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The Illini are no longer undefeated conference play, falling 20-17 to conference foe Maryland on Friday night at Memorial Stadium. Offensive Coordinator Tony Petersen, Defensive Coordinator Ryan Walters and head coach Bret Bielema met the media on Monday to discuss the loss and preview this week’s contest on the road at Purdue.
Here’s what Petersen had to say about:
The loss against Maryland
“A loss is a loss, it makes you sick.”
“We did a lot of really good things in the game.”
“It’s hard to win football games in the big ten.”
“I’m gonna be in a different play call in second and third down to try and get us a fourth-and-one.”
“That’s (going for it on fourth down) totally up to him (Bret Bielema), he’s the head coach.”
On the QB Room
“It’s his (Brandon Peters) first full game with us, you know what he did some really good stuff. He missed a couple of reads.”
“I’m excited where BP is at.”
“I was good with BP right there (for the last drive of the game).”
“Art (Sitkowski) does a great job of trying to make really good decisions, getting the ball out on time. He does not have the arm talent right now that BP does.”
“I hate turnovers.”
“He (Brandon Peters) knows he left a few plays out there and he wants to clean it up.”
The Run game
“As we keep moving forward that’s probably the two main guys (Chase Brown and Josh McCray) that you’ll see in the runningback position.”
Injuries
“When you’re missing your center, that hurts.”
Here’s what Walters had to say about:
Friday’s loss
“I thought we played hard, I like what we were doing from a communication standpoint.”
“The amount of mental errors were way down.”
“We’re starting to develop an identity on defense.”
“We just didn’t make enough plays there at the end.”
“Friday night is something we can build on.”
Play calling
“My career as a play caller I’ve been on the sideline primarily.”
“We’re not there as far as the full install (of the play book) yet.”
On Purdue
“They’ve got talent across the board.”
“They’ve got two quarterbacks that they feel comfortable in.”
“We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Here’s what Bielema had to say about:
The loss on Friday
“Nobody is happy to be 1-3.”
“I got a communication from BP on Saturday that I could tell he was putting a lot on himself.”
“The margin for error is really really small, for us to have success.”
The Purdue game
“We’re gonna need every DB on the roster this week.”
“You have the biggest improvement from game one to game two. Brandon [Peters] has that chance this week.”
Injuries
“[Doug] Kramer is back with us.”
“Chase Brown should be back with us Tuesday, if not Wednesday, and will be available Saturday. Sam with Julian Pearl.”
“We hope to get Keith Randolph back as well.”
Players
“Taz Nicholson has done some good things, played well.”
“Seth Coleman jumped off film after Nebraska.”
“There were a lot of learning moments for him (Brandon Peters).”
“Tony (Adams) was great all week.”
“(Brandon Peters) earned the starting job. He’s definitely our starting quarterback this week.”
“I’ve been around a lot of really good centers and (Doug Kramer) is as good as I’ve been around.”
“There’s two guys on our football team that when they speak, everybody listens. Doug Kramer on offense and Jake Hansen on defense.”
“Kenenna Odeluga will play more this week.”
Recruiting
“Every Wednesday night I do six or seven zooms (with recruits).”
“When I took the job I reached out to several Illinois high school coaches.”
“For us to be successful here at Illinois we need to build on Illinois high school players.”
“Illinois players need to be a priority.”