Oct. 3, 2009

Recap |  Final Stats

Northern Illinois, 38, Western Michigan 3
October 3, 2009
Postgame quotes

Northern Illinois Players

Jake Coffman, DE
On the mental game against Western Michigan...
"We came out and did a lot of running early. We had great preparation this week. We came out and set the tone early on, to get the ball rolling. We got going and set the momentum for the rest of the game."

On catching the interception and running....
"We did a stunt inside and I think I just got pushed outside. I put my hands up and caught the ball off of a deflection. Then I ran like crazy."

On putting pressure on WMU quarter back Tim Hiller...
"Working on pressure on defense was our main focus from last week. We focused on building a solid defense. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback to throw, and it worked in our favor today."

Chandler Harnish, QB
On getting a win homecoming weekend...
"We talked about how coach Kill hasn't lost a homecoming game in eight years. We had families, alumni, and Leshon Johnson in the stands, and it really helped us on the field today."

On protecting the ball...
"One thing coach Kill said was, don't turn the ball over and we'll win. The offensive line did a great job protecting me and the running backs did a great job protecting the ball today."

Patrick George, CB
On remaining mentally focused during the game...
"We knew we needed to be focused. During the week we talked about focus, and we knew we needed to make sure that the other team knows we are there with them and I think that we were able to give the rest of the team confidence."

Western Quotes

Head Coach Bill Cubit

"We played as bad as we could have played. It was a good game for them and an embarrassing game for us. That was probably as bad as it has been in my five years here. They out-toughed us mentally and physically. They were a better football team than us mentally and physically. We weren't tough enough."

On Western Michigan's first turnover...

"You go in there feeling good and then we have a wide-out going down the field and he doesn't know where the ball is at. Tim read the coverage and when you're passing, anyone can come down with the ball. And we just had a guy who said, `Well, I'm not going to get the ball,' and that's what I meant by lacking a mental toughness."

On the fake field goal attempt...

"We thought it was going to be good. We threw the ball a little bit behind the receiver, if he threw it out in front who knows. What was the score? 38-3, it could have been 38-6."

On moving forward and preparing for next week...

"[We have to] go back to work. You can't accept what happened out there today. You either fight or give up. These are life lessons. Nothing comes easy out there. We need some guys to step up a little bit more."

Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller

On the overall offensive performance...

"There was a lack of execution. We came out and didn't do the things we needed to do to get the job done and [the loss] was the result. The thing about offense is that we need all of our guys on the same page, doing the same thing. When you only have 9 or 10 guys on the same page, it doesn't work."

On NIU's defense...

"[NIU] gave us what we expected and we just didn't finish drives. We did not match their intensity level or execution level."

Western Michigan Linebacker Austin Pritchard

On Chad Spann's running game...

"The defense's job is to tackle. When you don't put yourself in a good position and you're playing out of control they'll run all over you. Obviously, it's the defense's goal to tackle a guy and get him down. And when you don't do that, [the other team] will win games."