Oct. 23, 2010

Recap |  Final Stats

Northern Illinois 33, Central Michigan7

Brigham Field | Huskie Stadium

DeKalb, Ill.

October 23, 2010

 POST GAME QUOTES

 

NIU Head Coach Jerry Kill

 Opening statement…

 “We’re excited about being able to play a unique schedule. We played back to back to back [home games] and it’s important for you to win at home, we’ve talked about that all throughout spring ball and all through the offseason. We’ve been able to do that and I’m proud of the kids’ preparations and the way they work. I still think we’ve have room to improve, but I think we’re getting better. Certainly we will enjoy the victory, it was a good win for us, and then preparations begin tomorrow for the next one.”

 

On the Huskies strong second half play …

“I think it goes back to the kids and it goes back to the offseason where they were waking up at six in the morning, like today. Because of the weather we had to be up early to walk over to the rec center and waking up at six o’clock in the morning probably brought some memories back for these guys.  It’s all that preparation that you talk about all season, about how you have to win the fourth quarter and how you have to be able to play for four quarters. If you’re in great condition, and you lift and do what you are supposed to do you’ll stay healthier.  The kids have bought into the work ethic. I’m sure these kids would tell you that Coach [Eric] Klein deserves a tremendous amount of credit, but give the kids credit, too.  They work hard and buy into the fact that we’re going to be a football team. It’s more the kids than the coaches.  It goes back to that training, and they’ve trained hard to be a second half team.”

 

On the Huskies running back combination…

“The great thing about our players is we have four really talented running backs.  They all have their role. The thing with Cameron [Bell] is that he understands he’s still learning the offense, Jas [Hopkins] is still learning the offense and the other are two wily old veterans [Spann and Crider], who understand everything. Those kids have a tremendous relationship. Not one of them complains about anything, they enjoy each other, and they help each other. When one of them has success, they all get excited. On a lot of teams, egos get involved but so far so good. They’ve handled it really well.”

 

NIU Players

 

Senior Tailback Chad Spann

On beating CMU for the first time in his career:

“It’s tremendous. I’m in my fourth year here and I’ve never beaten Central Michigan until today. We stood up before the game and us seniors got up and talked about how it’s a big game for all of us. The younger guys might not understand it yet. We had never beaten those guys before, here or at Central Michigan. It was a terrific win for us all.”

On the Huskies dominating the third quarter:

“We made some mental mistakes in the first half that beat us; we were beating ourselves.  So we just corrected those mental mistakes. We went out there and just executed. The relationships in our running back group are amazing. When one guy gets going it gets everyone excited. When big Cam [Cameron Bell] got out there, and he hasn’t played for two weeks, he runs somebody over and runs for thirty yards—that gets everybody excited. I get to come in and just finish it up. It’s always fun being able to switch it up like that and see other guys successful because it makes me want to work harder.”

On having multiple 100-yard games this season:

“It’s tremendous. Like Cameron said, he’s come a long way and I’ve come a long way, too. Coach has put a lot of trust in me. Coming from where I was as a walk-on player to a starter, it shows how much he believes in me, being able to run the ball 23 times this week and 31 times last week. Just the confidence he has in me, and like Cam said, you don’t want to let a guy like that down.”

Junior Tailback Cameron Bell

On his performance:

“For me, it’s really not about me.  It’s about our team. When Coach [Jerry] Kill called my number, I wanted to go out there and execute plays to the best of my ability. The only thing I can really say is the offensive line did a spectacular job blocking up front. When there was a hole I just tried to hit as hard as I could. I got a few things going and opened up some things to help Chad get three touchdowns.”

On missing the last two games:

“It’s been a learning experience for me. I still have so many things to work on. Just getting the opportunity to go out there is the best thing in the world. It’s great to play for a man like Coach Kill who would really go to the ends of the earth for you. I would be the first to admit that nobody ever believed in me. Coach Kill was one of the first people to really just take a shot and take a chance on me. You don’t want to let someone like that down when they give you an opportunity.”

Free Safety Jimmie Ward

On how he learned the art of blocking punts:

“I blocked a couple of punts in my high school days. Coach [Jay] Sawvel really taught me the perfect technique on blocking punts.”

 

Central Michigan Head Coach Dan Enos

 

Opening statement…

 

“I thought we competed and played hard.  We turned the ball over and then in the second half we got the running game going and that’s about it.”

 

On CMU’s first-half plays…

 

“We’re just not playing well in certain areas to make plays. Offensively we had receivers open at times and we didn’t hit them, or the left guard would get beat on a play and get sacked. We haven’t had guys make plays at those crucial times and once again it happened today.”

 

On what gave CMU difficulty in the second half…

 

“Northern Illinois schematically did the same thing, except better. Their backs ran extremely hard and broke tackles. It’s a game of momentum, when their backs break out, or their quarterback comes out and puts his head down and makes a play, it gets their team excited. That’s how I felt, their team fed off that energy, it caught our side and we weren’t able to respond.”

 

On his decision to switch quarterbacks…

 

“Because of very, very poor play, we wanted to shake him [Ryan Radcliff] up a little bit and see what Brandon (Fricke) could do.”

 

On CMU quarterback Ryan Radcliff’s play…

 

“At times I think he has improved and there are times where he has taken a step back and today he took a step back.”

 

On the fourth and inches play in the second half…

 

“We ran outside zone and we felt good about that all week. When we ran it today, our guy got beat at the point of the attack and the play was over.”

 

On his frustration with the loss…

 

“I told the team that I don’t want to hear the guys yell and scream, it’s time to buck up. Everyone in the room is involved in the losses. We have to find the answer and keep searching for it. There are some guys who are going to play hard and they always play hard. It is frustrating [the losing] but I am really frustrated.”