On Minnesota’s offense
“I coached there years ago, the type of kids they have: tough, hard-nosed, gritty kids. Having watched them through the years, their ability to run the football and kind of control the line of scrimmage with their big offensive linemen, their good backs. Now, they’ve got a good, young quarterback and a couple of good receivers. I know the backs have been hurt a little bit, so they’ve gotten away from the run game, and then they’ve been down in some games to get away from the run game. But, I think they’re going to try to run the football on us again. I think you’d be a fool not to try that on us. We’ve got to try to establish the line of scrimmage and then do a good job of affecting this young quarterback who makes a lot of good throws.”

On tackling vs Maryland
“We were in the pregame watching Maryland’s guys, really more specifically their receivers in the pregame. We knew we were going to play a little bit more zone against Maryland just because we felt that would affect the quarterback a little more. We knew we were going to have to tackle them, and their receivers are big and strong. I think Ceyair (Wright) did a good job at times of making some tackles. But, we did miss a few early in the game to allow them to continue drives. But, it’s just something we’re always going to keep working on.”

On the short week
“The number one thing is everything is about getting the players' bodies right. The good thing is our opponent is coming off a short week as well, so it’s not like they have an advantage on us over that. It’s such a state of mind. Again, having coached in the NFL for 10 years, you got those Thursday games, that’s a three-day break. At least for these guys, it’s an extra three and a half. When you look at it with us, it’s about a 12-hour difference from an 11 o’clock start on Saturday. So, it’s really not that big of a deal as far as how we’re approaching our week. But, it really comes back to getting the bodies right earlier on in the week and making sure while they’re getting their bodies and their minds right, we’re still practicing like we did today. We went out there, and we were physical in pads, doing what we do. Working on tackling. Getting off blocks. Being physical in our rush plan. And then putting in another good day again tomorrow, locking up first and second down, and getting some third down stuff. I think the approach is the approach, and the game’s coming on Friday. We always tell those guys that they’re going to play the game on Thursday, so you better go out there and play well, especially how we’re playing.”