Wake Forest Athletics
Football Press Conference Quotes
8/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 27, 2002
Wake Forest Football
Weekly Press Conference
Head Coach Jim Grobe
??Northern Illinois is a good football team. They almost beat us last year at home. They??ve got most of their kids back. On offense, you really don??t find any weaknesses; the only toss up is they don??t know who the quarterback is going to be. On the defensive side of the ball, most of their guys are back, I think nine starters. I remember the second half last year, they pretty much shut us down. They are a well-coached football team, with one of the most respected coaches, not only in the league, but in the country. They have a great coaching staff, so we have our work cut out for us. Playing them on the road is going to be tough.??
??Stopping their running game has been a point of emphasis for us. They have two great running backs ?V Thomas Hammock and Michael Turner ?V that you have to slow down. They have a great offensive line and tight ends, a lot of tough, hard-nosed guys. So that has been a point of emphasis for us, but whether or not we will be successful won??t be determined until Thursday.??
??I think people expect our players to be competitive and that??s what we??re striving for. I like to think that every time we play, we have a chance to win. If we play real hard against Northern Illinois, we will have a chance to win.??
??I think we are in great shape. We??re pretty healthy except for Tarence Williams. We??ve been banged up a little bit, but thank the Lord nothing serious has happened. We??re a football team that now is pretty well conditioned. The only question as a head coach is if you worked them too hard, or not hard enough. I think that where we are, we will go out and play hard.??
Senior Defensive End Rod Stephen
??There are certainly expectations that include having a better season than 6-5 and a bowl appearance. Honestly, we??re just taking it one game at a time. That??s all you can really do; it??s a long season. We just have to not look ahead of ourselves and concentrate game-to-game.??
??Going into last year, I just didn??t know what was going to happen. It was our first year with a new coaching staff and we were just kind of feeling our way through things. I think with this camp, it allowed us to go out there and play a little bit more instead of trying to figure out where the coaches were coming from.??
Senior Quarterback James MacPherson
??I have high expectations of myself. I have to pull up, be more consistent, complete a high percent of my passes and go for more touchdowns. I guess this year when the touchdowns are there I have to hit them. I have to execute every play the best that I can and when things are open, whether its passing, a first-down or running for a touchdown. I have to make some big plays and convert regular plays into big plays. I have to be a lot smarter with the football now and not force passes that aren??t there and throw them away. I have to give my team the best chance that we have to win. That??s just everything that a quarterback does - making smart decisions and big plays.??
??I??m very pleased with the way camp has gone and I feel very comfortable going into this game. I think this is the best camp that I have had as far as throwing the ball and hitting touchdown passes. I feel very comfortable doing the things that I??m doing and I think it will help us become a better football squad this year.??
