Iowa State-Illinois State Quotes

Sept. 3, 2005

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Iowa State-Illinois State Game Quotes

Illinois State Head Coach Denver Johnson
(Feelings coming into the game) "I am proud of the football team. Couldn't be any prouder unless we would have won."

(on Iowa State's play) "Certainly tip my hat to ISU, they are an excellent football team. They will go on to have a great year."

(on coming in as an underdog) "I'll never coach a game or ask a team to play a game unless I fully intend to win. Coming on the road as a heavy underdog you have to play good. I don't believe in moral victories, a loss is a loss."

(on playing in Ames) "What a great place to play college football. It is a fabulous atmosphere to play."

(on Iowa State's defense) "That is a very good defensive front. We knew it would be tough chore to run the ball."

(on their defense) "We are kind of light on the defensive side of the ball so that made it difficult to match up with ISU. I thought we held up pretty good against the run."

(on their quarterback) "Throughout the game I thought it looked like Luke got more comfortable."

Illinois State Wide Receiver Lauren Robinson
"Coming on the road this is a tough loss. We have to get ready for Drake and fight hard to get our first win. Coming into this game we were big underdogs. We started to click a little more in the second half. Getting 177 yards is great, but it was not good enough. It's a loss and it hurts. They have us rated seventh in the Gateway we think people are disrespecting us. We showed tonight we can play with a lot of teams. They shut our running game down in the first half and it took us a little off track. They were loading the box to stop us so we tried to beat them going one-on-one in the passing game." Illinois State Defensive back Jesse Ceaser
"(on the fumble return for a touchdown) I just went after the ball and picked it up and all I saw was the end zone. Iowa State made good adjustments after halftime and started to beat us with the pass. We struggled a little bit adjusting to their passing game."

Illinois State quarterback Luke Drone
"In the first half, we did not execute the run. We got it going in the second half by throwing the ball. We came in tonight to win the game and we are not here for moral victories. We did not execute in certain areas and that cost us.

(On the interception by Berryman) "It was a play where he read the screen well. I did not think he was going to drop back and he did. I should have tried to run it instead of throwing it."

Iowa State's Tony Yelk
"There's always room to improve, but I'll take this for a first game. You've always got to be ready, and I was just trying to take the approach of being a back-up or a starter; I didn't know what I would be. You're only as good as your last kick. In my six years here I've learned a lot about that and been through many ups and downs. As far as being the number one guy, I'd like to think this helped my campaign, but you never know what can happen.

Iowa State's Jason Berryman
"I felt real good about my first game back. I think we've got to improve a lot just like anyone else. I didn't really have any expectations going into tonight; I just wanted to play and see what I could do. Not playing for awhile was somewhat a factor in my game, but I was still felt well conditioned. Next week we've got to come out with more intensity and focus, and I think we can improve greatly."

Iowa State's Bret Meyer
"Obviously we could always play a lot better. We could of had enough of what we were doing before. We knew they'd come hard and play hard. We knew they were good football players. Two fumbles, those are plays I shouldn't be making.

Iowa State Head Coach Dan McCarney
"They were a tough, tenacious and confident team out there tonight. They came out to win every snap and we were fortunate enough to come away with a win. I give a lot of credit to Denver (Johnson) and his staff."

"We have to be the most improved team in the country in order for us to have a chance against Iowa next week. They looked dominant, devastating and deep. They were able to rest their starters early so we know they'll be fresh next week."

"We gave up too many big plays due to poor technique, hurt ourselves with offensive penalties. Our performance in the first half left a lot to be desired. They were quicker, tougher and had more heart."

"Tony (Yelk) did a nice job after not kicking a football for two years and if I would give a game ball it would be to him."

(McCarney said that Yelk is the new kicker)

"Troy (Blankenship) was outstanding. He pinned them deep a couple of times and had a long of 55 yards."

"(Austin) Flynn got his first start under his belt and was consistent, tough, looking for the extra yards and showed he is one of our better blockers. (R.J.) Sumrall also had a nice performance and made some nice catches across the middle."

"The staple of our offense for many years has been low turnovers and fumbles. Stevie (Hicks) missed some practice time and I know that's no excuse but we know he's a lot better than that."

On 41 rushes and 41 passes: We want to be balanced but have better results with rushing. They were beating us on slants, penetration and they were physical and tough.

"Berryman did some nice things out there even though he got tired. He'll go to bed early tonight and wake up sore tomorrow but it's been a long time since he's played a full football game. I said that Cephus, Moorehead and Berryman would get a lot of playing time this year and it showed tonight.

Players Mentioned

Jason Berryman

Jason Berryman

Bret Meyer

Bret Meyer

Tony Yelk

Tony Yelk

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