“I think that their record basically speaks for them. They are 9-1 football team and had a nine-game winning streak. I think that they have been good on the offensive side of the ball. Obviously, their ability to run the football is their forte. On the defensive side of the ball, they have an aggressive style that has done a good job of creating loss of yardage plays. They have done a good job in their kicking game. They try to apply pressure in their kicking game. I think that their approach has been successful for them.”

 

“Like everything else, it doesn’t really matter what I think. At the moment I begin to think a little too much about how to figure out what they (Rutgers) are thinking, I am making a mistake. I am going to assume that it was a very frustrating for them and that they are going to everything that they can to rectify what happened last Saturday and you just assume that. Really, it is about our preparation and trying to figure out how we are going to move the ball and how we are going to stop them from moving the football.”

 

“We have our 24-hour rule, good or bad. We won that football game and it was great for our football team for 24 hours to really revel it in and feel good about it. You now move on and the focus is no longer on last Saturday. The focus is on preparing for this Saturday. That is really where the mindset is right now. If someone in the game who did things well gained confidence, true confidence, from it, then that is a good thing. That is hard to judge. Our game from last Saturday is done. This is Tuesday and a very important day in the preparation.”

 

“He is more experienced and he has put together some real good games. I know last week was not his game and he has to be frustrated from that. He has played very well throughout the year. He has done a lot of things to help them win football games. He runs that offense and commands that offense. They worked to have a complex offense with all of the formations and things like that. For him to have to be able to get it all set up and get everybody in order and then to have to, in a split-second time, analyze and see what he is looking at, he does a good job in that regard and he has done a good job of throwing the football this year.”

“I don’t think as much. I think that their offense has developed.”

 

“I think that anytime that we can score 20 points and they score 14, that is good enough for me. That will get it done. I do not have a problem with that. The score is real important.”

 

“I am not disappointed. What it is, is. That was their world. It surely wouldn’t create a disappointment for me. They are the enemy this week. I don’t look at it like that (as far as disappointment).”

 

“It would be nice to win. At the same time, I have no problems being a spoiler. I mentioned that last week. I don’t have a problem being a spoiler. I don’t, and our football team doesn’t have a problem with that either. The focus is on winning and going about it. If that is what motivates us – great. Whatever it takes to be motivated to play well is important.”

 

“He had already changed his mind prior to me getting here. We really worked hard to get him turned back but I think it was a matter of too little, too late. We didn’t have much time. He decided to go in that direction.”

 

“Not really. He had already made his official visit (before I got here). I could only visit him one time in person. I spent a lot of time with him and his mother. I liked Ray and I liked his family. They are good people. We would have liked him to be part of our program but he decided to go and play at Rutgers. Like I say, we could only do so much in a short period of time.”

 

“I think he has done a nice job. It doesn’t surprise me. I remember his film, but more importantly, I even got to see him play in a basketball game. I saw how competitive he was and how strong he was. You knew he was going to be a good football player.”

 

     “We will have some family, some staff and part of the team will be over to our house that night. We do work that day. It is a good time," said head coach Greg Robinson. "(Associate athletics director for football operations) Reggie Terry made a good point. Thanksgiving Day is not the only day that we should be thankful for a lot of the things we have. He made that point to our team Sunday night. We had a Thanksgiving dinner together as a team. Our families were all with the teams. That started our Thanksgiving process on Sunday night. It was very nice. We will do more than that here. I look at this team as part of our family too. I really do. My wife (Laura) looks at it that way too. That is the extended family. Being around them this week and sharing with them with different things that we are thankful for is important.”

 

“First of all I go back, Tim caught seven passes in the Iowa game. He has made some catches for us. I was happy for Laver to step up with a big catch over the middle in a critical time. It set us up for the touchdown. I was glad to just have him feel that. Lavar is working hard to get in the rhythm of things. It was good. Tim has been steady his whole career. He has had some misfortunes. It has haunted him a little bit. I am happy for Tim anytime because he is a senior that has really never deviated in the way that he works and the way that his attitude is and the way that he treats his teammates. I think that his teammates feel for him and really see him as a guy that they like and have feelings for. “

 

“Yes, Donte will be back.”

 

“No, Taj won’t be able to play?

 

“It might be what is preparing him for the NFL. Somebody just asked me and they said a year ago you kind of compared him to (Tampa Bay fullback Mike) Alstott and I said he is not put into that role anymore. He reminds me a little more now of (former Syracuse fullback) Rob Konrad and when Rob went to the Miami Dolphins. The nice thing for Leonard is that he has been exposed for his whole senior year as a fullback. He has touched the ball a lot. They have found ways for him to touch the football. He is the leading receiver. What his attitude is about it and all of those kinds of things, I don’t know about that. I think that maybe he sees it as a benefit for him and is motivated. I don’t really know what his motivation is.”