Notable quotes from Nebraska’s 23-17 loss to to Wisconsin.
Head coach Mike Riley on what he knows about his team:
“Everything about our team I know is confirmed, which is they’ll continue to fight. We certainly have to improve some things to finish out where we want to; there’s no doubt about it.”
On staying poised:
“I thought once again we really kept our poise when we were down in the fourth quarter. I thought that that did not deter us from getting back to it. We didn’t get the final result that we had been getting, but we sure got to the point where we could have. That is so much fun, to be a part of a group like that. Because they don’t blink, they have poised, they persevered and we gave ourselves a chance to win against a good football team and just didn’t quite get it done.”
Defensive coordinator Mark Banker on the defense’s fight:
“I think they fought hard. There’s no doubt about that. I thought we came back in the second half. We had the two big turnovers, which is a positive thing. You know, it came down to us being able to stop the sweep and the draw play. It’s just a shame we weren’t able to finish that game.”
Quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. on the final play of the game:
“They ran Cover 2. They kind of pressed Stan and let him go and I tried to zip it in there and get it. He’s a big body; they’re known to have small corners and kind of a small secondary, so I tried to get him the ball to get up and get, but unfortunately we didn’t come down with it. I maybe threw it a little bit late. But at the end of the day we just have to make plays. If we get a few yards here and there on the first three plays that we run before that, maybe we win the game. But at the end of the day, we have to make sure we execute whenever we get a chance to.”
Wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp on how his body held up:
“Pretty good. I’m old so things aren’t working any more – I’m just kidding. It was good. The back felt good. I got rolled up on a little bit but rubbed some dirt on it and spat on it and was just fine. It was great to get back out and play against a great team like Wisconsin. It was a great game, a great game by both teams and we’re going to get better from this game. You have to learn from your losses and we will and we’ll get better. It’s the first one of the season; the world’s not ending. So we just have to keep fighting, keep getting better and we should be fine.”
Linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey on the outcome of the game:
“It is what it is. We fount a tough road opponent. We didn’t get what we wanted but there’s a lot of good things to take from the film. We’re not going to drag ourselves over this game. We still got everything we want to accomplish out there. Like we told the guys [in the locker room] is that the only thing that’s going to change is public opinion. As we saw coming into it, people doubted us anyway so it is what it is. It was a good game and a good hard-fought win for Wisconsin. We still control our destiny and we plan on keeping it that way.”
Linebacker Josh Banderas on what he learned from the loss to Wisconsin:
“Just the heart, all the way around. Offense, defense, special teams. The defense needed something, offense gave it to them. The offense needed something, the defense gave it to them. No heads were down. Everyone was patting each other on the back, just coming closer together. We just learned how much heart this team has and that’s the thing that’s going to take us where we want to go. The result might not have showed it tonight, but we’re on the right path an we’re going where we want to go.”
Center Dylan Utter on what this game showed:
“It showed we could play with the best of them. Going forward it shows that this team has a lot of fight and we’re not going to give up no matter who we play.”
Erin is the Deputy Editor and Digital Marketing Strategist for Hail Varsity. She has covered Nebraska athletics since 2012, which has included stops at Bleacher Report, Cox Media Group’s Land of 10, and even Hail Varsity (previously from 2012-2017). She has also been featured on the Big Ten Network, NET’s Big Red Wrap-Up, and a varsity of radio shows nationwide. When not covering the Huskers, Erin is probably at Chipotle.
