Quotes: Defensive Coordinator and Quarterback
Defensive Coordinator Keith Dudzinski
On the defense heading into Iowa:
“When you look at the tape, there’s things we can do a little bit better. We’re going to attack, we have to be able to defend the deep ball. There’s 50/50 balls that you have to hope that half of them come down on our end. Last week, that didn’t happen. I thought the Penn State receivers did an excellent job of going up and going after the ball. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t make those plays. If we make one or two of those plays, you’re looking at a different result. Iowa is different in the fact that they’re going to come out and establish a run game, where Penn State got out of that rhythm a little bit. No matter what we do, Iowa’s going to try to establish a run game. Fitting the run up front, making sure our guys take care of business. We just have to make the plays when they’re out there to be had.”
On the differences of Iowa’s offense between this year and last year:
“They’re doing the same thing. They’re doing a great job running the ball, they’re good with the play action, they know how to block the fronts. Whatever front you give them, they have an answer. It comes down to being disciplined, being gap sound, and tackling well. With their big plays, especially in the run game, it comes down to one guy missing a fit and then the running back is hitting it and taking it for big yards. They had a situation against Illinois, a 3rd and 27 and they just threw up a deep ball on the sideline and their guy made a play. They’re playing with confidence. They’re not real complicated in terms of they don’t shift and motion and give you a whole bunch of things. They’re going to come out and run the ball. We have to come out and stand up to that early on and force them into third and long situations. Give our kids a chance to get after the quarterback. Hopefully we can force him make a few bad decisions throughout the day.”
On defensive lineman Yannick Ngakoue:
“We are still trying to get [Yannick Ngakoue] to be a complete football player from first to second to third down. He’s always been a very good pass rusher. That’s what he does best. He’s a kid that goes out and works hard to try to get better at it. He tries to be the best player he can, he’s very competitive. He’s very coachable. We’re trying to get him in the right spots. He listens, he makes mistakes. He always gives you 100% effort, he works real hard. He’s kind of a quiet leader. He’s not one of those guys that’s going to say a whole lot to the team. He’s going to focus on himself and try to make himself the best player that he can be.”
On playing for the full 60 minutes:
“They’re playing for 60 minutes, they’re playing the whole game. We’re just trying to be more consistent for 60 minutes. You got a chance to win the football game. Last week, I didn’t think our defense complemented our offense at times. When we got the lead, we gave it right back. It’s really more about being disciplined for the entire game. Things that we do in the first and second quarters, we have to do in the third and fourth quarters.”
Quarterback Perry Hills
On the offense’s performance against Penn State:
“We did some very good things on offense and some things we wish we could have back. The biggest thing that we could take away from the game is seeing how productive we could be.”
On the Iowa defense:
“They’re a tough, fundamentally sound, good defense. We’re going to have to go out and execute our things. We have to be prepared.”
On how his body feels:
“I feel good. There’s the bangs and bruises but nothing I can’t handle. I’m doing things to help my body. Cold tubs to get my legs back, just doing the necessary things so I can continue to run the ball.”
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