Sept. 28, 2013
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 
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Kirk Ferentz, Iowa Head Coach
“Our guys really did a great job. They came up with some big plays today on offense and defense. I’m really pleased with this victory.”
On Commanding the Line of Scrimmage and Running the Ball
“A big challenge for us coming into today was focusing on the run game. The coaches did a great job of planning for the game, and the team did an excellent job of executing at practice and during the game today. We knew this game would not be easy and there’s nothing easy about putting together a successful run game, but our concentration and determination made every play possible.”
On the Defensive Adjustment for Today’s Game
“There was nothing easy about our game plan today. None of us foresaw us holding Minnesota to 30 rushing yards. There was no guarantee that we could stop them but our defense stepped up and made some big plays. The game today was about playing team defense. I believe our guys did a good job of staying where they needed to be and not over-compensating. The statistics today really indicate that our guys played well and played with passion.”
Mike Meyer, Iowa Senior Kicker
On getting the win…
“It was a great win. Everybody played good. Our defense played awesome, the offense did great, and we held them throughout the game. It’s good to win those trophy games.”
On kicking long field goals…
“Today we got to back it up, but I guess that’s part of the game. It doesn’t really change my mindset at all unless, like in the first half, I’m kicking it into the wind. The only thing that would really change is where I put my target for the kick.”
Damond Powell, Iowa Junior Wide Receiver
On how he scored his 74-yard touchdown…
“Coach called my number, and I went out there and made a play. I feel like the credit should go to my offensive line, because I didn’t have to do anything except run–they blocked everybody they needed to block, so it was really easy, but it felt real good. It was just a wide receiver screen.”
On celebrating the Floyd of Rosedale win… “It felt really good. We worked really hard this week. We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough game with what we were playing for and when you win, it just feels good knowing how hard you worked all week to get the good results.”
Brett Van Sloten, Iowa Senior Offensive Lineman
On the how the team won today…
“We’ll have to go back and look at it, but coach Brian Ferentz mentioned that we had an opportunity to finish there at the end and it was all in our hands. The running backs ran great and we were able to seal the deal there at the end.”
On improving each week… “We’re continuing to make strides. We’re not where we want to be–we all have our flaws that we want to improve on. With that being said, that’s what our daily task is–to improve every day–and right now we’re just going to enjoy this win.”
Jerry Kill, Minnesota Head Coach
Opening statement…
“We were beaten soundly today. We can grow from this by sticking together and getting better one day at a time. We have to take a look at the film and do a better job of coaching. I take responsibility for our lack of successful coaching. We’ve got a young team, so we have to continue to move forward and correct mistakes now. If we acknowledge mistakes now, then we can move forward. We’ve got Michigan next week and then a week off, and this game needs to leave a bad taste in our mouths. We have to just wake up tomorrow and go back to work. The big message was that this was just one game and we need to all be accountable. We can’t point fingers. We all have a responsibility to this team.”
On Philip Nelson starting today…
“It was a game-time decision. He practiced all week and he’s our first-string quarterback. When he’s good to go, we’re going to play him. He practiced and had lots of reps, so it wasn’t as if he came into the game cold today. We made the decision and the game didn’t dictate that we play Mitch (Leidner) because we couldn’t run the ball. I’ve been in a similar situation before, but today I think switching quarterbacks during the game wouldn’t have changed much of our play.”
On discussions about whether to play Mitch Leidner…
“We talked about trying to get things going with quarterback power. We’ve done it before where we switch up quarterbacks and then put Philip back in, but the rhythm of the game and our lack of possession time never allowed us the opportunity to get into any rhythm. All we can do is keep learning and moving forward to get better.”
On the lack of running success today…
“From what I noticed during the game, we couldn’t move Iowa. They’d slide off a block and make a play. They handled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball better than we did. When you can run the ball you can have some success, but we didn’t run the ball well today.”
On Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock…
“[Jake Rudock] played a good football game. I’ve said all along that Iowa is a better football team than they were a year ago. He’s a more mobile quarterback than who played last year. They had a good quarterback last year, but Rudock plays the game differently and makes a lot of calls on the line of scrimmage. I credit him and their coach who put the team in the right position to win.”
Philip Nelson, Minnesota Quarterback
On who decided if he was ready to play after a hamstring injury…
“Right before game time we all had a talk. The coaches left it up to me, because obviously I know my body best. He wasn’t able to really make the judgment based off how I was feeling.”
On whether he felt rusty after missing some game action…
“Not really. We just started to throw the ball a little bit more than we did the past times. We work on it on the time, so there’s no excuse there either.”
On taking four sacks today…
“There were a couple of mistakes on my part where we were rolling out. They did a good job of covering everything up and they had somebody coming at me. At that point, I’ve just got to try to get back to 2nd and 10, just throw it away.”
Derrick Engel, Minnesota Wide Receiver
On finding out which quarterback would start…
“We didn’t really know for sure. They were both repping with first team all week. In walkthrough yesterday (Nelson) was in with the first team. He did a good job passing. We didn’t really get the running game going, so that kind of hurt him.”
On how this loss feels compared to last year’s loss at Iowa…
“Any time you lose, especially on homecoming and Iowa at home, it hurts. Last year was bad, too, for us. I think we got down 24-0 pretty early and couldn’t recover in that one. It wasn’t a fun plane ride home. Today we’re definitely not happy about losing, but you’ve just got to move on and watch the film, learn from our mistakes and keep getting better.”
Brock Vereen, Minnesota Safety
On his interception….
“It was a play that we were kind of ready for. Coach (Tracy) Claeys made a great call. We were able to execute.”
On any momentum gained from that play…
“I was just happy to make a play for the team. We could’ve capitalized better. We could’ve built off of that better. But I was happy to make a play.”
Cameron Botticelli, Minnesota Defensive Lineman
On Iowa’s interior offensive line…
“We knew coming in and studying film what their game plan was. We did our best to prepare for that. I haven’t seen the film, so I have yet to evaluate how we were able to stop it.”