Tuesday Football Press Conference Quotes
11/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 16, 2004
Head coach Jim Grobe
On Marcus McGruder:
"Marcus has been beat two or three times this year, but when you've scored three times, you kind of make up for that. If you don't give up a couple of plays as a corner, you aren't playing too aggressively, and of course if you do, the key is to come back and not let it get to you. For a couple years, Marcus would be way too low when he made bad plays and he let it get to him. This year no matter what happens, he keeps right on playing. He's just a special guy. When he got called for interference down at Clemson and then after the two-point play, I was scared to death that was going to be it for him and he was going to go into a shell. But it's been far from it, he's played really well."
On the team:
"Our players have known for two or three games that we need to start winning some games down the stretch. We're playing good teams. We're playing real, real hard. We're not playing exceptionally well at times, but I can't ask for more out of our guys as far as effort is concerned. Hopefully we can put it together. I told the players I still don't think we've played a complete football game where all three areas, the kicking game, offense and defense, have clicked in one football game. You'd like to see that happen somewhere before the football season is over. Hopefully in these last two games we'll play a little bit better in all three areas."
On playing at Miami:
"I told the players that this is an environment you dream about. You dream about playing one day in the Orange Bowl. They've certainly seen lots of games on television, great tradition, and all those things. Our guys realize that you have to take advantage of it, because these opportunities don't come along too often."
On the environment:
"We hope that our guys get real caught up in blocking, tackling, and assignment football. If you go down there and have stars in your eyes and spend all the time looking around the stadium trying to take in the atmosphere, you'll be sitting on the seat of your pants a lot. You have to go down there with a work mentality that you have to block and tackle well and play football."
On playing in the conference:
"I think teams in the ACC respect everybody in the league right now. I don't think there's a team in the league that takes a team for granted now. Our kids know Miami's reputation, how good they've been in the past and how good they are now. I don't think if you play in this league you can be intimidated by anybody. There are so many good teams; it's gotten to be the point where every Saturday you have to tee it up or you're going to be in trouble."
Defensive End Matt Robinson
On Miami:
"I've watched them all my life. I never thought I'd be going to the Orange Bowl to play Miami. I couldn't think of a much better position than with our backs against the wall. That seems to be when the Deacs do their best work. It's definitely a big game against a great team, and on national television you can't really ask for more than that."
On preparing for the game:
"First of all, you have to worry about yourself before you worry about the other team. That is what Coach Grobe has instilled in us to not worry as much about what the other team is doing as worry about yourself. You go out and play your game, do your job, and take care of the ball then good things will happen to you."
Cornerback Riley Swanson
On matching up with Miami's receivers:
"I think we can match up with their receivers well. They definitely do have some athletic receivers at Miami. They're very fast and have a lot of athletic ability. I just feel that we have a strong enough unit in our secondary with two experienced seniors in Eric King and Marcus McGruder. I step in as the third cornerback. I just feel over the experience in playing in the ACC in the past season we definitely have enough experience to match up with Miami."
On preparation for the game:
"We prepare for every game the same way. We haven't done anything different as the secondary goes. We have the same game plan; it might be just a little different. But everything else is pretty much the same."
On his personal preparation: "Each week I work on my fundamentals and my technique. I always have to improve on that. I might be focusing on my technique just a little more this week. Everything else, I just let that come. The speed, that is just natural."
Offensive lineman Steve Vallos
On playing Miami:
"We've seen the past three weeks; they've lost to North Carolina and Clemson. Last week we lost to North Carolina by seven and to Clemson in overtime. I think we could have won both those games. It's just us doing what we're coached to do and being consistent and eliminating mistakes. We will be right there."
On playing in the Orange Bowl:
"It's pretty exciting. Every year there is a bowl game there. I'm just excited to see what it's like there. I was excited at Clemson, I had never been there and I'd heard about it. The Orange Bowl is one of the top venues in college football; I'm just excited to go there."
On playing on the road:
"Last year at Florida State was pretty intimidating. I was in that stadium and I never thought I'd be there. Here I was starting a game as a freshman at Florida State. I hope we can keep our composure at Miami. We just have to take the crowd out of the game, and at NC State we took the crowd out early."
On playing with consistency:
"We had so many times where one guy would miss his block last week and not doing the right job and that just totally killed the plays. We still ran the ball fairly well, but it could have been so much better. All our offensive coaches stress consistency. We haven't done anything with consistency. If we can do that we can score points on any team."
Cornerback Marcus McGruder
On Miami:
"It's going to be a great opportunity for us. It is probably going to be one of the most hostile environments we'll play in all season. I think as a team we thrive off of that. Our stadium doesn't seat as many. It's exciting for us, and our main thing this season is going down and handling the pressure, something we haven't always done in hostile environments."
On playing in a must-win game:
"It's a lot of pressure. We can't add it to us as a team. Each week, our goal is to win. Nothing changes this week, we're still trying to win. Of course, there is a lot at stake. These are the biggest two games of the season if we want to go to a bowl game, but most importantly we want to finish well down the season. We want to finish well as a team and don't break down."
On playing against Miami:
"You can't really worry about the other team. You have to understand that you have to take care of yourself and be responsible for what is going on here. We never go into any game thinking about what another team can do to us. We feel like we can match their talent. We're going to be confident and play hard like we have been all year."
