Opening statement
"A good weekend for Illinois athletics. Our volleyball team got the football team riled up on Friday with how well they played against a good Stanford team, the U.S. Open this weekend with one of our former tennis players [Kevin Anderson] and of course football. We knew going into the game it was going to be a big game for us. Getting a win under our belt, but, to be underdogs at home, you have to stand up to that. Our guys did.

"It's been documented how many young players we're playing. Right now, I think I count 12 that have a significant role with our football team each time we play. It says a lot, and they get better and better each time we play. It was good getting that win. It seemed like that win was three years ago. Of course, what we have coming up is USF this week. Video pretty much looked the way the game did. Offensively, we left some plays out there, but when we needed to make something we did that. When you have two freshmen offensive linemen starting side-by-side it's tough duty.

"Mike Epstein continues to be Mike Epstein; it's how he's been since he got on campus. Offensively, we did what we needed to do. Defensively, when you score a defensive touchdown you normally have a chance to win the game, and that was the case with us. It was a lot more than that, guys played hard, played with energy and were ready to go. So, we're in pretty good positions, exactly where we wanted to be.

"One of our goals for our season was to start off 3-0, and now we're in position to do that. As time goes, we should start to get players back. Hopefully, before long, we'll be able to get Jaylen Dunlap back, which will help us an awful lot.

"Playing a ranked opponent in South Florida, we know a lot about them. Charlie Strong, of course, does a great job with the program. Donnie Abraham, our safety coach's son, is a good ballplayer for them so we have a lot of ties, and we're looking forward to playing a game on national TV."

On the freshmen
"That group stays together. If you see one, you see them all, most of the time. It's good to see them get a chance to play and stepping up to the plate. No one really wants to hear that they're freshmen. They're Fighting Illini football players that need to get the job done."

On Block I and the student support against Western Kentucky
"It was a great college environment. Our fans were super. As we came into the stadium, there was a different feel. Night games, as a general rule, gives you a little different feel, but there was a lot of excitement. We have great students and, too feed off their energy, it means a lot. The first step, as we've talked, is to put a good product on the field and give them something to cheer about. We know that the fans will continue to come, even more so than they already have. It was a great environment, great crowd and we're going to try to continue to do our job to make it entertaining as much as anything."

On punter Blake Hayes
"Blake Hayes has impressed. We've talked about first game, not just first time playing, first time watching a college football game. Blake, of course, made some big plays. The sky punt, pinning them back right before the half, was a big of a play as there was in the game. He's got a strong leg, he's calm, he's a confident player and we're going to call on him a lot."

On the offensive line
"I felt good about them. I think everyone was playing in a different position than the previous week, so, to have a few days to try and gel as much as possible, it was pretty good. We had protection most of the time; it was better than the first week. Hopefully, we can get guys locked in now. In an ideal world, you'd like to play the same offensive line. Some positions, wide-out, defensive line you rotate a lot of guys. Offensive line isn't a position you want to rotate a lot of guys. You want to get five guys you feel comfortable with and let them grow together. Hopefully, we have that."

On South Florida
"You start with [Quinton] Flowers, their quarterback, Heisman Trophy candidate. He can do it all. It's documented that he's a great athlete. He can run and move the chains with his legs, but he's an accurate thrower too. When you're that type of athlete, you can buy time to be able to get the ball off. He has big-play ability going down the field and have a good running game too. They have a lot of starters returning. A lot of people are going to talk about the offense, but they have a lot of defensive starters returning. Last year they took the ball away a lot of times, just a big challenge. We're playing a ranked opponent, they're a good football team."

On creating consistency on offense
"Early in the season, you're working through things trying to find out who you are. You need to get in a position where you need to come back out after the half and put a good drive together, and see, as a group, what you can do. They knew that it was an important drive for us too, and weren't able to stop us. I think that gives you confidence moving forward. The next step, of course, is to start off like that, and play consistent ball like that throughout. One of the things we talked about is being consistently good throughout, and we need to be able to show that more often."