Lovie Smith Week 10 Quotables

Illinois is coming off of their second conference win of the season against Purdue, making their second half of the season better than the first half.

“To put two Big Ten wins together like that is big for our program.”

“We celebrated and then we moved on, a lot like last week.”

“You want to get better as the season goes along. We are building a program. You want it to be a finished product right away, but it doesn’t work that way.”

“Life tells you you can’t live in the past. We knew we had a second half of football coming up. When you have disappointment early, it’s not the end of the game.”

“All we’ve accomplished so far is that we have momentum in the second half. We have to ride this momentum all the way through.”

“I think guys can get better and enjoy those wins when they come.”

Lovie on player endorsement bill: “I’m in favor of everyone getting as much as they can. This is America right?”

On Rutgers

“This week we are not going to be an underdog. None of that should affect how we handle that. We respect them.”

“They play good football, they played their best game last weekend.”

Injuries

“He is getting better [Ricky Smalling] we will be able to tell you a little bit more later in the week.”

“Jamal Woods didn’t finish the game...hopefully we’ll get those guys back.”

Wole Betiku was also out on Saturday’s game.

Rod Smith

“Weather dictated game plan ‘a lot.’ Changed course after first series. Tried to take a shot with Bhebhe early. It was tough. QB said balls were soaked.”

On the game plan against Purdue: “It was a change of course after the first series. I tried to take a shot to BheBhe early on and it slipped through. It was tough... What I was proud of was our guys not fumbling.”

“Brandon handled the football extremely well in wet conditions. Made good reads in football game. Made pivotal pulls in run game. He did a good job of keeping them honest.”

“I thought Caleb [Reams] did a tremendous job giving us a physical presence on the perimeter. You see Reggie’s run and he blocked a guy out of the end zone.”

“I thought our whole offensive line controlled the game.”

“You want your offense to play complimentary football to your defense.”

“You work too hard not to have fun.” on some players sliding in the mud after the win against Purdue.