Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

NIU Head Coach Rod Carey

Opening statement ...  "Just a great game tonight. We have a ton of respect for Bowling Green, Coach Babers and his staff and their players. That's a good football team over there and kudos to them on their season and their MAC East Championship. I'm super excited for our university, our athletic department, our football staff, and most importantly our football players. All the credit goes to them on this. They said what they wanted. They said it back in January. And they just go it tonight. And it's because of all the hard work they did. And I know that's a cliché, but you know what you don't get here without hard work. And that's how they did it. And they bought into that. When I told them that, I said, `Alright if that's what you want, here's what you have to do.' They did it.  And so that's why all the credit goes to them in every way shape and form. Just so happy for my staff too. They work long hours, don't see their families a ton during the season, and now we have to go on the road recruiting. But, I'll tell you what, I'm really happy for them, couldn't be prouder of them as a group as well."

On playing a complete game ... "This was our best game to date, at the right time. And I told them in the locker room afterwards, and they know it. I said, now that we know how to do it, we got another one yet. And we want to keep playing this way because it feels really good when you play this way. And just really happy for them."

On what he saw from Drew Hare ... "His poise and his attitude. He never once tried to be anybody but Drew. And that's what he had to do to be successful. And he's kept getting better a little bit at a time. Sometimes I wasn't happy with him, sometimes he wasn't happy with me, but you know what, it's coming and you saw it tonight. So I'm really happy for him along with the rest of the players."

On the second half from each of the last two games ... "It's been good.  You game plan all week and you go over all the different scenarios.  After the first half you kind of know what's going on and you make adjustments with what's going on. The credit goes to the players because you get them in at the half and you tell them about adjustments and they have to go out and do it in a short amount of time and the last couple of weeks they have done it."

Senior safety Dechane Durante

On comparing this year's game to last year's ...  "It was definitely a big win for us. We felt like, I don't know if you want to say we owed them that. But, last year we thought we got embarrassed out here in the MAC Championship coming back for a third time and we knew we couldn't come out here and play bad and get jumped on again. It just feels good to win our third MAC Championship. And it feels good to beat Bowling Green, the team that embarrassed us last year."
 
On the defense setting the tone ...  "Definitely, I think our offense helped us out, by keeping the ball and staying on the field more, you know this game and moving the ball up and down the field. But definitely, turnovers were big early in the game. It got us up early and we thought we had a good chance and that's what happened tonight."
 
Sophomore quarterback Drew Hare
 
On if he expected to throw 50 passes ... "Honestly, no.  The way they were running their defense they were giving us some easy looks and I was able to take some easy throws to the outside."
 
On the touchdown pass to Luke Eakes ... "They had the look to throw the ball.  We had a play going to the outside and they covered it well but it left the backside open."