Seattle Bowl Press Conference Quotes
12/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 18, 2002
Wake Forest Football
Seattle Bowl Press Conference
Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2002
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On returning to practice:
"Today was a little sloppy and sluggish. The guys didn't have their legs back yet, which is what we expected. We've not been doing anything for two weeks -- we had a week off before we knew we were going to bowl, then we had final exams last week. Mentally, we're okay. Our guys are smart. We're starting early enough; we have about 13 good practices before we play. The big part for us is getting well -- a lot of guys were banged up in the last month of the season. We've got a ways to go to get ready."
On Oregon:
"They're a pretty physical team. People forget that they were ranked sixth in the country at one point of the season. They have a great tailback in Onterrio Smith, who was a legitimate Heisman candidate before he got hurt. After he got hurt they kind of went into a tailspin, and they also played a tough schedule down the stretch. We definitely have our work cut out for us."
"(Mike) Bellotti talks a lot about how hard they play. They play very fast, always at full speed -- that's what I see. They're very sound, they don't beat themselves. With the talent they have and a healthy Onterrio Smith, we have our cut out for us. We have to find a way to go to another level."
On DE Calvin Pace (injured leg) and his worth to the team:
"I think he's healing up pretty good. He still has a lot of soreness. Hopefully by the game he'll be healthy."
"Going into this season I don't think he realized how much of a marked man he would be. He's had to become more physical because of that and it's improved his play. He had a good junior year but was overshadowed by Nate Bolling, and this year I think he' s developed another level of intensity."
On QB James MacPherson:
"He plays because of his perseverance. He's not the biggest; he's not the fastest, but he has all the intangibles you for in a football player. He's very smart on the field, you don't have to tell him twice about assignments. He takes his role of quarterback very seriously -- he's the ultimate team guy. He's very special. I admire him, because he overcame a serious knee injury and won a ton of games for us late last year and this year."
On WR/KR Fabian Davis:
"Fabian has been our go-to guy. We try to get him the ball by throwing, by running sweep plays, and of course he's our returner on kicks. Except when the defense is out there I don't think he comes off the field. Certainly he's one of our most valuable kids; he does so many things, and he's had a really good year. After he got hurt against Florida State, I don't think he was ever back at full strength for the Navy and Maryland games. Hopefully by the bowl game he'll be back to full speed and ready to go."
Senior Quarterback James MacPherson
On playing final college game:
"We were disappointed that our season ended the way it did in the Maryland game, and we didn't know if we'd get a chance to play an extra game. We're excited and looking forward to the bowl game."
On returning to practice:
"It was good to get back out there. It felt a little rusty throwing and getting the timing with the receivers. It will take a couple of practices to get back in the groove. It just feels like we had a week or two off."
On football being the only focus:
"Now we can just practice and afterwards go back to our rooms and have some downtime, instead of having to study or have other distractions. What do the players do? "Everyone does different things, some watches movies, play video games, some of us are going to see "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" tonight. It's nice to be on campus, get past finals and not have school going on. Being a senior, it's been nice to just be able to hang out with the guys on the team, spend time with them off the field and have some fun."
On playing on the West Coast:
"I have a lot of family coming out -- this is the closest thing to a home game for me that I've ever had. (MacPherson is from Tuscon, Ariz.) Being from the West Coast, I watched a lot of Pac-10 football growing up, so playing against a team I grew up watching and playing in Seahawks Stadium is going to be a lot of fun."
On the fan ratio between Oregon and Wake Forest:
"The good thing about Oregon having a lot of fans out there is that it will still feel like a college football environment. Because of the size of our school and alumni base, we face that situation everywhere we go. It's nothing new for us -- we'll just go in there and try to win."
Senior Defensive End Calvin Pace
On his injured leg:
"It's good. It's healing as expected and coming along fine. It should be totally healed by game week. They did an x-ray last week and that's what they're expecting. Today (at practice) I did some light work. It's going to be a little sore but it should be fine."
"I'm definitely going to play. The first series will be a little rough, getting back into game speed -- that's just something you can't simulate in practice. "
On the bowl game:
"This is a chance to prove to the nation that we're worthy of playing in this bowl game. We want to show that we're better than what we did against Maryland. We didn't do well at all at Maryland and we want to end the season on a good note. Oregon will give us a different look than what we've seen this year. They're wide open, have an explosive offense. That's what you want as a player -- to see different leagues and different teams. Oregon is a great team with a great tradition. Getting a win against them would carry over well to next season."
On possibly breaking the WFU sack record:
"I'm just really happy to be able to play in one more game, especially the bowl game. I would like to be able to tie the record, just to have my name up there with him (Michael McCrary). To even be spoken in the same sentence with him means something to me. If I can break it, that would be great, but I'm just happy to have another opportunity."