Nov. 22, 2010

Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Weekly News Conference

Opening Statement...
"Obviously we're playing a team (Wisconsin) that has 10 wins for a reason. Bret (Bielama) and his staff have done a tremendous job, Paul Chryst is one of the best coordinators in the country and they do what they do. Very similar to some of the other teams we've played this year they're very powerful running attack, great playaction pass off of it, three-headed monster at running back, (Scott) Tolzien has been very effective and efficient. They have (Lance) Kendricks back, (Isaac) Anderson and (Nick) Toon, they're their big-play guys but they get a number of guys involved at their skill positions. I've really been impressed by their fullback, Bradie Ewing, he really embraces the position and plays hard, he'll chop you down, he plays through the whistle. Their offensive line is enormous, on the left side they have 87 career starts between two guys. There's a lot of beef over there on that side, 327 and 323.

Defensively up front, J.J. Watt is an All-American and national defensive player of the year award candidate. He's got a great motor, he's very active, technically sound. The guys up front next to him don't get as much credit as J.J. but they have a wave, they play eight to nine guys. Their linebackers are very active. It's not just (Culmer) St. Jean, (Kevin) Claxton and (Blake) Sorenson, they play a number of guys there. (Jay) Valai has jumped out to me his entire career, he's a captain and has done a nice job. Their kickers are outstanding also. It's going to be a great challenge for us, it's going to take our best effort in practice to prepare for it. Our guys respond, we've been in this position before, I wish we weren't but we have been. Our attitude has been great and we'll come back this week and go to work."

On studying the film from the Illinois game...
"It was one of the tougher film sessions when I watched it Saturday night when I went home. We have areas that have to teach them, coach them and correct. When you get home after that kind of atmosphere -- our fans were great, it was an incredible atmosphere -- our inability to tackle was frustrating but we'll get back to work on it. The last time we went through this we came back and tackled really well. I just have to draw upon our previous experiences. (The number of missed tackles) was a couple more (than against Penn State), it got to 31. That was a real bugaboo. We gave up eight plays in the game that went for about 250 yards, that's the difference in the game."

On why NU struggled tackling vs. Illinois...
"To me it was angles and aggressiveness. We had guys in the hole, we had guys unblocked in the hole and for whatever reason we patted our feet instead of being aggressive like we were against Iowa. It's not a magical pill or solution, you just have to be more assertive and aggressive. We had enough guys in the box, it was about tackling and fitting right, kind of the A-B-C of defense, you have to fit right, get off blocks and tackle. If you can't get through A-B-C, then D-Z is going to be bad and that's what happened. We've got great coaches, we take responsibility for it, we've got to put them in better positions and make sure they're communicating well. I have all the confidence in the world in those guys, they've played pretty dang well all year. Obviously they had a bad day on Saturday but we've all had bad days, you flush it and move on. Instead of looking at the problem, our guys are saying we're going to go out there and solve it, have a great week of practice. It's a very physical football team we're about to play in Wisconsin."

On if NU trying to strip the ball caused missed tackles...
"I think there were a couple times late in the game that I saw guys (going for the strip) instead of getting balanced with their feet underneath them and having the second and third guys come in for the strip. Early, not really, we just missed."

On if he has looked at the Big Ten bowl possibilities...
"No I wish I had time for that. That's for a later discussion and a later time. I know this, we'll need those practices and I'm looking forward to that, but more importantly I'm looking forward to this challenge and this opportunity. We couldn't ask for a better opportunity. Nobody's going to Camp Randall (Stadium) to watch us on Saturday. We get to go up and have some fun and hopefully play our best game of the year."

On Evan Watkins' performance vs. Illinois...
"I think he settled down as the game went along. In your first collegiate game -- you can ask Danny (Persa), Mike (Kafka), C.J. (Bachér), you can go all the way back -- you try to talk to the guys about how much faster it's going to be and the sense of urgency you need to have. I thought after the first couple series he settled in so I thought he handled the in-game speed pretty well as it went along. I think when we came out in the second half he had to go back to what he learned again and it took him a couple series. He'll be much better this week than he was last week. Same thing with Kain (Colter). Both guys did some things that were positive and some things we have to correct. That's why you practice."

On how much Kain Colter will be involved on Saturday...
"If I said every play I'd be lying, and if I said not at all I'd be lying. Somewhere in between. It's Monday at noon, we're putting the game plan together right now so we'll formulate all that. He's a playmaker, he's a guy that we've really liked through the whole season. We've had two quarterbacks in front of him so we wanted to do everything to get him prepared but at the end of the day if Danny and Evan were healthy through the whole year we'd redshirt him, but unfortunately it didn't work out."

On the differences between Illinois' and Wisconsin's running games...
"You have to play the plays, put guys in the right positions and work on your fit, where exactly you belong in the picket fence. How will we make subtle adjustments? How does that impact you (as a player)? It changes dramatically week to week but that's how it is every week, there's no big difference. You just have to get off the block and get the ball on the ground."

On the emergence of Mike Trumpy...
"Mike's played well. The credit goes up front first to the offensive line, some of those holes that are being created are what we've been looking for. Mike's got the speed, the quickness and the vision to get through them. He did a nice job Saturday and the same thing the previous week against Iowa. He's a freshman, he and Adonis (Smith) are young guys and we've got Steph (Simmons) and Arby (Fields) working to get on the field, so we've got four guys who have a role. They're doing a good job."

On the difficulties of playing Wisconsin...
"They're a great football team. I talked about Paul on offense, same thing with Dave (Doren) on defense, he does a great job. You don't have 10 wins after 11 weeks by accident. The guys are well-coached, it's an outstanding football team in all three phases. Great balance on offense and defense and they have great players, probably as many guys who will be nominated for All-Big Ten as anybody. They're taking the schemes and playing well. It's something we aspire to have said about us and at times we've played that way. We need to continue to trust in ourselves and play that way."

On NU's special teams...
"We played well in the kicking game Saturday but we've played well for the last month. The guys have settled into some roles, they're playing fast, our coaches assigned to those teams are doing a great job. Schematically, they've given our guys the best plan possible. What's funny about the (punt) return is it was exactly as we designed it. We wanted Venric (Mark) to drop the ball, retreat a few yards and try to fumble it again with the punter. It's just a guy going out and making a play. We had good blocking but not great. If we'd finished a few blocks we would have scored. Our kickoff return unit has too many one-man breakdowns from being good, we had some things set up but a guy gets beat or the double-team missed. Our two coverage units are playing well. Brandon (Williams) finally got a positive roll on a short punt for the first time all year, we've been watching punters all year hit a 12-yarder and the ball rolls 28. I thought Stefan (Demos) kicked the ball well, especially at Wrigley into the wind. There was nothing stopping the wind so the minute the ball got above the stadium it got knocked right there, it impacted both kickers on kickoffs. That put a lot of stress on the coverage units."

On NU's coverage of playaction passes...
"We talked if you remember after the Minnesota game about our eye control, the issues that happened there were all about putting our eyes in the right spot. I think we've shored that up pretty well, we can still be better, but I promise you they're going to do it again this week so we'll be tested."

On the behind-the-scenes aspects of playing at Wrigley Field...
"It was unique. Locker rooms are locker rooms, some are better than others, you read today that ours aren't very good so I'm going to do everything I can to get that fixed. At any rate, I thought it was spectacular to be honest with you. The Walk With Us that we had leaving the buses was the best we've ever been a part of. I can't say thanks enough to Jim Phillips and our marketing staff and everyone that had a hand in making that a reality. There were some tweaks that had to be done but at the end of the day I thought it ended up being pretty spectacular. I didn't know Wrigley had all those nooks and crannies, I was walking in some places where I didn't know where I was."

On Dan Persa's involvement with the team this week...
"Maybe as time goes along. How much this week? I'm not sure, he just got the cast off today so he's in a walking boot now. He gets the stitches out and that takes you back to some issues pain-wise he'll have to deal with the first couple days of the week. Hopefully by Thanksgiving and the end of the week he'll be feeling a little better. He'll be involved in all aspects from a standpoint of him feeling he can handle it. It was great to have him with us Friday and Saturday and he'll be back with us again this weekend. It's going to be a slow road. The unfortunate thing about injuries like that is you have to learn patience and that's not a good thing for Dan, he's not a very patient guy. He wanted to get in and start doing some rehab on some other bumps and bruises and our medical staff told him, `Chill out, relax, take a couple weeks off.' He was chomping at the bit again this morning. He's going to help Evan out. His role will continue to increase that way after this week because some of the residual pain from the injury and surgery will start to subside and it will be easier for him to get around. That's the hard thing right now, just getting around, the day-to-day stuff, what you're spoiled with when you're not injured. I'm not worried about his work ethic or commitment to rehab, we're going to have to keep an eye on him to make sure he's not doing too much."

On Kain Colter...
"He's got a lot of swagger, belief and confidence about himself and that's what I like about him. He was a dynamic playmaker in high school, he had to overcome an injury, he did that and came back and played as a senior. That shows you about his toughness. He's from a great family, he's a tremendous young person and he's got great leadership qualities. We've been blessed to have great quarterbacks here. I feel the same way about Trevor (Siemian), I really do. I feel like both those guys are going to have bright futures in our offense. Just talking with Mick (McCall) and our offensive staff, the similarities between Trevor and Evan are close, their skill sets are similar. Kain presents a different skill set from a strength standpoint, so that's what we decided to go with."

On stopping opponents' momentum on the road...
"It's like what happened on Saturday, we have to pick each other up and play better team football. We can't go three-and-out, we can't have the discrepancy in time of possession. Our offense is built on time, rhythm and possessing the football. It doesn't have to be 50 minutes to 10 but we have to possess the ball and wear people out with reps. To our opponents' credit over the weekend, they were able to get us off the field. Our defense spent too much time on the field and that's a recipe for disaster. We've got to get a lot of reps and how you do that is third-down pickups. We've been really good all year on third down on both sides of the ball. On Saturday, more so in the second half, we couldn't sustain drives and we couldn't get off the field. Defensively, we were in way too many third-and-ones or twos, and offensively we were in too many third-and-longs. That's what we've learned -- you have to make third-down manageable. It's critically important in these kinds of games."