Coach Kill’s comments and responses to questions by Sid Hartman and Dave Mona on today’s Sports Huddle:
1) Sid opened the show saying “My heart bleeds for your kids.” Sid then said, he thought they could of beat Wisconsin, however, they beat themselves. Sid referenced the Gopher penalty inside the Wisconsin five yard line and the fumble in Badger territory near the end of the first half: Kill addressed Hartman’s expressed opinion: “Well, first of all, you can go several ways. Penalty on the five yard line still confuses me (said he couldn’t and shouldn’t say anything more that could be construed as a criticism of the officiating) . . . Fumble (at the end of the first half) resulted in a field goal by Wisconsin . . . I feel bad for the kids, they played their tails off this year . . . We did some good things (in yesterday’s game) . . . Have to win our bowl game.”
2) Sid wanted to know if David Cobb was 100% for the game: Kill replied, “Amazing story.” Cobb didn’t practice until Thursday. (Saturday) “He (Cobb) was certain he could play . . . He played good.” Kill also said some specialists (trainers) were flown in during the week to work on hamstring injury and to get him ready for yesterday’s rivalry game.
Coach Kill then expressed his pride for the team’s toughness and resiliency, “Can’t say enough about the kids . . . I’m proud of them.”
Kill briefly discussed the ankle injury that Josh Campion sustained in the game, and later he returned to the field of play.
3) Sid asked about the upcoming bowl game and its importance to the program: Kill responded, “You get an opportunity to work with our young people (redshirts) . . . Helps recruiting . . . We need to win the bowl game . . . Proud of the (many contributions to the program) seniors.”
4) Dave Mona asked if Jeff Jones would practices during bowl game preparations: Coach Kill said Jeff Jones cannot practice with the team until the start of the second semester.
5) Dave Mona cited the key road wins at Michigan and Nebraska and the Gophers positive season: “Brick by Brick . . . Our season (is) not over.”
Coach Kill then briefly discussed the players being downcast after yesterday’s loss, “They thought they’d win . . . New day and look forward.”
6) Sid asked what adjustments Wisconsin made in the second half: “Big momentum change – field goal just before the half . . . They’re (Wisconsin) a good football team, and we are too . . . Got within three (late in the fourth quarter) . . . Couldn’t get them stopped . . . Didn’t get it done, yesterday.”
7) Sid asked about the Gophers being able to contain Melvin Gordon in the first half: Kill acknowledged they did good containing in the first half; however, “Other guys (stepped up) played (Stave’s passes to Ericson and the running of Cory Bennett) . . . We didn’t shut him (Gordon) down completely,” replied Kill.
8) Dave Mona asked if Drew Wolitarsky would be available for the upcoming bowl game: Kill answered, “We hope to get him back for the bowl game . . . We’ve missed him.”
9) Sid mentioned the conference record - 5 and 3 - is the best since 20003. He then opined that the school must get the team new facilities in order to compete in the Big Ten: Kill response did not focus on the conference record or the facilities issue; however, his comments looked the future of the football program: “We’re going to have a very good team coming back.”
He mentioned the loss of offensive linemen (seniors) Tommy Olson and Zac Epping; however, he sounded hopeful with the return of Jon Christenson and talented redshirts.
On defense he cited the loss of Michael Amaefula, Cedric Thompson and Damien Wilson. Kill, however, added: “We’ve got guys that played a lot as freshmen . . . We lose good seniors, at the same time we’ve built depth . . . Again, our season is not over, yet.”
In his closing comments, Kill said they’re busy getting ready for the team’s annual banquet, which will be held tonight. He said the team is down because of yesterday’s loss, and it’s good that they’ll be together for the banquet. And, once again, he said the season isn’t finished and he is looking forward to the bowl game that they must win. He said they didn’t get it done with the last two bowl appearances.
You could sense from his comments that he, like the team, is disappointed with yesterday’s loss, however, he also sounded very optimistic about the team’s future.
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid opened the show saying “My heart bleeds for your kids.” Sid then said, he thought they could of beat Wisconsin, however, they beat themselves. Sid referenced the Gopher penalty inside the Wisconsin five yard line and the fumble in Badger territory near the end of the first half: Kill addressed Hartman’s expressed opinion: “Well, first of all, you can go several ways. Penalty on the five yard line still confuses me (said he couldn’t and shouldn’t say anything more that could be construed as a criticism of the officiating) . . . Fumble (at the end of the first half) resulted in a field goal by Wisconsin . . . I feel bad for the kids, they played their tails off this year . . . We did some good things (in yesterday’s game) . . . Have to win our bowl game.”
2) Sid wanted to know if David Cobb was 100% for the game: Kill replied, “Amazing story.” Cobb didn’t practice until Thursday. (Saturday) “He (Cobb) was certain he could play . . . He played good.” Kill also said some specialists (trainers) were flown in during the week to work on hamstring injury and to get him ready for yesterday’s rivalry game.
Coach Kill then expressed his pride for the team’s toughness and resiliency, “Can’t say enough about the kids . . . I’m proud of them.”
Kill briefly discussed the ankle injury that Josh Campion sustained in the game, and later he returned to the field of play.
3) Sid asked about the upcoming bowl game and its importance to the program: Kill responded, “You get an opportunity to work with our young people (redshirts) . . . Helps recruiting . . . We need to win the bowl game . . . Proud of the (many contributions to the program) seniors.”
4) Dave Mona asked if Jeff Jones would practices during bowl game preparations: Coach Kill said Jeff Jones cannot practice with the team until the start of the second semester.
5) Dave Mona cited the key road wins at Michigan and Nebraska and the Gophers positive season: “Brick by Brick . . . Our season (is) not over.”
Coach Kill then briefly discussed the players being downcast after yesterday’s loss, “They thought they’d win . . . New day and look forward.”
6) Sid asked what adjustments Wisconsin made in the second half: “Big momentum change – field goal just before the half . . . They’re (Wisconsin) a good football team, and we are too . . . Got within three (late in the fourth quarter) . . . Couldn’t get them stopped . . . Didn’t get it done, yesterday.”
7) Sid asked about the Gophers being able to contain Melvin Gordon in the first half: Kill acknowledged they did good containing in the first half; however, “Other guys (stepped up) played (Stave’s passes to Ericson and the running of Cory Bennett) . . . We didn’t shut him (Gordon) down completely,” replied Kill.
8) Dave Mona asked if Drew Wolitarsky would be available for the upcoming bowl game: Kill answered, “We hope to get him back for the bowl game . . . We’ve missed him.”
9) Sid mentioned the conference record - 5 and 3 - is the best since 20003. He then opined that the school must get the team new facilities in order to compete in the Big Ten: Kill response did not focus on the conference record or the facilities issue; however, his comments looked the future of the football program: “We’re going to have a very good team coming back.”
He mentioned the loss of offensive linemen (seniors) Tommy Olson and Zac Epping; however, he sounded hopeful with the return of Jon Christenson and talented redshirts.
On defense he cited the loss of Michael Amaefula, Cedric Thompson and Damien Wilson. Kill, however, added: “We’ve got guys that played a lot as freshmen . . . We lose good seniors, at the same time we’ve built depth . . . Again, our season is not over, yet.”
In his closing comments, Kill said they’re busy getting ready for the team’s annual banquet, which will be held tonight. He said the team is down because of yesterday’s loss, and it’s good that they’ll be together for the banquet. And, once again, he said the season isn’t finished and he is looking forward to the bowl game that they must win. He said they didn’t get it done with the last two bowl appearances.
You could sense from his comments that he, like the team, is disappointed with yesterday’s loss, however, he also sounded very optimistic about the team’s future.
Go Gophers!!
