just fired up for the way that this team played, you know. We were up more than the score shows, but that was a good team. They kept fighting and I'm just glad that we were able to execute toward the end of the fourth quarter and pull this victory out."
HOW HAPPY ARE YOU FOR ETHAN? OBVIOUSLY HE'S BEEN FIGHTING IT THIS YEAR AND TO HAVE A CAREER DAY, TO GET THE FIRST BIG TEN WIN.
"Well, he was trending last week, too. You know, he just had three picks that were very unfortunate, but I think he threw for the most yards against that defense. It was ranked pretty high in pass defense. So, you know, he just did it again the same week and was able to, what, he threw for 383? Yeah, he threw for 383 so that was huge for him. He played a great game and just proud of the guy. You know, the team really rallies behind him and he's a true team player and a real captain and a leader on this offense."
HIS ABILITY TO HIT THE PASSES IN THE BACKFIELD, WAS THAT PART OF THE GAME PLAN OR SOMETHING AS THE GAME PROGRESSED?
"Just probably going through his reads and seeing who's – you know, they were kind of dropping out of their one wheel route to Keegan, they just, nobody covered him so that's why he hit him on that. But, you know, he was just getting through his progressions and if he didn't see anything he was either tucking it or getting it to the backs. So, it was just good that our backs were able to make a couple people miss and, you know, get to the end zone."
YARDS AFTER CATCH WERE CRITICAL FOR YOU GUYS, TOO, TODAY. HOW IMPORTANT WAS THAT GETTING INTO THE SECOND AND THIRD LEVEL?
"That was really huge because we hadn't seen a lot of that this year. So, just we wanted to get our YAC up, you know, and just our yards after catch, it was really good. But, you know, I'm just glad guys were getting successful, playing hard. They just didn't quit, you know, and they didn't get complacent after having a big lead like we did in the third quarter. So, I'm just proud of these guys and, you know, I'm going to enjoy this plane ride home."
RUN GAME HAD OVER 100 YARDS UNTIL THE VICTORY FORMATION. A STEP FORWARD?
"Yeah, most definitely. You still want to be able to run the ball with your backs. I know Ethan might've had the longest run of the season, but it was still huge for us to be able to get somewhat of a run game going and establish the run game."
ON CARSON SCHWESINGER LOGGING 10 TACKLES FOR A FIFTH CONSECUTIVE GAME?
"We see it every day, so the way that he plays this game and the way that he approaches it, you know, it’s all in his training – like, everything that he does, he trains like that, every special team he’s on, and he’s a guy that wants to be on it – we’re not forcing him, he doesn’t like to miss reps, so when you have players like that and he’s truly a captain on his team, people respond to him and he might not say much but actions speak way louder than words and they try to follow the way that he leads."
WHAT DOES FIRST BIG TEN WIN MEAN FOR YOU?
"It’s more about the guys, so I’m excited to get a Big Ten win but we’ve got a few more games and I would like to get bowl-eligible so we’re going to continue to play and hopefully we can get there."
BEST OFFENSIVE GAME ALL SEASON, WAS THAT YOU OR RUTGERS?
"I think you could kind of see that this offense can be explosive, but we just weren’t able to do it repetitively in games. You know, we might do it in one quarter and slow down in the second and come back in the third and get nothing in the fourth, so we were able to just put together a few drives and back-to-back points and the defense played off the offense, the offense played off the defense, special teams came in and played, so we were to just do some good stuff, but like I’ve been telling our guys, it’s all about us, you know? It’s more of what we’re doing out there, let alone what the defense or the opponent is doing to us, so I’m just excited that we’re able to execute and make some plays."
HOW IMPORTANT TO STOP TWO TWO-POINT CONVERSIONS?
"That’s huge, you know, it was something that I know coach Ikaika (Malloe) was really fired up about, to really make sure that if they got in a situation where they were going for two that we were able to stop them and we did that twice, so they really reflected in the score at the end of the game, so that was pretty huge that we were able to do that."
BLEMISH WAS DBS WITH THREE PENALTIES IN A ROW AND GETTING BEATEN SEVERAL TIMES?
"Yeah, a couple of those penalties are just off the eye and what they see, so one of them, yeah, he did hit him out of bounds and that probably shouldn’t have happened with Ramon (Henderson), but those pass interferences, we can work on that, but we have a whole week to get better, so I’m excited that we have a bye week coming this week and we’ve got a few things that we can clean up and when you get a bye week, you get to get back healthy and get ready for this next opponent.
RUTGERS’ ATTACK OF VICTORY FORMATION, YOU WERE READY FOR THAT?
"Yeah, we watch film, so we saw. [Laughs] Yeah, he’s been doing that for a while but it’s football, you know, so if that’s what they want to do, we’re going to – the fact that we got into victory formation just says enough, so that’s what we wanted to get to and that’s the best play in football, so that’s what we wanted to do.
SO YOU DIDN’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT?
"I mean, it is what it is, you know? It is what it is."
WHAT SEE ON ONSIDE KICK AND WOULD YOU HAVE ENCOURAGED THE RETURN?
"No, because I would have took the knee so then the defense doesn’t have to go back and out and play, you know, so it was huge that Logan did fair-catch that and it got called back, but we didn’t want to put our defense back on the field and they have to play more when we can end the game offensively. We just wanted to get to under two minutes and then we knew we’d have the victory."
