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NIU FOOTBALL 2015
NIU vs. Murray State, Sept. 12, 2015
Huskie Stadium - DeKalb, Ill.

NIU Head Coach Rod Carey

Opening statement...

"Really happy about the win, I don't think we had the fast start we were looking for but you have to give credit to Murray State, they're a well-coached ball club. Coach (Stewart) had them ready to go and they came out and did some things, for the second week in a row, we hadn't expected, so it took us a little bit to make some adjustments on the offensive side. The defense played great all day, only giving up 19 points, the other seven was on offense, so that wasn't good, but overall really happy with how we came out in the second half, how we played. I thought we got the running game going even though they were selling out to stop it. We played a lot of guys, we played almost everybody on our team today that was eligible to play. Anytime you can get live reps for guys I think that's really good."

On the conversation right before Paris Logan's interception...

"We just talked about the little things, the details that we needed to do, what they could be running, what they might come out in. The defensive guys got ready, they did a great job, Paris did a great job playing the ball on that."

On the touchdown at the end of the first half and scoring quickly in the second half...

"We got the interception, we didn't score, we punted, then we got a stop and came out and scored in the two-minute drill which was really good to see. I thought that ran about as good as you can run it and then the second half I think we scored in under a minute, I think it was 3 or 4 plays, a big play to Kenny (Golladay). I think that was a big momentum shift and our guys really got on top of it and really pulled away." 

On slow starts...

"I wish we could get a faster start, but we'll work on that. We'll go back to work, we're not perfect, believe me, but we responded at the right time and made some plays."

On the struggles of the running game in the first half...

"They had nine guys up there, so it's tough to run against nine when you only have seven to block, so they're playing with a couple more. Drew did a good job with his legs early and then we found some different sets. If they're going to sell out to stop the run like that you're going to be able to throw it. That's football 101, so when we did that it opened back up the run game." 

On Shane Wimann's versatility...

"He and Desroy (Maxwell) really have good skill sets. He has a good skill set, so you like to use that. He can get up in there and block real well, he's got good catching ability and run after the catch (ability) and same with Desroy, and Ryan Stendler does a good job too, so I think all three of them really have those skill sets."

NIU Quarterback Drew Hare

On his first long touchdown pass to Kenny Golladay...

"I liked the coverage that I saw. I liked it for Kenny's sake. I put a ball up there, and I didn't see the rest. I kind of felt like it wasn't a good enough spot for him after I got hit, but it was.

On how the NIU offense improved after Paris Logan's interception...

"Like coach said, Paris had the pick and we felt like we should have scored on that drive, but we didn't. Then they got another big stop for us in the two-minute drill. It went really well. Going into half time, we made a few adjustments that, you know, we needed to make because, like coach said, they came out with some things we didn't expect. But when we came out in the second half, you could feel the momentum, that's for sure."

On his confidence in the offense entering the game...

"I felt like we had a good week of practice. I thought the plan was really good. I was confident in that for sure. We had a little bit of a slow start, but once we got our rhythm and when we got synchronized with the receivers a little bit, I feel like we started making plays."

NIU Defensive Back Paris Logan

On the importance of his interception...

"Yeah, we definitely needed the stop. I feel like if that ball was going anywhere else, we still would have gotten that stop. It definitely helped our momentum to get our offence on the field."


Murray State Head Coach Mitch Stewart

Opening Statement...

"I thought our kids fought hard. I thought they played a four-quarter game. I'm very proud for the effort they gave from the first whistle to the last whistle. Obviously there were a lot of things we got to clean up. Turnovers killed us on offense. I thought that was the biggest thing. I haven't looked at any stats or anything - just so you know, I'm not a big stat guy. But I do know one stat that killed us tonight was three turnovers on offense, especially one down there on the goal line. But overall, the biggest thing that I'm proud of is the way our kids fought through the four quarters."

On NIU's interception in the end zone...

"It was a dumb call. I'll be honest with you, it was a stupid call on my part. We thought we had something and we didn't have it. I'm not going to let KD (Humphries) off the hook that easy - it was a dumb call, but it was an even worse throw and he knew it as soon as it left his hand. But we tried to get a little double move on that corner. We had one-on-one coverage and we were just going put it up in the back of the end zone. He threw a back shoulder ball to a defender that was looking dead at him, and that's a recipe for disaster right there. I really thought that was where the game changed too. You could really see our sails deflate in a sense after that play."

On facing the NIU offense...

"I'll tell you one thing about NIU, they do a tremendous job. I remember on Tuesday I walked into the defensive staff room and they had all these white boards and I mean it was filled with stuff. I mean they do so much stuff offensively. Most of the time that makes you feel good as a coach because when people do that much stuff they're not very good at any of it. Well, NIU is totally different. They do all of that stuff and they're good at every bit of it."

On Murray State attempting to run the ball...

"I didn't know that I knew we ran the ball pretty well. I felt pretty good about running the ball. Again, what we were doing formationally on offense, we were trying to expand the field as much as we could. I'll tell you one thing about NIU - they are big and long. I mean you look out there on the field there at the beginning of the game, we were trying to do some things and put some formations in the boundaries and see if we could mess them up a little bit, but they're just so dang long. There's not a whole lot of room to work in the boundary."

On adjusting the defense to slow down NIU quarterback Drew Hare...

"No, we just kind of stuck with it just because we knew he was what he was off film. I'll tell you what we didn't know though is how big that joker is. He's a big kid. I mean he looks like a monster when he's standing in the middle of the field and you're looking at him, especially if there's a crown on the field he's way up there. But no, we knew what he was. We knew we had to contain him. And like I said, we knew that if he started letting that ball loose and taking big chunks of yardage we were going to be in trouble."