MAFE:
On takeaways from Maryland:
- Felt like they played a team game
- Had a lot of guys perform at a high level
- Really came together
On DL depth:
- We all know what we want to achieve
- Everyone knows what we can do as a team
- Not worried about how many reps we are getting
- Not worried about saving yourself and can maximize every play you are in there
On Chad Wilt:
- He's the dad of the defensive line house
- Always checking on everybody and making sure they are doing physically and mentally well
- He calls and texts randomly
- Talks about ball and life in general
- We've talked about life - class, dinner, etc
- Always talks about finding ways to improve your game
On going up against the offensive line:
- Beneficial, especially going up against guys like Daniel Faalele
- They off each other really well, so it helps to face an OL with experience
- Rare to find a group that has played that much together
On creating pressures on third and fourth down:
- Just improving my game every week
- Need to make sure we are executing our game plan to a tee
- Focuses on various ways I can pass rush
- It's an art form that you can change week in and week out
- Takes pass-rush knowledge from everybody - college and pro
On Northwestern's offense:
- Disciplined team
- Have to play a very disciplined game knowing they won't mess up a lot
- Maximize our game plan this week
AUTMAN-BELL:
On his recruiting process and when he got the call from Fleck to come to Minnesota:
- Got the call when he was coming back from a basketball game
- Mom was scared to send him away to Minnesota because Western Michigan was closer to home
- Happy to see the other guys in Western Michigan's class succeed alongside with him, calls them brothers
- Always fun to go back to the home state
- Getting tickets for his family, has to battle with other guys from Illinois for tickets for his family
On the run game:
- Excited to do our jobs and block as WR's with the running game going strong
- Loves to block for his teammates, takes a lot of pride in it
On Northwestern's defense:
- Super disciplined
- They get to their spots
- A lot of respect for those guys
On Brown-Stephens improvement:
- You can see him getting better more and more everyday
- Awesome to see him taking coaching more and learning more
On OL play:
- It starts with them
- Awesome to see them work every play for us
RUSH:
On the DL room:
- Brotherhood being around those guys every day
On buy-in along DL:
- Everyone has a job to do
- See people at your spot doing as good a job as you're doing, makes you want to do better
- Our depth is our advantage at the end of the day
- Having someone stepping in and not having a doubt about any drop off
- Standard goes up everyday
- Goes from younger guys watching older guys play and knowing what you need to do to succeed
On details:
- Rossi and the whole staff harps on details, technique, and execution
- Playing at an elite level
- Scout OL is going hard everyday against us
- First team gives a look at the speed that we'll see
On Northwestern's offense:
- Disciplined team
- Big Ten West champs
- Gonna play really hard, need to match and exceed that
MORGAN:
On recruiting process from Western Michigan to Minnesota:
- Easy sell with Coach Fleck
- Was suppose to leave for Kalamazoo that day he received the call
- Had eight other guys come over that are teammates today and play a lot of football for us
- No-brainer for me to come here
- That Western Michigan class, a lot of guys wanted to play for that Row the Boat culture
- For me, it was the commitment to something bigger than yourself
- First time he had been to Minnesota is when he moved in
- Heart-warming feeling when he first got there
On 70-80% run calls:
- All comes down to execution
- Very fun to see our RB and OL play
- Whatever it takes to win
- The way we run the ball, that's who we are
On Northwestern's defense:
- Disciplined
- They play hard, rarely in the wrong spot, and make a lot of plays
- Have a couple of guys that have played a lot of football for them
On Ky Thomas:
- Always ready for the big moment
- Runs with physicality
- Makes the most of his opportunities
- He breaks tackles and makes things happen down field
- Physical blocker as well
- Plays hard
On different RB styles in the backfield:
- All have each individual strengths
- They all do everything really well at an elite level
- Mentions cuts that Irving makes
- Williams and make things happen on the outside
- All do everything the offense asks of them and then some
On takeaways from Maryland:
- Felt like they played a team game
- Had a lot of guys perform at a high level
- Really came together
On DL depth:
- We all know what we want to achieve
- Everyone knows what we can do as a team
- Not worried about how many reps we are getting
- Not worried about saving yourself and can maximize every play you are in there
On Chad Wilt:
- He's the dad of the defensive line house
- Always checking on everybody and making sure they are doing physically and mentally well
- He calls and texts randomly
- Talks about ball and life in general
- We've talked about life - class, dinner, etc
- Always talks about finding ways to improve your game
On going up against the offensive line:
- Beneficial, especially going up against guys like Daniel Faalele
- They off each other really well, so it helps to face an OL with experience
- Rare to find a group that has played that much together
On creating pressures on third and fourth down:
- Just improving my game every week
- Need to make sure we are executing our game plan to a tee
- Focuses on various ways I can pass rush
- It's an art form that you can change week in and week out
- Takes pass-rush knowledge from everybody - college and pro
On Northwestern's offense:
- Disciplined team
- Have to play a very disciplined game knowing they won't mess up a lot
- Maximize our game plan this week
AUTMAN-BELL:
On his recruiting process and when he got the call from Fleck to come to Minnesota:
- Got the call when he was coming back from a basketball game
- Mom was scared to send him away to Minnesota because Western Michigan was closer to home
- Happy to see the other guys in Western Michigan's class succeed alongside with him, calls them brothers
- Always fun to go back to the home state
- Getting tickets for his family, has to battle with other guys from Illinois for tickets for his family
On the run game:
- Excited to do our jobs and block as WR's with the running game going strong
- Loves to block for his teammates, takes a lot of pride in it
On Northwestern's defense:
- Super disciplined
- They get to their spots
- A lot of respect for those guys
On Brown-Stephens improvement:
- You can see him getting better more and more everyday
- Awesome to see him taking coaching more and learning more
On OL play:
- It starts with them
- Awesome to see them work every play for us
RUSH:
On the DL room:
- Brotherhood being around those guys every day
On buy-in along DL:
- Everyone has a job to do
- See people at your spot doing as good a job as you're doing, makes you want to do better
- Our depth is our advantage at the end of the day
- Having someone stepping in and not having a doubt about any drop off
- Standard goes up everyday
- Goes from younger guys watching older guys play and knowing what you need to do to succeed
On details:
- Rossi and the whole staff harps on details, technique, and execution
- Playing at an elite level
- Scout OL is going hard everyday against us
- First team gives a look at the speed that we'll see
On Northwestern's offense:
- Disciplined team
- Big Ten West champs
- Gonna play really hard, need to match and exceed that
MORGAN:
On recruiting process from Western Michigan to Minnesota:
- Easy sell with Coach Fleck
- Was suppose to leave for Kalamazoo that day he received the call
- Had eight other guys come over that are teammates today and play a lot of football for us
- No-brainer for me to come here
- That Western Michigan class, a lot of guys wanted to play for that Row the Boat culture
- For me, it was the commitment to something bigger than yourself
- First time he had been to Minnesota is when he moved in
- Heart-warming feeling when he first got there
On 70-80% run calls:
- All comes down to execution
- Very fun to see our RB and OL play
- Whatever it takes to win
- The way we run the ball, that's who we are
On Northwestern's defense:
- Disciplined
- They play hard, rarely in the wrong spot, and make a lot of plays
- Have a couple of guys that have played a lot of football for them
On Ky Thomas:
- Always ready for the big moment
- Runs with physicality
- Makes the most of his opportunities
- He breaks tackles and makes things happen down field
- Physical blocker as well
- Plays hard
On different RB styles in the backfield:
- All have each individual strengths
- They all do everything really well at an elite level
- Mentions cuts that Irving makes
- Williams and make things happen on the outside
- All do everything the offense asks of them and then some
