Washington State University Athletics

Price earned his 100th victory in football's victory over Illinois.

September 7, 1998

ILLINOIS GAME IMPORTANT: "The victory over Illinois is much more important for the team than for my 100th victory. Nine months ago this game didn't seem to be that important, but as the game approached, it took on a lot of significance. I think our players felt the stress and pressure of living up to last year. Add to that the dedication of the game to Leon Bender and I think they were a little tight at the start."

PERFORMANCE GOOD: "I think our performance was good. We won the game, which was important. We got better as the game progressed."

BIRNBAUM SOLID: "I think Steve Birnbaum's performance was a little better than I expected. He was calm on the field. He didn't get rattled and was solid in the pocket."

FINALLY A 2-BACK SET: "I've told everybody at the start of the season for the last 10 years we would run the two-back offense. We did against Illinois because we have two very good backs. It worked pretty well. I'm still learning the offense and so is the team."

BROWN PUSHES THE PILE: "One think about Kevin Brown, when he gets tackled, he gets the additional yards. It looks like it will be second and seven, and then when they move the chains its second and two. When he hits the pile he moves the pile forward. Kevin acts cool, but inside he was excited."

0-LINE A LITTLE THIN: "I think the offensive line did well. I was pleased with their performance. Mike Sage, who will probably be out for a couple of weeks, had the best game of his career. We still will have to shuffle some folks around. Joe Criscione will come in for Sage and I have a lot of confidence in Joe. We will be OK, but we are getting a little thin. We need to get some guys healthy."

NEW DEFENSIVE LOOK: "We've changed our defensive scheme a little, as most people noticed. We have gone to an odd look, or an "oakey" look, as we call it. We've moved Jonathan Nance from a defensive end to an outside linebacker, where sometimes he drops but still can rush the passer. I think Gary Holmes will play better than he did against Illinois and we need him to play better. We ran to the ball hard and played with a lot of emotion and intensity."

FAST LB: "The linebackers were all over the field. We are fast and we are learning. James Price was banged up from a bicycle accident but nothing was going to keep him out of the game. Raonall Smith suffered a bruised shoulder in the game, so we are a little thin."

MARTIN DRAWS PRAISE: "I thought our secondary played well. It didn't seem like our main guys, Dee Moronkola and Lamont Thompson, got much action. Most of the plays went to the other side. Earl Riley smacked some guys. Illinois seemed to pick on Chris Martin, trying to beat him deep, but he covered them like a blanket. I don't know if we have had a junior college transfer in his first game play as well in the secondary as Chris Martin played."

ANDERSON GOES HIGH: "Kareem Anderson, our punter, made some spectacular catches (of high center snaps). He made a great punt the one time the ball sailed over his head and he had to chase it down near our goal line. He is very athletic."

LINDELL COMES BACK: "I was glad to see Rian Lindell make that long (52 yards) field goal just before halftime because he did miss the short one earlier. That was disappointing because we had taken the opening kickoff right down the field, but came away with no points. That's not going to happen very many times."

BLUE TURF GREAT: "I'm not going to say too much about playing Boise State. I popped off about the turf when I was at Weber State and motivated the entire state of Idaho against me. I think it is a wonderful idea and I love playing on it. It will be a full house and the fans will be loud. It will be an intimidating place to play. This will be a great experience for this team. Those fans really love their Broncos."

EVERYTHING A LEARNING EXPERINCE: "Everything has been a learning experience for this team, beginning with pre-game organization. What we do before the game, at halftime, after the game, we have to explain everything to everybody. This trip will be another learning experience for the team. I just hope we can win football games while we are learning."

KOETTERS TEAMS THROW THE BALL: "I have known Dirk Koetter for many years and I knew his dad and competed against his dad when he coached at Idaho State. Dirk is a real offensive minded coach. I am sure we'll get out the videos of when he was at Oregon. They'll throw anything and everything to beat the defending Pac-10 champions."