Wake Forest Football Press Conference Quotes
11/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 14, 2000
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL
On stopping Navy's offense:
It's going to take all we have and probably a little bit more. They are certainly a team that has a very complex offense. They couple a lot of formations with a very challenging scheme and the option is always tough to stop.
On the status of freshman quarterback Anthony Young:
We anticipate that Anthony (Young) will be able to do something for us on Saturday, how much we're not certain, but we will have to determine that throughout the week.
On the improvement of the team:
I think that we've become a better football team I think that you can see just by the way that we've become more competitive. The ultimate measure of that is winning more football games. I can certainly get a sense that our guys are getting a feel for what they're supposed to do on a consistent basis and being able to carry out those duties as well.
On being favored to win:
I don't know how that is the case because we are playing away from home. We are playing a team that we are fairly equal to and playing on someone else's home turf. That is asking a lot of a young team to play well on the road. We've got a real challenge ahead of us. I think that the big thing is that you can see that they are kind of going through the same evolution that most teams that are struggling go through. They are making steady improvements, but they haven't been able to get on the scoreboard. You can see that they are a very dangerous team and we are really going to have to play well.
On the Florida State game:
What I told our team is that we played well for three quarters of the game. We hung in there with a team that is probably as talented of a team as we'll see year-in and year-out, but I didn't want them to become satisfied with that. We were still beaten by 29 points. So how do you play well and get beaten by 29? We played well for a portion of the time and that, I think we can build upon. We have to be able to play an entire game like that. We're getting better. I don't think we'll ever be able to say that we've reached our potential unless we become completely healthy. With the group of guys that we do have out there I can say that we are improving.
JUNIOR DEFENSIVE BACK ADRIAN DUNCAN
On the team's attitude coming off Florida State game:
We have stayed positive. That is one thing that has remained consistent for us throughout the season whether we've won or lost. We didn't take satisfaction in just playing well against Florida State ? we wanted to win. We will stay positive and we are looking forward to this next game.
On the team's improvement:
I think that it is evident that we are playing better. If you compare us now to the beginning of the season you can tell a difference. I think it is that positive attitude that we've been able to get through the hard times. We have matured quite a bit for having such a young team. We had a lot of inexperience going into the season and we've learned a lot by going out and playing to the best of our abilities down after down.
On playing winless Navy:
Just like when teams play us, you have to be weary of a winless team that has nothing to lose. They are going to take their best shot. I'm pretty sure they're going to be very hungry, just like we were when we were winless. I'm looking forward to a good challenge. They are an explosive team and they present a challenge for us.
SOPHOMORE WIDE RECEIVER FABIAN DAVIS
On the team's improvement:
We've been improving all year. With the two quarterback operation being able to run and throw the ball very well, we have become a good team. Although we are not putting up the wins like everyone would like to see, we are improving as a very young team. Hopefully we'll keep improving in these last two games, come out with wins and build from that. We're still building and the last two games that we played were very good games for us. Hopefully going into these next two games we can just put it all together with a win. That would be a huge confidence booster for us to win three out of four last games.
On the offensive trickery against Florida State:
I'm not sure what were going to do this week. I'm guessing that was a one time game plan against Florida State last week. We went into the game knowing that Anthony (Young) probably wasn't going to play too many snaps and that MacPherson (James MacPherson) couldn't run the option as effectively as Anthony. So instead of having him (MacPherson) trying to run the option, and his knee wasn't the factor - it was just a matter of speed, we decided to get the ball to the running backs and receivers right off the snap and let them create on their own. It was a lot of fun because it kept them (Florida State) off balance all game and we moved the ball up the field all game with that offense. It was a great game plan. You really have to tip your hat to the coaches on that one.