rudderrudderrat, "Pilots can only sense accelerations - not speed. The sensation of high speed was due to the unusual air noise around the cockpit sounding like they were going very fast."
Indeed, and they're not as good at it as they think they are. He was leaning back. That felt like acceleration to him. The comment made makes it seem like he was pulling back on the stick to get the nose up to slow down and it wasn't happening. The acceleration was continuing. His brain froze solid.
A full motion simulator can show you this effect happening. And if the training program includes a module to explain how such simulators work maybe then the idea that you cannot trust even the pressure on your back or seat when flying with no visibility at all outside the plane. That brain freeze prevented him from recognizing the stall. (Darnedifiknow what led the PNF to be so meek about breaking through PF's fog. It cost him his life, whatever the reason.)