Wisconsin Post-Game Quotes

WISCONSIN COACH BRET BIELEMA

Opening Statement “I really liked the way our guys competed for four quarters. There’s a lot of things you can take from this game, we just need to make sure we take them forward as a program. To be able to be in the position we were and not come out with a win is the difference of little things along the way from the opening snap to the final snap there at the end. I’d like to thank Jim McVay and everybody at the Outback Bowl and all the guys in the brown coats that made this a tremendous week. Unfortunately we weren’t able to close out here at the end with a victory, but it was just a tremendous week for everybody involved and I look forward to the future of our program.”

On the decision to go for it on fourth and two “The biggest thing was on third down we had made the decision that if it was fourth and two or less we were going for it. We made the call accordingly. Obviously it was fourth and two so we went for it. We weren’t able to execute and Tennessee did a good job. There’s a lot of things that went into it, but we only had one timeout.”

On tight end Travis Beckum’s frustration in the game “I know he was frustrated. I grabbed him at halftime, and there was a time where he was very frustrated coming off the sideline. When you’re a big playmaker and you don’t get a chance to make those things it can get frustrating.”

On Tyler Donovan’s injury in the game “Obviously they were looking at his knee on the first one. What I was worried about was the shot he took on the goal line was pretty significant helmet-to-helmet contact and you’re always worried about when that happens.”

On how his defense handled Tennessee’s no-huddle offense “Tennessee has a unique no-huddle. It’s not really a speed up thing. They don’t run very many plays where they get up and snap it. They try to show you certain things. I know our defense gave up some points, but for what I’ve seen this offense do all season long the key that probably was the factor at the end was our inability to get off the field on third and fourth down. That was probably our biggest challenge.”

On Vols quarterback and Outback Bowl MVP Erik Ainge “He knows where to go with the football. There was one occasion, a big play there towards the end where they had an unblocked man, the protection wasn’t there. We had designed a blitz that they were unable to pick up and he was able to find a man and deliver before we were able to get there. It was an unblocked rusher right in his face. I turned away from that play and realized that was a pretty good player right there.”

QUARTERBACK TYLER DONOVAN

On the injury he sustained during the game My cleat kind of dug into the turf there and tweaked my knee a little bit. I felt like I was still in a position to compete and get out there and play for my team so it was going to take a lot to keep me out of the game.

On the hit he sustained scoring a touchdown in the first quarter “I took kind of a wicked hit in the end zone. They were testing me, but like I said it’s going to take a lot to keep me out of the ballgame.”

On the interception he threw to end the Badger’s hopes of a victory “It was a stab route; it’s a shot play with a finesse with how those safeties were playing it and the flow. We thought we’d take a shot. Again, give Tennessee credit for doing a good job for being in the right position. That’s a one-on-one position play. He came up and stepped up and made the play.”

On the Tennessee defense “They did a good job bracketing Travis. Good teams know how to take out key players in the offense. They did a good job spying him on a lot of his crossing routes. He still was able to come up and make some catches. Give credit to them.”

On not capitalizing on good field position in the third quarter “That’s kind of what happened in this game, little things we didn’t capitalize on down in those situations. There were some third-down conversions we’d like to have back, but that’s the game.”

On his final collegiate game “That’s what it was all about at the end there, making plays and driving the ball down the field. Honestly, it didn’t end how we would have liked it, but then again my hat’s off to our offense and our team and how they competed today.”

WIDE RECEIVER DAVID GILREATH

On finishing the season with a loss in the Outback Bowl “Anytime you lose a big game like this you’re pretty down. Guys are trying to look forward to next year though. There’s nothing you can really do about it now, just in there and work hard.”

On his 92 yards in three kick-off returns “The blockers did a great job in front of me. They kind of just springboarded me.”

LINEBACKER JOHNATHAN CASILLAS

On falling to the Volunteers Tuesday afternoon “I hate losing, it’s one of the worst feelings I have. I’m very disappointed, especially in the way the defense played in the first half. I didn’t play very well in the first half; I think I gave up that touchdown. You’ve got to look forward and try to build off of this in the off-season.”

On the performance of the defense against Tennessee “Tennessee capitalized on all of our mistakes and it came at critical points in the game like on third down and fourth down.”

On finishing the season with a loss “Some people will be mad, some will keep this feeling in the back of their head so that we approach winter workouts and winter conditioning we hit it harder than we’ve ever hit it before. I’m about to be senior and I’m going to work the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

On defensive adjustments between the first and second half “No scheme adjustments at all. We just didn’t have that attitude and that passion. I don’t know why though. We came out in the second half and our offense stalled and we got up and made a big stop. It was kind of like we got the momentum on our side and our defense had all the confidence in the world.”

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN GABE CARIMI

On the performance of the offense “I feel like we had enough mistakes on offense that kept us from getting into the end zone. I felt like we should have scored every time we had the ball and we just had way too many mental mistakes.”

On the offensive line’s performance “I was hoping the offensive line would do better. I gave up a sack today. I thought I had inside help and I just went too far outside. I just think we need to focus more, make the calls and be more decisive. We just need to focus in on playing you know, competing.”

On the Tennessee defense “We’ve seen them on film. You see what you see on film and you expect what you’ve seen on film. We’ve got to trust what you see on film. I don’t think they surprised us with anything. I just think we needed to have a better game.”

TIGHT END ANDY CROOKS

On his final game as a Badger “I just tried to do whatever I could. I got a little bit more time on special teams. I just tried to give it my all in my last game.”

On tight end Travis Beckum “You know Travis is a playmaker. I feel like sometimes he needs a chance to make plays and sometimes when he doesn’t get that I would be frustrated too. That’s just how it is sometimes I guess.”

On the way Tennessee defended Travis Beckum “They had a good plan. They had two guys around him just trying to take him out of his game.”

On quarterback Tyler Donovan “I’ve never seen anybody all year take the hits he’s taken; he’s a real tough kid. He’s my roommate and I tell him every time, I’m like, ‘You take some ridiculous hits.’ It’s unbelievable his heart. He’s got more heart than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

TIGHT END TRAVIS BECKUM

On quarterback Tyler Donovan “He’s tough. He’s done it all year. He just does a great job of coming back.”