Oct. 23, 2007
Head coach Joe Novak, defensive end Larry English, running back Justin Anderson, and cornerback Chase Carter met with the media during Tuesday's weekly press conference to preview NIU's game at Toledo on Saturday. Below are selected quotes from the media session.
Head Coach Joe Novak
On the significance of playing Toledo
"I'm not sure if this year's game has more relevance, we used to play for championship in this game. It is still important to us, I do not know how Toledo feels about it, but we are still fired up about it. I think it's good to have a game like this to get prepared for when the season has been going the way it has. Our kids know that around here, it's time to get fired up."
On Toledo's success in the series between the two schools
"We have struggled with them over the years. Last time [2006] we went there and got a win. They have always been tough for us because they are probably the most physical team that we face in the league with what they bring offensively. In the past few years we have geared our defense to stop the spread with smaller faster outside linebackers because we see it so much. Toledo comes right at you and with three tight ends at times. They have always been good, with the exception of the past couple of years when they were really good. Maybe I get so wound up that the kids get a little tight. For whatever reason, they have had our number."
On last season's 16-14 loss to Toledo at Huskie Stadium
"Last year's loss was one of the tougher losses that I have had here. This is not a personal thing, it's a team thing, but personally it was one of the toughest that I have been through because of the way it ended. It is always so tight anyway and to lose like that was difficult."
On assessing last week's loss at Wisconsin
"I am not frustrated with the kids, I am more frustrated with the circumstances. We have not beaten a BCS team in a while and other than the bowl game last year and this game [against Wisconsin] we have been competitive. Iowa is not having the best year but we were competitive in that game, TCU was better at that point last year and Wisconsin was that much better than we were. That does get to me a bit, you do not want to see that, but you have to be realistic also. We were never in the game last week. It is not that the kids are not playing hard or that they don't care. Let's face facts, we are not better than Wisconsin and we won't be on an annual basis."
On MAC schools facing multiple BCS teams in non-conference play
"Look at the teams in our league and there are only two with winning records. I think our schedule is fair, but I hate to see Central Michigan getting beat 70-14 by Clemson at this point in the season and they are winning our league right now. We were scheduling well by playing two BCS teams and two games that we can win, but playing four BCS opponents is tough. As a league we are going to have a hard time getting teams eligible for bowls when we are killing ourselves a little bit here."
On sustaining a winning record through several seasons
"I have said it for the past five years, and I don't know if people listen about how fragile this is. We lose four games this year by a total of ten points. We did lose them, but if we win those four, we are all sitting here with smile on our face to some extent. Some of the years that we've won, we won a lot of close games. We have the longest winning streak in this league, at seven years. I would be interested to see who is next and I bet it is not more than three or four years because it is so fragile now."
Defensive end Larry English
On bouncing back from the loss at Wisconsin
"It is tough, but we have pride and people that want to go out and try to get things accomplished. Honestly [the loss at Wisconsin] does not boost our confidence but none of us have given up. We definitely think it is possible to go out there and get it done and get things corrected."
Running back Justin Anderson
On improving from the Wisconsin game
"After a loss, I always go back to the drawing board and see what we can correct and how we can get better for the next game. I still see confidence and we are playing for each other and for pride also. That is what pushes us to go out and work hard every game. Looking back at the tape, we do have some things to work on and a lot of things that we can do better. Coach Novak always teaches us that we need to do things the right way regardless of who we play. We have to correct some things this week in practice."
Cornerback Chase Carter
On facing Toledo for the first time
"I've heard about Toledo and the rivalry but I don't personally know much about it. I do know that NIU and Toledo have a long history and we need to get this win. I could tell from our meetings this week that this is a big game and we need to get ready to play."
