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SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL: UTAH STATE v NORTHERN ILLINOISDecember 26, 2013Rod CareyJordan LynchJimmy WardSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Utah State - 21 MODERATOR: No. 15 Jimmy ward, No. 6 Jordan Lynch. COACH CAREY: Give Utah State a lot of credit, they played really well. Especially their defense. They challenged us in the run game, it was tough sledding there. We moved on 'em early and they shut us down. Didn't capitalize on a couple of field goals, which hurt. Probably didn't make some timely throws that we needed to. So it got snowballing there a little bit and we weren't able to move it the way we normally are. Without looking at the tape, guys, you give them a lot of credit. They played really well. Proud of the way we went down at the end and scored and then had an opportunity. Special teams, missing those two field goals hurt but other than that, the fake punt gave us a little life and then on the defensive side of the ball they played well enough for us to win. They played well. They stepped up, made play after play after play, that one drive where Utah State went down to score and make it 21‑7, they had been ought there all night because their offense couldn't do a thing. We need to do make place and had opportunities to make plays in that drive and didn't make 'em. We gotta take the burden of this one and it's a tough way to end a great season. I'm super proud of our seniors. Listen, this is a really bad end to go a really good year. I give our seniors, and led by these two all the credit in the world. They have left their mark on this University and this football team in more ways than one. So it will be a tough act for anyone to follow. I expect the next senior group to do it, because that's what we're built on. With that we'll open it up for questions. Q. Going back to that last drive where they were grinding the clock on you. Can you talk about your feel on the sideline? Because you might have felt like if you get the ball back you could do what you did there that last touchdown. COACH CAREY: Yeah, we had some breakdowns there defensively, where we didn't take the dive on a zone read play, we didn't set an edge on a read play, missed the line on another one. So we had our errors in there defensively, don't get me wrong but they had been out there‑‑ I didn't look at the stats but they were out there all night. That's going to happen defensively when you're out there that much. Offenses tend to do that to defenses. So you give them a lot of credit on that. Now, it's not acceptable, it's not Husky defense on that drive, but there is no way that any of this goes to our defense because our defense played their rear ends off and it was good enough for us to win. Q. Jordan, first half you guys were able to move the ball but second half they shut you down. What kinda looks were you seeing? JORDAN LYNCH: All the credit goes to them. Second half they were straight cover one. I was off in the second half throwing and they had all the momentum going into the second half‑‑ had all the momentum in the second half and we tried to find some, tried to look for someone to make a play, no one was making them, myself included. But we ended up with a good drive and on‑side kick they got. Q. Jordan, statistically they contained you better than any team has done this year. Is there anything specifically this they were able to accomplish. JORDAN LYNCH: I thought they were well coached. They were always in the right spot at the right time, fundamentally sound and all the credit goes to them. Q. Do you echo your coach's sentiment that this was heading toward an exceptional season and now you lost your last two to close it out? How do you feel about how it went? JORDAN LYNCH: It's a great season. Sucks how we lost this last game but this shouldn't define us. We had a great senior class and winningest class in senior history at NIU and we would like to get the "W" but it's been a great career for the seniors. Q. Jordan talk about the challenge of flipping the page from losing the Bowling Green to coming to the Poinsettia Bowl. That would be tough. How do you approach that and how do you accept it? JORDAN LYNCH: We gave it the 24‑hour rule. The carpet got pulled out from under us, thinking about the BCS and we got a chance to play a great opponent in Utah State and I thought we had a great three weeks of practice. Came out with energy, had some fun, but like I said, all the credit goes to Utah State. Q. Jordan did you think your offense which averages 42 a game could be held in check like you were tonight? JORDAN LYNCH: It's a good question. We had our chances to make some plays and score some points. We were in the red zone three times or so and we didn't come away with points. So points were there we didn't capitalize on it and we hurt ourselves at times. Like I said, Utah State did a good job and the credit goes to them. Q. Jimmy when you got that pick it felt like it was momentum, you stopped them and you guys were getting the ball back. What was the feeling there with that interception? JIMMY WARD: I thought we had momentum. Basically they made a few more plays than what we did but I felt like the defense did a really great job today. THE MODERATOR: Anything else? Okay, guys, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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