Dan Pifer Quotations

One of our reporters asked me if we would be scared of the environment. We know it's going to be loud, but it's easier to get excited for a game like that rather than 500 people. We have good crowds here and (opposing) teams play well and are emotional.

If we go 0-3, we've got to play our butts off to find a way into the playoffs. If we split with Sioux Falls, we're OK. We want to win all three. If we come away with two of the three, I'll be pretty happy.

If a defensive tackle goes to the wrong gap, nobody knows because the linebacker made the play, so they don't know they screwed up. On offense, a guy can screw up and it can really cost you. On defense, a guy can screw up but people can rally around and cover for him. Everybody is going in the same direction, running to the football.

We talked at halftime that we have to learn to put people away. We had a big tendency last year to get a 10-, 17- point lead and let everybody hang around. We came out with a lot more intensity and it showed.

We're definitely not where we need to be. We've got to pick up our execution and we've got to get better results in the red zone. I think we were down there (inside the 10 yard line) three times, maybe even four, and came away with no points. Whether it three or seven (points), we've got to get something. The game shouldn't have been this close. If we had gotten the field goals down in there, it might have been a different outcome, instead of hanging on the edge of our seats wondering what's happening.

We wanted to come in and run the football and establish the run and build off that, and we did that early, and I think that set the tone. We're pretty happy offensively. We knew we would be pretty good. We just had to get caught up, get reps for another week, and we thought we'd be OK.

You have to run with a back like him. He has a low center of gravity. The big thing is his cutting ability. He's a slasher. He can cut on a dime and change direction like that. That's what you need in this league, someone who can do a lot of things in a small area. He's a threat to break it at any time. He's strong, too. He can be a power runner.

There's not a huge drop-off between Rocky and Luther. Luther's good. I think it took more out of the fans (when Harvey got hurt). We might fell into that trap a little bit.

Defenses, you can screw up but if you react and play hard, you can make up for it and you're still fine. That's what defenses traditionally teach early on is run to the football, fly to the football. So when you get into a team atmosphere, they're just flying around. They can screw up, but somebody may cover for them or they may recover for themselves.

They are as good as you're going to find in this league up front. They are playing together for the second year. They talk. They can make adjustments. We wanted to establish the run and build off that. We did that early and that helped us set the tone.