WMU vs. EIU - Post-Game Quotes

 

Western Michigan Head Coach Bill Cubit

Opening statement:

"Any win is a good win. The only disappointing part for me was the second half. We had some new guys go in, we had penalties and we fumbled the ball. But I thought the intensity was pretty good. Overall I'm pretty happy with how our guys covered. Offensively I think EIU is pretty good, they do a lot of good things. Defensively we just stuck to it with physicality and that gave us a couple big plays. It's a great win, it lasts for about twelve hours and then we go back to work."

On how Western's defense performed:

"We adjusted with the four corners and they had some mismatches on us. They tried to throw the ball as fast as they can and they got a couple big plays on us. But when we went to four corners we were able to guard them all. The thing that was disappointing was that they ran the ball the first couple series. I think we played that pretty well. When you play those kind of teams it's a feeling out process. Its not something where you just shut them down, its going to take a little bit of time to get it right."

On Western's  injuries and adjustments made:

"We have some guys who are banged up a little. That gave us an opportunity to try some new things. With this offense we can do almost anything with it. We play our personnel, and whoever is doing well we make sure to get them out on the field. So that's what we do in this kind of situation."

Senior Quarterback Alex Carder

On finding his rhythm in tonight's game:

"We absolutely found a rhythm. Going into this game it's a game you expect to win but at the same time but there was a night and day difference this week with how comfortable we were with each other. I think having guys like Jaime out there and some really good young talent that I can trust will go a long way this season."

 

Freshman Wide receiver Jaime Wilson

On his statistics from tonight's game:

"It was my first big game here. I just put on a show for everyone who came to our home stadium and showed support.

 

Junior Cornerback Lewis Toler

On his pick tonight:

"It always feels good to get a pick. Last year I didn't get any obviously. I just wanted to come out here today and do my job. "

 

EIU Head Coach Dino Babers

(You went toe to toe with them first quarter, what did you see?)

Well, they are awfully athletic, and they are awfully fast. They're corners did an exceptional job on our WR, so that's why our throwing percentage was so low. When you're only completing half the passes your throwing, then you'll have to throw quite a bit. That's going to cause you to have 3 and outs, and not to have the tempo that we needed to be successful with them. It was 14, 14 for a while and we had a couple of series in there, we needed to come through in that situation and we didn't and it started to get away from us after that.

(Do you think they made adjustments, like to take WR, Erik Lora out of the game?)

No, I just think we were trying to get the ball around to a lot of people; it just can't be the Erik Lora's show. We need other people to step up and we were giving other people opportunities and they just weren't bringing home the bacon. But, I'm still proud of how those guys fought back in the third quarter. I thought they came back and kept the game close for a little bit after all the disappointing stuff happen, before half time, and will re-group and will bounce back and will see how the season ends up.

(Anything, you would say you found out about your team from this one)

I think the biggest thing is to find out what kind of team shows up for Illinois State in the red berg. Obviously, an exciting win the first week, a disappointing loss the second week verses a very good football team, and now where going back and playing an in-state rival who I believe had a big win over a MAC school tonight.  So uh, were about to find out exactly where were at once we play that game up there with Illinois State.

(How about Western Michigan's offense?)

Oh, I mean, Bill Cubit he does a good job, and he's an old fashion guy and those guys were physical and they ran the ball on us. I thought they did an excellent job with their throwing game and mixing the ball around, and they hit some big plays on us. It just goes to show you, I knew that performance they turned in up in Champagne was a fine one, and I knew we had a heck of a football team we were going to play. Sometimes it's hard for media and everybody else to tell based off of win and losses but any old ball coach that can get in a room and watch that team play, and play the way they played up in champagne knew that they were a good outfit and we had our chances, and we were in there for a moment but we just couldn't answer the bell. You gotta answer, when those guys score, you gotta answer to keep every body's hearts in it. Disappointed that we couldn't stay with them, but will take it, and will take this negative and turn it into a positive, and hopefully we will have a better outcome.

(The reporter asked him about one of his injured players)

Haven't had an opportunity to talk to Brett yet. We got some guys banged up, it was a physical game, and after this interview, once I get cleaned up, take a shower and get ready to go I will get a thorough report. I won't be able to be exact on that until I get home to Charleston.