Nov. 29, 2013
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
Opening Statement
“Obviously I am really thrilled with our football team right now, I am really proud of them and am happy to get the victory today. It was a hard-fought game against a really good Nebraska football team. Nothing easy about coming over here and playing obviously. I am just really proud of how our guys fought through the entire game and came away with the victory.”
On if the game is now a rivalry
“…. It is starting, but it is still pretty lopsided—the record is, but this was a good step forward for sure.”
On the fake punt, why he took a timeout before
“We wanted to give (the play before) a little time just to make sure the people upstairs had a chance to see it, on top of that we subbed out a little bit, too.”
On being named one of the country’s top five worst coaches during the preseason
“I mean everyone is entitled to their opinion, that is the great thing about our country. I don’t think he went to jail for saying that, so that is just a part of coaching. Fortunately I don’t believe I believed it…. well at least in the bottom 10, I wouldn’t say the bottom five. But those things are just talk and noise.”
On an 8-4 finish to the season
“Just really pleased, that was the best we could do and when we talked during the bye week a couple weeks back, that is all you can do. At that point I believe we were sitting at 6-4, lost a couple of ball games to really good teams. Our focus–as it has been since the end of last November was just to try and improve, working hard, and maximizing our opportunities. That is kind of the formula we have tried to use, the reason why it has materialized is because our players have done the work that they have to do. It is all about our leadership–our seniors and our juniors.”
On if there was a magic formula to go 4-8 to 8-4
“No there really isn’t. I am certainly not smart enough to think–creative or ingenius, so it was just a matter of trying to do things better. We clearly didn’t play well enough last year, in critical areas with certain things, our focus was just to try and do things better.”
On the difference between last year’s team to this year’s team
“It is just making every phase count. The out of season program, which you always try to find positives–we had a longer one since we didnt have bowl practices. We lost out on a lot of good practice time, which is a downside, but our guys practiced really well in the spring. Sometimes you look at guys who play and had success without working as hard, but the good news today is that I think we are a better football team now then when we were in August, and that is what it is all about, getting better.”
On special teams play
“Our kicking game was really a help for us. Connor did a good job with the punts. That helped us with field position. I dont mind telling you guys, I was more than a little bit worried about our kickoff coverage with number 80 (Kenny Bell). He is very dangerous and had one last week that went the distance. I thought we covered kicks better than we have done all season, which is really good to see. I can’t say enough about how Rudock played, he played a really good game and made some really nice throws, helped us win the game.”