PJ Fleck
- Drew a line in the sand in the locker room after the MSU loss. Told the team that we would reflect on all six games and learn from them.
- Saw belief and trust in the team and a team that knew they were going to win the football game. A few weeks ago, we wouldn't have won. We won because we learned from the past.
- Something of a higher power happened on the football field with Jon Celestin and his fourth quarter touchdown. To have his relationship with Celestin is why he coaches and comes to work every day. He's on his way to do elite things in his life.
- Kobe McCrary's performance means he's going to play more. He literally put people on his shoulders. He had great how, grit, and toughness.
- Juggling two balls is easy (talking about managing carries between running backs) but when there are three balls, it gets tough.
- Defenses are gameplanning for Tyler Johnson.
- Did not execute at a high level tonight.
- Illinois has very, very good young players.
- Linebackers did a better job of tackling today. Secondary needs to set the edge. We broke contain a few times. It improved in the second half but wasn't the best performance.
- Carter Coughlin is getting better every week.
- Celestin played very hard with a bum elbow.
- It's hard to be a student-athlete in 2017 with social media. They practice hard, and people can say anything they want about them and they can't say anything back. So there's a little bit of relief after every win.
- Some of the progress with the defensive backs is just lining up right.
- We have a heck of a 2018 class, and I mean a heck of a class.
- The pick six meant a lot, dedicated to his father.
- On the pick six, the defense was in cover 6. Read the quarterbacks eyes and got the interception.
- Didn't prepare for Cam Thomas in practice. We pursued hard and set the edge. We got him down after the first drive.
- It was surreal seeing Jon Celestin get that pick six.
- When he enrolled last year, he was all excited and once he tried to set the edge in practice and Kobe McCrary leveled him. First big wake up call.
- It's important that we apply what Coach Fleck says and it's not going in one ear and out the other.
- The game's slowing down more, reading keys better.
- The focus this week was dominating the line of scrimmage and stopping the run.
