Players Quotes from December 29

AUBURN TIGERS

Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn

On joining the Auburn coaching staff:
“It’s been a great experience for me being here at Auburn and coaching this group. A lot of them bought in completely offensively in what we’ve done. I know all the experiences they had before, there’s probably some hesitancy. They bought in. It’s been a true blessing for me to be a part of this group. The future is great. Like we told this group we’re laying the foundation for a lot of good things.”

On getting off to a fast start in the last two games:
“I think rhythm has a lot to do with it. You think back, the last two games we have come out strong. We had the rhythm going and we were playing fast. The game slowed down a little bit and it kind of took away our edge. We’re going to try to keep that rhythm going later in the game and into the second half.”

Defensive Back Walt McFadden

On the SEC versus Northwestern and the Big Ten:
“I’m a big fan of the SEC; I would take the SEC any day. Just by watching them play other teams in the Big Ten it’s a good league. I see that they had a lot of tough games. It seems like every weekend they had to play somebody that was good; it wasn’t just an easy win.”

On Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka:
“My only concern is just keeping my eyes on my man because their quarterback is very mobile. Once he starts running some DBs might want to come up and try to make the play. But you’ve got to remember this guy can run and he can throw and run as well.”

Offensive tackle Andrew McCain

On playing on New Year’s Day in the Outback Bowl:
“I think it’s very important, especially these days, because there are so many bowl games. I certainly don’t want to cheapen any of those, because any time you get the opportunity to play in one whenever it is, that’s special. To have the opportunity to play on New Year’s Day and to play in the very first game to kick off in 2010 is very special for us. It’s a great opportunity and we couldn’t be more excited to play against a great Big Ten opponent in Northwestern.”

On the Northwestern defense:
“They do a whole lot of stuff, but they’re good at all of it. You can tell from top to bottom they are a defensive-minded team. I think that starts with their head coach. They are strong and they’re athletic, but they are very gap sound. You have to account for every player on every play. You don’t catch them out of position too often. That makes our job really important just because we know we’re not going to get away with anything. If you’re going to make positive yards you’re going to have a hat on a hat every single play.”

On the 2009 Auburn Tigers squad:
“I couldn’t be more proud of the guys on this football team and what they’ve done over the course of the year. Starting over a year ago when Coach Chizik was hired and started bringing in his new staff, so see how everybody bought into his system, to see how he extended himself and his family and the assistant coaches did the same, it just created a real family environment. The camaraderie just developed. Everybody has just banded together and this is a football team that is just really special. It won’t go down in the books as one that has won more games than any other team at Auburn, but I think when you look back on it and look at the direction this team is headed several years from now they’ll be able to look at this year’s team and say they really helped build a foundation for a whole lot of great years.”

Quarterback Chris Todd

On playing in the Outback Bowl:
“Honestly, this being my last year, it’s always more fun to be able to finish out your year with a good bowl game and be able to enjoy it and go out in this way. To be able to play in a good bowl game like this speaks a lot for our coaches and all our players and what they’ve done.”

Defensive end Antonio Coleman

On the Northwestern offense:
“They’re a great football team with a great quarterback that can throw and run the ball. They’re physical and sound. They have a great offense. I haven’t seen too much of their defense, but on offense I think they’re going to give us a lot of looks. We just have to be ready.”

On his time in Tampa:
“It’s been a great time. This is a vacation, but on the flipside every day is a work day. We’ve been enjoying ourselves, but we’ve come here to win a football game.”

Defensive tackle Jake Ricks

On spending time in Tampa:
“We know what we’re down here to do. We’re here to have fun but at the same time we know we’re down here to win a football game.”

On the seniors finishing their careers with a win in the Outback Bowl:
“We want to go out with a win and send us out the right way. It will be a big game for us.”

Linebacker Craig Stevens

On the Northwestern offense:
“They have a pretty respectable offense. They have a pretty good quarterback that’s a dual threat; he can throw the ball and run it. I think we’re going to have to be ready.”

On the biggest challenge for the defense:
“I would have to say the quarterback’s running ability. We’re going to have to respect every receiver out there. Once they’re in their routes he has the ability to just tuck it and run it. We’re just going to have to always keep our eyes on him.

NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS

Quarterback Mike Kafka

On wide receiver Zeke Markshausen:
“Before this year he actually caught one pass. He had one career reception before this year. I think it’s a surprise for a lot of people, but the guys in the Northwestern football program. Zeke’s always been a hard worker from day one, since he walked in. I was drawn to him because of his work ethic. He’s a very intelligent kid. He’s a first team All American, academic All American. He’s a great athlete; runs great routes, can understand concepts of an offense and relay that to the rest of the guys on the team, especially the receivers.”

On his contribution to the Northwestern offense:
“I was labeled as a running quarterback and that’s fine. As I said, everyone has their own opinions. I’ve always had confidence in myself to be able to do whatever the team needs me to do to win. Last year it was run the ball. This year I needed to throw the ball a little more. So I’ve done that. The coaching staff and Coach McCall have done a great job of adapting to take the personnel we have on the team and be able to use them to our strength.”

On the Auburn defense:
“They’re very athletic, defensively they are very sound. So we have to execute at a high level. I don’t think they’ve seen a true spread team. I think it will definitely be something fun to see what they have for us and we’ll go out and play.”

Wide receiver Zeke Markshausen

On decision to transfer to Northwestern:
“There were a few things. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. There were a lot of choices I had. I could have gone to a lot of different schools, but I wanted to pursue playing both sports. I wanted to run track and I wanted to play football and Wisconsin-Platteville gave me a good opportunity to do that. After I was there and I saw what that experience was like I had a dream the whole time about playing big time ball.”

On recording 79 passes this season:
“It’s a big number, but you don’t realize it as you’re going through the season. I’m just trying to help the team as much as I can whatever way that is. If that’s catching 79 balls, then so be it. We’re just trying to get that last win and finish the season right.”

On the Auburn Tigers:
“Like everyone says they’re a big athletic team and it obviously jumps out to you right away. On defense there are some big guys on the line. The secondary is going to be quick; they’re going to be jumping on the routes. We’re just going to be looking for areas where they are not and trying to work those areas.”

On taking a fishing trip with his dad:
“We went out yesterday, my dad and I went out. It was a great experience. We caught ladyfish, we caught flounder and we caught some trout out there. We were just in the bay. I’m a big fly fisherman, so I really like doing that. We got to do some of that yesterday in the mangroves in the channels.”

Offensive coordinator Mick McCall

On the Auburn defense:
“They come at us with a great bunch of guys up front first of all. We have to do some things with those guys to be able to handle them a little bit. The linebackers and secondary are going to give us all we want. We just have to control them, and do what we do on offense. We’ll spread it out and the quarterback is going to be able to run the football and throw it around a little bit.”

On what he expects from the Auburn defense Friday:
“A lot of people play cover four and cover two, and I know that is their base. I don’t think there is anybody that I would necessarily compare them to. They’re a good football team. They are very well coached. They do a great job up front, especially up front. Coverage wise they’re going to play cover two and cover four and then blitz us and on third down they’re going to play man. That’s kind of what we expect, so we’ve got to be able to handle that.”

On the Northwestern offensive game plan:
“Our quarterback has to play because he’s going to have the ball in his hands quite a bit, so he’s going to have to play well. Whoever gets the opportunity to get the ball in their hands, when it comes up they’ve got to make a play. We’ve got to get the ball in our playmakers’ hands and when they get opportunities to make plays and the defense allows them to make plays, they’ve got to make it.”

Wide receiver Andrew Brewer

On the Auburn defense:
“They’re a solid defense as we’ve watched on film. They have a lot of great athletes. I think what we need to do is take what they give us. They’re going to have some guys that we’ve seen that can make some plays up front and they’ve got some big boys that will be giving Mike some pressure. That will be something to look at as well. They have some good guys in their secondary, so we’ll need to run some good routes and get open.”

On whether Northwestern’s offense will offer something Auburn hasn’t faced before:
“I think the SEC doesn’t have a lot of true spread teams. We really like to go fast tempo and have four wide receivers out there quite a bit. Looking back through the cut ups it doesn’t look like Auburn has faced a lot of true spread teams. Hopefully that will definitely give us an advantage as we go into this game.”

Safety Brad Phillips

On his time in Tampa:
“I think one of the benefits is the weather. Coming from seven inches of snow in Chicago and trying to fly out of that. We get the sun here everyday so it’s great.”

On the key to success for the Northwestern defense:
“I think just like when you’re facing any offense you need to know our defensive game plan and know your job. Each job you have, you have a different key on every play, so as long as we know what we’re doing every play and all 11 guys on defense know what they’re doing, I think we’ll be okay. The most important thing is having your eyes in the right place.”

On the bowl week events and preparing for his final game:
“I think a lot of guys enjoyed Busch Gardens yesterday. The guys are enjoying Outback meals after practice. It’s good to get away from watching film and practicing and getting to hang out with your teammates and buddies. Being a senior, I know a lot of us are enjoying our last moment together. It’s a great experience.”

Defensive end Corey Wootton

On his time in Tampa preparing for the Outback Bowl:
“It’s been great to be in the city of Tampa. It’s a beautiful city. The weather has been great. It’s been a good change of atmosphere.”

On the passing of head coach Randy Walker:
“It was kind of a shock to us. We were all at summer workouts and staying with the team and I was actually staying with a couple of teammates and we had found out from one of our coaches. He called and told us he had passed away. We were all in disbelief; we couldn’t believe that our coach had passed away. We just came together. Coach Fitz took the helm and did a tremendous job.”