Central Michigan Head Coach Butch Jones
On the victory: “This was a great win for our football program. We had not beaten Northern Illinois since 1997, and I have the utmost respect for Joe Novak and the mental and physical toughness that his program has been built on. I’m proud of our kids for the way they played here today. We played well in the first half and make some big plays on special teams.”

On the energy of the team: “We probably had the best week of practice and preparation since I got here. Before the game, the players were loose, they were excited, and they had a passion to play. There was great energy on the sidelines all game.”

On whether there was any turmoil within the team this week: “I kept hearing about all of these things that were supposedly going on, but I didn’t feel it at all. Our kids, they were joking about it because they never had that feeling. We lost to a good football team last week. I had other coaches tell me that North Dakota State would be one of the best teams we would play all season. We’ve got a lot of young kids, and every game is a new experience. We had great leadership from our seniors all week, and I’m proud of how this team came out ready to play today.”

On the game: “Stats don’t always tell the story, and that was definitely true today. I’m proud of our defense for never quitting. That turnover early in the game at the goal line, that was the turning point in the game. Our defense gained confidence from that, and they bent but did not break. They took the ball away today.”

On the key to the game: “We needed to start fast. We stressed that this week, because we knew that would be a big factor today. We were able to get points early, and that really gave us confidence.”

On the trick play that resulted in Duane Brook’s 32-yard TD pass to QB Dan LeFevour: “We have about four or five plays that we’ve worked on since camp, practicing them each week, and that was one of them. You need to have the right time and situation to call a play like that, and we did a great job executing the call. We caught them in man coverage, and it was a perfect look to hit that play.”

Senior Linebacker Red Keith
On the play of the defense: “Last week, we were put in some difficult situations as a defense, and we didn’t respond. This week, Coach Banks had us ready and we responded. As a defense, you don’t want to be in those situations with the other team on your goal line, but that’s also when you have a chance to shine on defense. When you make a play like that, getting a fumble at the goal line, it’s a big confidence builder and changes the momentum of the game.

On the focus this week: “I just told every player that they needed to believe in their abilities and have fun playing football. We had a great week of practice, and we came out ready to play and matching the energy of Northern Illinois. NIU starts fast, and we knew we needed to keep them from doing that to us.”

NIU Head Coach Joe Novak
On key plays: “We were inside the five-yard line three times and didn’t come away with any points and you can’t do that. Also, we gave up a 100-yard kick return and then we fumbled on the next kick. We just gave it away, Central is a good team, but we gave them too many opportunities. We marched down on our first two possessions, but we just didn’t get it done.”

On NIU going forward: “We have good kids, we just need to keep them together. It’s hard, but we have to keep working. We’re not going to make a bunch of big plays, so we just can’t give the ball away.”

On Dan LeFevour’s TD reception: “We were in man coverage on a blitz and no one was checking the quarterback and that left him wide open. Central executed the play perfectly.”