Western Michigan Coach Bill Cubit Quotes

Western Michigan Postgame Quotes
Coach Bill Cubit
Nebraska vs. Western Michigan
Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008

Opening Statement
"The tough part about the fourth straight year where you go into an environment like this is it's a little bit hard. The kids get all geeked up, being ready to go. We didn't handle it as well. I think offensive-line wise, they're pretty good. I was really impressed with those guys. I think (Marlon) Lucky is a heck of a back. (Joe) Ganz, he's just a gamer. He's the kind of guy that just runs around and make plays. We had a couple shots early and we didn't take advantage of it. After halftime, the first series we didn't do real well, the second one we go down there and we score. I think the turning point was we got two turnovers near the end, but we go down there and didn't get any points. But our kids played hard. I think there was a lot of good things that happened out there."

On the fans cheering the Broncos off the field
"That's kind of what we told our kids. They're great fans. It's a great place to play. I wish we played a little bit better. I think they appreciate the effort. I know on the other side, I think they're going to say our kids fought. And that's the one thing you're always looking for as a coach."

On the failed first-quarter trick play
"On the eighth play of the game, we knew exactly what we were going to do. The ball was on the left hash mark, this is what we're going to do. And then the kids get all fired up about. It just slipped out of his hands. We've probably run that play 10 times in the past two weeks and it never happened like that, and it happened (this time). It's just one of those things. You've got to battle back and just battle adversity and I thought (quarterback) Tim (Hiller) did."

On his team's resiliency in the second half
"You've got to keep on plugging along and I thought our kids did that. On the sidelines, the coaches were doing a nice job with the kids. They were going back and forth and encouraging each other. That's going to go a long way."

On the offensive line's performance
"Their defensive line, I remember one time I looked out there and they all looked about 6-5, 6-6, 280 and 300 pounds. They're big guys. It was tough for our guys to keep on moving. Our run game, I wasn't real happy there. But I thought our kids did a nice job pass protecting. They saw a lot. There was blitzes coming at them left and right. Fortunately, we picked up most of them. We missed a couple. Their linebackers, I was a little surprised at the speed. You don't see them on tape, but there's a couple of guys that can run pretty good."