Transcribed by Bill Seals
On his assessment of the play of Brock Purdy against Northern Iowa:
“I thought Brock was outstanding. I don’t think any issues in game one had anything to do with Brock Purdy. He was something like 30-of-41 in the passing game and his situational football was incredible. It was maybe his best game as a true quarterback that he’s played in some ways. At every critical moment, he stepped up and played. Some games require different things, but I thought he was outstanding. There was great growth from the last time we saw Brock Purdy to when we saw him this past week. We were really proud of what he did.”
On how the players are handling the outside noise generated by ESPN GameDay coming to town:
“A lot of it is business as usual. Some of those things we discuss and talk about in-house. I do think that’s a little bit of the maturity of where we are as a football program right now. We have been in some of these hyped moments in our past, around this football game and big games we’ve played in the past two years. Some areas we have been really successful and at other times we haven’t. What I hope we’ve done is we’ve learned our lesson when we haven’t been successful, and learned our lesson when we were successful so when we get back to these moments, we know how to function to be our best. This is certainly a unique challenge again for us this week.”
On the outlook at the running back position heading into game two:
“I’d say it’s tied. That’s a hard question to answer, because I thought all of those guys did some things really well throughout the football game and gave us something different. I know that’s been a hot-ticket item and people have been asking that question for a month. It’s a tough answer. I thought all of those guys ran the ball really well. Johnny (Lang) started off and did some great things. For his first game, Breece (Hall) did some really good things and I thought he was really physical in the football game. Sheldon (Croney) did some great things. When Kene got in, he gave us a spark. All of those guys are continuing to evolve. It will take a while for us to figure out exactly who we are. As this season wears on, I think it will become more evident. I don’t think we’re there yet.”
On the task of defending Iowa’s offensive attack:
“When you’re talking about playing this opponent, you’re talking about the thing they love more than anything is to run the ball. As good as their quarterback is and as good as their skill players are, it can easily lull you to sleep and you’re just going to defend the pass and not defend the run. That can put you in trouble. The reality of it is, you still have to show up and play a physical brand of run defense. If you can do that, you at least put yourself in a competitive situation throughout the football game.”
On what linebacker Mike Rose showed in the first contest of his sophomore season:
“I thought Mike had a really good football game, being asked to bounce back and forth at times throughout the game from SAM to MIKE. It isn’t easy. Mike is a guy that the more he’s played, the more we’ve put on his plate. I feel he relishes that opportunity to have more on his plate. From a physicality standpoint, he can play in the box and has a lot of ability to play outside of the box in space. He had some big plays for us in the pass game.”
On the benefits of having played a game before facing Iowa, versus how last season shook out:
“Playing a game, you look around college football and the first game of the season across the country, it’s hard to know who you really are until you play. From our end of it, it at least gave us a lot more answers on where we are at some of these position groups. Where are we short? How do we continue to move forward and continue to adapt and change to be the best version of yourselves? That’s where college football is really unique, that ability to do that and then make those changes and continue to develop as the season goes. Playing a game is really critical for any team, especially in the college football world.”
On what he’d tell someone outside of the state about what the CyHawk rivalry is like:
“Not being in this state and then coming into this state, I’m starting to have a great understanding of it. The pride and tradition of both universities. What makes this state really special is the fact that there’s two Power-5 schools in different conferences that both universities and schools have great pride and traditions. The opportunity to play that game once a year from a football standpoint is big. It’s unique in terms of what we do in all of our sports.”
On how the offense can generate more big plays in future weeks than it did versus UNI:
“Those are things where every game is different. If you go back and watch that game, their safeties are playing 25 yards deep. Manufacturing big plays are a challenge. What you have to do with a team like that is manufacture the flow of the game. At times we did a great job of that. Take what the defense gives you. There were other times when we didn’t do a great job, with a penalty here or penalty there. That was a challenge where we weren’t as clean as we wanted to be offensively. Big plays naturally come and we have guys who have the ability to make those plays. We did exactly what we needed to do in the framework of the game to give ourselves the chance to win.”
On what it means to be in position for ESPN to consider sending GameDay show to Ames:
“It’s great for our state and this game. It’s great for our university and the fact that our program is to the point where people are recognizing who we are outside of this state. That’s great. For our football team, though, the reality of it is the effect that it really has on what happens at 3 o’clock is zero. That’s something that we need to do a better job of keeping it in perspective. It’s easy to get lost in everything that comes naturally with this game, and then you throw in GameDay coming. There’s a lot of mirage around what’s really going on. When we play well here, we play with great preparation and great detail. The reminder of those things is really from my end with these kids. It’s great that we’ve got really good leadership inside of these walls.”
On how Iowa State’s defensive line is also showing to be a strength of the team, like Iowa’s:
“Obviously, when you say that there’s two sides to every battle…the offensive line and defensive line. Success in any football game, the offensive and defensive lines are critical facets of success. The ability to win the line of scrimmage is key to any football game that’s ever been played. Whether it’s this game or any other game, that’s a huge piece of success.”
On the timing of the bye week coming between UNI and Iowa games:
“I thought for our team and to be who we are a football team this year, it was the perfect situation for us. Playing a game, it showed that we’re really a unique mix of veteran football team to really young football team. The ability to find out who we were really put our focus back on the Cyclones last week. That was important. There are some things that certainly grabbed our attention. We continued to dissect where are we and tweak and make changes. We now play seven weeks in a row and are getting into the heat of the battle where you’d better be ready. The bye week allowed us to plan the right way for this. Our coaches did a great job and our kids did a great job, too.”
On receiver Deshaunte Jones blossoming into a star to open his senior season:
“I think Deshaunte continues to show who he has the ability to become. Deshaunte, you look back at his past year, he did great things at some of the biggest moments. He was a key factor for us. There’s a developed trust between coaches and quarterbacks and him. There’s great trust between Brock and Deshaunte. Those two believe in each other and that’s a big positive. You some of that show this past Saturday. He’ll be a focal point for us in making sure we continue to find ways to put the ball in Deshaunte’s hands.”
On his assessment of the play of Brock Purdy against Northern Iowa:
“I thought Brock was outstanding. I don’t think any issues in game one had anything to do with Brock Purdy. He was something like 30-of-41 in the passing game and his situational football was incredible. It was maybe his best game as a true quarterback that he’s played in some ways. At every critical moment, he stepped up and played. Some games require different things, but I thought he was outstanding. There was great growth from the last time we saw Brock Purdy to when we saw him this past week. We were really proud of what he did.”
On how the players are handling the outside noise generated by ESPN GameDay coming to town:
“A lot of it is business as usual. Some of those things we discuss and talk about in-house. I do think that’s a little bit of the maturity of where we are as a football program right now. We have been in some of these hyped moments in our past, around this football game and big games we’ve played in the past two years. Some areas we have been really successful and at other times we haven’t. What I hope we’ve done is we’ve learned our lesson when we haven’t been successful, and learned our lesson when we were successful so when we get back to these moments, we know how to function to be our best. This is certainly a unique challenge again for us this week.”
On the outlook at the running back position heading into game two:
“I’d say it’s tied. That’s a hard question to answer, because I thought all of those guys did some things really well throughout the football game and gave us something different. I know that’s been a hot-ticket item and people have been asking that question for a month. It’s a tough answer. I thought all of those guys ran the ball really well. Johnny (Lang) started off and did some great things. For his first game, Breece (Hall) did some really good things and I thought he was really physical in the football game. Sheldon (Croney) did some great things. When Kene got in, he gave us a spark. All of those guys are continuing to evolve. It will take a while for us to figure out exactly who we are. As this season wears on, I think it will become more evident. I don’t think we’re there yet.”
On the task of defending Iowa’s offensive attack:
“When you’re talking about playing this opponent, you’re talking about the thing they love more than anything is to run the ball. As good as their quarterback is and as good as their skill players are, it can easily lull you to sleep and you’re just going to defend the pass and not defend the run. That can put you in trouble. The reality of it is, you still have to show up and play a physical brand of run defense. If you can do that, you at least put yourself in a competitive situation throughout the football game.”
On what linebacker Mike Rose showed in the first contest of his sophomore season:
“I thought Mike had a really good football game, being asked to bounce back and forth at times throughout the game from SAM to MIKE. It isn’t easy. Mike is a guy that the more he’s played, the more we’ve put on his plate. I feel he relishes that opportunity to have more on his plate. From a physicality standpoint, he can play in the box and has a lot of ability to play outside of the box in space. He had some big plays for us in the pass game.”
On the benefits of having played a game before facing Iowa, versus how last season shook out:
“Playing a game, you look around college football and the first game of the season across the country, it’s hard to know who you really are until you play. From our end of it, it at least gave us a lot more answers on where we are at some of these position groups. Where are we short? How do we continue to move forward and continue to adapt and change to be the best version of yourselves? That’s where college football is really unique, that ability to do that and then make those changes and continue to develop as the season goes. Playing a game is really critical for any team, especially in the college football world.”
On what he’d tell someone outside of the state about what the CyHawk rivalry is like:
“Not being in this state and then coming into this state, I’m starting to have a great understanding of it. The pride and tradition of both universities. What makes this state really special is the fact that there’s two Power-5 schools in different conferences that both universities and schools have great pride and traditions. The opportunity to play that game once a year from a football standpoint is big. It’s unique in terms of what we do in all of our sports.”
On how the offense can generate more big plays in future weeks than it did versus UNI:
“Those are things where every game is different. If you go back and watch that game, their safeties are playing 25 yards deep. Manufacturing big plays are a challenge. What you have to do with a team like that is manufacture the flow of the game. At times we did a great job of that. Take what the defense gives you. There were other times when we didn’t do a great job, with a penalty here or penalty there. That was a challenge where we weren’t as clean as we wanted to be offensively. Big plays naturally come and we have guys who have the ability to make those plays. We did exactly what we needed to do in the framework of the game to give ourselves the chance to win.”
On what it means to be in position for ESPN to consider sending GameDay show to Ames:
“It’s great for our state and this game. It’s great for our university and the fact that our program is to the point where people are recognizing who we are outside of this state. That’s great. For our football team, though, the reality of it is the effect that it really has on what happens at 3 o’clock is zero. That’s something that we need to do a better job of keeping it in perspective. It’s easy to get lost in everything that comes naturally with this game, and then you throw in GameDay coming. There’s a lot of mirage around what’s really going on. When we play well here, we play with great preparation and great detail. The reminder of those things is really from my end with these kids. It’s great that we’ve got really good leadership inside of these walls.”
On how Iowa State’s defensive line is also showing to be a strength of the team, like Iowa’s:
“Obviously, when you say that there’s two sides to every battle…the offensive line and defensive line. Success in any football game, the offensive and defensive lines are critical facets of success. The ability to win the line of scrimmage is key to any football game that’s ever been played. Whether it’s this game or any other game, that’s a huge piece of success.”
On the timing of the bye week coming between UNI and Iowa games:
“I thought for our team and to be who we are a football team this year, it was the perfect situation for us. Playing a game, it showed that we’re really a unique mix of veteran football team to really young football team. The ability to find out who we were really put our focus back on the Cyclones last week. That was important. There are some things that certainly grabbed our attention. We continued to dissect where are we and tweak and make changes. We now play seven weeks in a row and are getting into the heat of the battle where you’d better be ready. The bye week allowed us to plan the right way for this. Our coaches did a great job and our kids did a great job, too.”
On receiver Deshaunte Jones blossoming into a star to open his senior season:
“I think Deshaunte continues to show who he has the ability to become. Deshaunte, you look back at his past year, he did great things at some of the biggest moments. He was a key factor for us. There’s a developed trust between coaches and quarterbacks and him. There’s great trust between Brock and Deshaunte. Those two believe in each other and that’s a big positive. You some of that show this past Saturday. He’ll be a focal point for us in making sure we continue to find ways to put the ball in Deshaunte’s hands.”
