Q&A With Football Coach Brady Hoke

Opening Statement:

“A week ago, we had a good win over Toledo. It was a good win for our program, for our seniors, and our team. Our team was playing for those seniors. I thought we played well as a team, Toledo scored early, but our guys bounced back. I thought the game tempo was good. We made some adjustments in the second half that helped us get our sixth win.”

What are your thoughts about being bowl eligible?

“We've got one more game we've got to play for our ten seniors. We're preparing to play Northern Illinois this week. The players know where we are at; they know we are going to be playing a good team and we are not taking them lightly.”

Is a record of 7-5 going to be good enough for a bowl bid?

“My priority is to get this team ready to play Northern Illinois.”

Is there pressure to win?

“Our ten seniors have worked and fought hard the last 4-5 years. They deserve to win their next game. We are going to play as hard and fast as we can to beat Northern Illinois. We are taking one game at a time. If you don't do that, you're going to make mistakes. Northern is a well coached team, we are 1-3 against them since I've been here.”

Why do you think they have had a bad season?

“Northern has had 18 interceptions and 12 fumbles, which is not a typical Joe Novak team. Right now they have a new quarterback because of injuries. Northern Illinois has never been an easy place to play. With this week being different because of classes getting out Tuesday, we could have a lot of distractions.”

Do you think the team will take NIU lightly?

“Hopefully our kids remember the spanking Northern Illinois gave us last year.”

What do you think about possibly being tied for the MAC West Division Championship?

“I think that would be great for Ball State and it will also be a great accomplishment for our team and our seniors.”

Tell us about Chris Clancy.

“He was a good back out of high school. He carries the ball with a physical nature, and is helping our team. He has the drive, and ability to be successful and he has great toughness.”

How did the leadership take part in the game after being down 17-7 against Toledo?

“I don't think our kids were ever worried. I think they knew they could get the job done.”

Why don't we always play more as aggressively as we did in the second half?

“Every game is different we need to adjust to the mix. We were more aggressive because we were more confident.”

Talk about Crawford's interception

“He has a passion for the game. He is an older guy who executed like he was supposed to, and he gets the job done.”

This has been a special year for you so far. How important is it to get that seventh win?

“We have had opportunities to make it a special year. At times we haven't executed but we have grown as a team and we need to make this special for our seniors.”

What will you take from this 83^rd football team?

“I won't take anything from this team until the season is over.”

Does the Central Michigan game eat at you? How do you handle that?

“Eat at me? Yes it does. I've looked back at every game that we have lost even the one's I played in here at Ball State. Dose losing to Central Michigan eat at me? Yes. Does losing to Nebraska eat at me? Yes. I don't like losing.

Ball State University Athletics

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