Gopher Football
“¢ It was an awesome feeling to win at Illinois. It’s a tough grind everyday, to see the kids and coaches get that reward with a victory was awesome
“¢ In the locker room, you’d think we won a championship, but that’s okay to celebrate. No one expected us to win that game, but we kept the faith and it paid off for them
“¢ It was a wild game, they scored, we scored, we found a way to come back and our D made 2 big stops, had that big kick return, and the 2 minute drive. So happy to see Adam Weber execute that. That carried us into the bye week.
“¢ There’s more pep in their step, real smiles and real laughter
“¢ This week, it will be cool, but a great November game, it’s senior day for 15 guys. It hits you when you come out of the tunnel that last time, it’s really emotional. For 90% or more, they’ll never get to play football again.
“¢ We’re going to practice outside today at 3:30 so I expect you all to come out (laughing)
“¢ We’re playing Iowa for Floyd of Rosedale. When I was a grad assistant with Lou Holtz, no one gave us a chance but we won that game then. We want to win that. To make it a rivalry, we need to win more.
“¢ When you look at Iowa, Coach Ferentz has done a tremendous job over there.
“¢ They lost 3 games within the last minute or so, it’s not like they’ve been knocked around
“¢ You know when you play Iowa they won’t try to fool you, they play the best fundamentals in the Big 10. That’s why they’ve been so successful.
“¢ They’re a top 10 team in turnover margin, I think top 2. They’re physical. On Saturday, the most physical team will win.
“¢ Iowa always travels well, so I hope after our win, our fans will come out on Saturday
“¢ Ricky Stanzi has had an outstanding year, it seems like whoever they put in at running back does an outstanding job for them
“¢ As we come down here to the end, it’s been an honor and privilege to be the interim football coach. I didn’t want to be, I didn’t want these circumstances, but it’s been an honor. We’re not that far away from getting stability like Iowa, and build a program. I don’t think
it’s as far as people think it is. It’s been fun.
“¢ Injury front ““ Ryan Orton is the only one that’s questionable. We’ll get Dom Alford, Eddie Olson, and Carufel back. Bryant Allen’s ankle is still questionable as well.
“¢ Kim Royston does not have any chance at coming back ““ unless there’s a miracle
“¢ What has Horton liked the best? Having his own shower and bathroom (joking). He didn’t know the defensive players as well, so that’s been great. Being able to make decisions he’s enjoyed. His losing streak had grown into King Kong. At least now his losing streak won’t follow him to the grave (joking). For the most part, it was pretty smooth, had a lot of support from administration. Our responsibility was for our players to still do the right thing, so the next coach will have the players going in the right direction.
“¢ If the new coach wanted to keep me, I’d be excited about that. I love living in Minnesota. I know there are not great odds though.
“¢ The team is looking forward to a cold weather home game. Depending on how cold Horton gets, he may start shortening outdoor periods (joking).
“¢ What’s next? I will be here every day until they hire a new head coach, and will be here every day for the players until the day when I come in and the key won’t turn. Then you find the Amtrak (joking again).
“¢ The excitement of winning a game is huge, and going into a buy week, we gave the kids Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off, which they haven’t had since we started.
“¢ On Thursday, we’re going to start at 9am ““ 11am. We’re having a nice Thanksgiving meal, and I told them to double the budget for dinner. A lot of these kids can’t go home, so we want it to feel like home. No processed turkey, I want a real turkey for them!
“¢ It will be either Gray or Weber in there. You never know if there will be “œtrickeration”, my wife loves that, she’s on me all the time for that. She wanted to last week.
“¢ IL was the 1st BT win in 3 years, and this is our last chance to get a trophy. We broke one streak, why not another.
“¢ I talk to Brewster all the time, he’s running with his shirt off on the beach (joking). He was really excited about the Illinois win. Just because you lost doesn’t mean you’re a loser or a bad person, he’ll rise back up again somewhere.
“¢ If Horton had to give Frazier advice ““ he wouldn’t, he’s not in the advice business. Lezlie is a sharp man, the players respond to him and he’s done a great job on defense.
“¢ I think there are some good young players here. Receivers and defensive backs, you need some help immediately, and possible add JUCO’s. The competition at running back next year will be fierce, there are a lot of good players.
“¢ Has 55-0 come up? Not with Horton, he wasn’t here. Let’s move forward.