Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

NIU Football 2015
NIU 27, Western Michigan 19
November 18, 2015
DeKalb, Ill. – Huskie Stadium

 

Western Michigan Head Coach P.J. Fleck

Opening Statement:

“It just wasn’t our night. We had a lot of opportunities, but again one thing about that football team out there (NIU) is they take advantage of those opportunities. They’ve been there, they’ve done that. And we just not over that hump yet. To get to where you need to be, you’ve got to have that experience first and sometimes you’ve got to take it on the chin. Sometimes you’ve got to have those really tough losses. I mean we got second and goal on the one-yard line and can’t punch it in. The Huff kid had eight carries and 160 yards. Three of them were just explosive plays with one guy not in his gap. But we played really solid on both sides of the ball, we just didn’t finish drives on offense. And on defense we just gave up here or there a big play that popped.”

On what caused the NIU defensive goal-line stand in the fourth quarter:

“Pressure, pressure. I mean you’ve got to give them all the credit in the world. Their D-line pinned their ears back and went. We were talking about different things that we could do with the time not necessarily in our favor. We wanted to be able to run the clock way down, so they wouldn’t have another possession to go and win it. But their D-line did a great job pinning their ears back and getting after us. And when we did run some quick runs, they were inside and blew us up pretty good.”

On allowing NIU’s explosive plays on offense:

“One kid was six inches out of his gap and – bang – they explode. We had to be able to stop the run. We had to. Everything was committed to stopping the run and we had the right calls, we were just six inches out of position. And that’s what a great football team does to you. With an average football team, you get away with it. But we didn’t get away with it – that’s for sure.”

 

NIU Player Quotes

Linebacker Boomer Mays

On the goal-line stand and other key defensive plays:

“Yeah I felt like we came together as a defense when it was time to step up and play. Especially on the goal-line. I thought we played tremendous down there. We just have to know the situation, and we have to step up to the adversity pretty much. When we’re in that goal-line situation, we have to come out on top.”

Quarterback Ryan Graham

On this game being a signature win:

“Yeah, we take every game one week at a time. And this was just the next game we had. It’s big for our confidence, and it’s a big win for us.”

On throwing the ball with heavy wind conditions:

“The wind was going crazy tonight. Throwing with it, the ball just kind of took off on me. Throwing into it, I was able to have a little bit more control on it and was able to get a couple touchdowns with that. It’s actually easier throwing into it rather than with it.”

On starting a key drive inside your own five-yard line:

“Every drive we have a sense of confidence, no matter where we’re at. We knew we had to put one in there, and we knew we had to go 97 yards to do it. With my experience in each game, I feel like I get more confident and getting two wins under the belt builds my confidence and the team’s confidence in me. It’s a great win for us, and I look forward to next week.”

Running back Jordan Huff

On his big game and explosive runs, specifically the 83-yard touchdown:

“The offensive line really worked hard and gave me some great blocks and made some great holes. I had great blocking on the edge, which gave me the opportunity to make some plays. Initially when I got by No. 6 (WMU safety Asantay Brown), I knew I could beat the secondary and get into the end zone.”

Wide receiver Kenny Golladay

On knowing the team has to win the next game to make the MAC Championship:

“It’s not really hard. We know we have to come in and work hard every day. We don’t enjoy this for 24 hours. Coach says we only get 12 hours.”

 

NIU Head Coach Rod Carey

Opening Statement:

“It was a good win. We are happy with the win. I don’t think the offense played particularly well all the time. I don’t think the defense played particularly well all the time. But you know, the times we needed to play well, we did. So it’s a great team victory. And then special teams was a huge deal tonight as well. We got a turnover on special teams, and we only put our punt team out there once, but it was a good key punt. That got them back to midfield there, so I think all three phases did a timely job of playing well.”

On the Huskies making plays at the right times:

“I think that when we get the opportunity, guys are so focused on what they have to do at that time and they understand the situation that when the plays present themselves – I’ve got faith in these guys, all of them, that they’re going to make them.”

On the decisive defensive stands in the fourth quarter:

“I give a lot of credit to our defense. They were really timely. Paris (Logan) wasn’t with us tonight. He was sick. Corey (Thomas) went out pretty early in the game, so we’re playing with a short deck right there. And those guys, next man up, they went in just like you saw when Ryan’s turn was called (at Toledo). Boomer (Mays) understands this now from the defense, next man up.

On the three-play, 97-yard touchdown drive for NIU:

“That obviously was key. Anytime you can take the ball and go 97 yards in three plays, I think that’s a good thing. It changes field position because you’re looking at it where they’re going to have good field position, then you turn it into points. Then you kick off, and we got the turnover. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do anything with that turnover. I think it was a good key part of the game.”

On the experience of the Huskies in making big plays:

“Every team is so different. We don’t look at it like we’ve been there before last year or the year before. You don’t because every team changes so much year to year. Just ask these guys, Jordan (Huff) wasn’t playing a whole lot last year, and now he’s a key cog. And Kenny (Golladay) was redshirted last year, and now he’s a key cog. Boomer (Mays) has obviously played a lot. When you have sporadic things like that, you don’t say ‘alright Boomer, you’ve got to tell everybody else how to do this.’ You just say ‘this is how you do it in practice’ and you worry about the details and the little things. There isn’t any magic fairy dust on this thing in any way, shape or form. It’s really boring and really cliché, but that’s how we live. And you guys are always asking questions about there has to be something else – there isn’t. Ask them (the players). What do we talk about all week? Boring little details.”

On the winning tradition at NIU:

“One thing I can speak to a little bit is that in my five years here, it’s always a senior-led team – and it always will be. Every senior class passes it down to the next about here’s what you do and here’s how you do it. Sometimes when guys don’t understand a little thing here or a little thing there, that learning does get passed down. But it’s still in the doing that matters, not just in the learning – the doing.”