Illinois (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) travels to Penn State Saturday for a noon ET/11 am CT game on ESPN2.

Gameday Central 

 

Opening statement:
"Recap of Saturday's game, we just watched a lot of tape, you know our kids fought, they played hard, and we just didn't make as many plays as they did. When we looked at it, there were just a lot of plays that were left out there. We thought, offensively - our third down, our third and ones - it's been a struggle for a while and we just got to keep on lugging along and see what we can get best at. We've tried all kinds of different ways; you know we'll just keep on attacking that. I thought Des Cain and Dionte Taylor, they've probably both played the best they've played. I thought they really grew up in the game there. Our line didn't give up any sacks; in fact they really didn't give up any hits on the quarterback so I thought they played outstanding. In terms of protecting the quarterback I thought Ke'Shawn Vaughn really stepped up. We challenged him to get up in the line of scrimmage and be physical and he did that and I thought he played really well especially in the past game. We just didn't make enough plays. We lost Tyler White early, we got Timmy Clary in a hand cast, you know it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that when he's in there, he's a little limited to catching the ball. We've got a lot of guys banged up there. Defensively, same thing, I think they played with a lot of heart, I thought [Clayton] Fejedelem played really well. That one big run where we took it, we got a lot of momentum and you know we got beat. At that point it was five sweeps. You could just see, I thought there was a little wind taken out of the sails. I thought on their side that was a big momentum booster there. You know, I look back at the last three games in the Big Ten because that's where you really want to evaluate yourself. When you go back to the previous years, we're not even in three of those games. The last couple of years, Nebraska, we were never in it. Iowa, we weren't in it. Wisconsin, we weren't really in it. At the end, last year, we scored a couple touchdowns in the fourth quarter and it got us back. I think there's progress going in there but the bottom line is that you've go to win and that's what our kids understand and that's what we understand so we've just got to keep on plugging along."

On player injuries:
"I think the only real injury that we've lost which is new is Tyler White. He's going to get an MRI today so we'll know a little bit more on that but I know he's definitely out this week. I think Fej [Clayton Fejedelem] is going to be okay, he's got a bruise but I think he should be ready to go. You know, the kids are upbeat and I told them after the game, a true measure of a guy is really not whether you get knocked down it's whether you get back up so that's what we're going to let our kids know and they understand that."

On the support the team has received:
"I think one of the other good things is when you're watching the tape, a lot of times you watch the tape and you do look at the crowd. The Block I and the student section were packed and I want to give those guys a lot of credit. They came out full force; they were enthusiastic. I think there were a lot of hard efforts by the marketing department, the athletic department, with us going out on the quad the way our kids are doing things I think is starting to help out. It's not going to happen overnight. Just because there's change and everyone expects it immediately, it's going to take a little while. We all want instant gratification but there's been without a doubt an improvement in how we're playing. That's coming from commentators, from opposing coaches, from the people that I think are really in the know. So we're just going to keep playing."

On how the team hopes to keep improving:
"As coaches, we've just got to keep on finding different ways. I think our players understand that every play is important. It's a four-point game in the fourth quarter; we're staying in the games. I don't think we're killing ourselves like we did before, I think our kids are playing with a lot more passion; they're not flinching when things happen. There's a lot of good things happening. You've go to take that next step; you've go to get some wins. Nebraska was a big step. The last two teams we've played, record wise, they're the top two teams in the West and we're right there. So we've got to just get over that a little bit better."