1999 FBL vs. Purdue -- quotes
10/2/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
On the game ... "We went into this game knowing we had to play our best game of the year on both sides of the ball. I think we did that. Mike DeBord and the coaches did a great job. Purdue had a tremendous game plan as far as their substitution patterns, and those are difficult to handle. I think our guys on defense did a great job of keeping their poise."
On defensive back Brandon Williams ... "Any time you don't see a freshman get beat, he's doing a great job. Brandon did a great job today."
On Michigan State ... "I think if you are at Michigan you know how to deal with hype. This is the first time since I've been at Michigan that both teams go in undefeated. They're playing a great defense. Offensively they're a ball control offense. Their kicking game is outstanding. It should be a great football game. It should be great for the state of Michigan and great for the Big 10."
Senior Rush Linebacker James Hall
On preparing for the game ... "They did a lot of different things as far a four wides, a lot of quads. We had to substitute some linebackers, take out our defensive linemen. Substitute some DBs for our linebackers. We had to put in a couple more blitzes to put on some pressure on (Purdue quarterback Drew) Brees."
On the pressure the Wolverines put on Drew Brees ... "It was a big accomplishment, especially up front. We never imagined we were going to get him up front with a three-man, four-man rush. We should give credit to the guys up front and the secondary for having good coverage."
On Drew Brees ... "It makes for a bigger challenge. He is up for the Heisman (Trophy), he's a great player. He led his team to the longest winning streak in the country. It was good motivation going into this game."
On taking on Michigan State next weekend ... "It's one of the biggest games on our schedule. It's for the state championship. We can't go out and celebrate (tonight). We have to get in early tomorrow. We have watch films and watch Michigan State. They are a very much improved team from last year."
Sophomore Cornerback Todd Howard
On the challenge of facing Purdue's passing attack ... "We were looking forward to this game, we've been playing great all season. People judge us by our inexperience, but we'll take our chances and earn our respect."
On the red zone defense ... "We want to get the ball back and give the offense a place to stand. We don't want to let anyone in the end zone."
On facing Michigan State ... "It's a big game for the state championship. We've got momentum after the first five games and we want to carry it into next week."
Senior Quarterback Tom Brady
On the importance of today's game ... "The Big 10 race is on the line. Purdue came in unbeaten. They posed a big challenge for our defense and once again our defense stood up."
On facing off against Drew Brees ... "Our offense is a unit, we set goals as a team. Our focus is winning and everything else takes care of itself."
On the success of the offense ... "It's never easy. Sometimes you make it look easy but it's not. We put a lot of yards up on offense and it gave us some opportunities."
On developing a killer instinct ... "That's very important for our offense. At halftime we knew we would have to come out and match their scorers. That's exactly what we did."
Head Coach Joe Tiller
"We left some of our game in us. You should be exhausted after a game like this. They're not exhausted. We brought some of the game into the locker room and we should have left it on the field."
"We were impressed with Michigan. They were everything we thought they'd be. We thought we could run on them, but we got behind and became one-dimensional."
On quarterback Drew Brees ... "I don't think he was pressing as much as we had dropped balls. I'd sue for lack of support. We put our quarterback in some real disadvantageous situations. We had 10, 12, 15 dropped balls. Five times we were in the red zone in the first half and came out with three points. I was very disappointed."
On the Michigan defense ... "They did a nice job of mixing their defense. They used the safety blitz, which we expected. When the field was shortened we saw it some. I don't know if that caused us problems. You gotta make plays, that's the bottom line."
"I think (wide receiver) Chris Daniels had his worst day. They really plugged up our receivers. As for the dropped passes, they're all a lack of focus."
Quarterback Drew Brees
"We had missed opportunities, dropped balls, I overthrew people, just too many miscues."
"We had our opportunities, but we just didn't cash in on them."
On the Wolverine defense ... "They did basically what we thought. They just have great athletes and defense."
"You'll see a different Purdue team next week."
Wide Receiver Vinny Sutherland
On the speed of Michigan's secondary ... "I don't know about faster, they just came to play."
On his performance ... "I, myself, made a few errors, but we've got three games left and we've got to compete with the rest of the teams on our schedule."
Linebacker Mike Rose
On Michigan's performance ... "There were a couple of big plays that hurt us, but they're a Big Ten team and Big Ten teams are notorious for being strong at home."
On Purdue's defense ... "The defense's job is to stop the ball. They had a lot of third-down conversions that just should not have happened. The only thing we can do is focus on the tape and get ready for Ohio State."
On Ohio State next week ... "We are really excited to play Ohio State and get a chance to redeem ourselves. Anytime you play a Big Ten team it's going to be tough."
