Wake Forest Athletics
Tuesday Football Press Conference Quotes
10/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 11, 2005
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On the Florida State game:
"Too many big plays. Defensively, I thought our plan was pretty good and thought our kids played really hard, we just got out-jumped two or three times for the football. They had a couple of big plays by their offense that we couldn't account for. We had more than 400 yards offensively against a pretty good defense, but in the end we made too many mental mistakes. I really thought after the game we made more mental mistakes defensively, but looking at the film we still have some work to do from an offensive standpoint."
On FSU's athleticism and freshman wide receiver Greg Carr:
"Those guys are hard to find. Being a tall guy is one thing, but being as tall and athletic as that kid is another. We actually offered him in high school. We loved him as far as his height and ability to go catch the football; unfortunately, he was on the wrong side of the ball on Saturday."
On being down three going into the fourth quarter:
"I think we were right there with them. That is where we wanted to be going into the fourth quarter. The play where we had them third and long, hit the quarterback, and he threw a duck in the air and their kid out jumped (Kevin Patterson) for it. That was such a huge play. I thought we let down a little bit, not physically, we kept playing hard. But emotionally, that was tough on our guys. You have to expect those things when you play a team like Florida State."
On the defensive plan against FSU:
"I thought the plan was really good. I was really disappointed we didn't play better defensively as a whole. I knew we'd give up some big plays. I didn't want to give up as many big chunks of yardage as we did. The disappointing thing was I thought plan-wise, we had them schemed well. We were all over their quarterback most of the day, didn't play the run as well as we needed to but had enough pressure to make some plays. We had the ball on the ground a lot. That was one of the more disappointing things. We had a lot of opportunities to come up with some turnovers and didn't come up with one turnover on the day."
On facing Boston College's offensive line:
"It probably changes the way we coach our kids. We tell them to keep their pads down and grab grass; I guess it'd be hard to do up there on that FieldTurf. You better keep your pads down against these guys. They're really not only a big football team but a very strong and talented. They are one of the better offenses in our league right now."
On Boston College and the revenge factor:
"I don't know if you want that to be a factor. You want your kids to play well, that's the key. I think they look at us and feel like we're lucky to have beaten them the last couple of times. They actually played really good football, and stats-wise had better stats than us, but we made plays late in the games to win. I think they feel like if they keep doing what they're doing and aren't unlucky, they'll be okay. For all intents and purposes, the last couple of times we have won, we have been lucky."
On the turnover battle:
"I felt like we were really unlucky two or three times on Saturday. I thought we had really big plays made that we didn't come up with. The difference Saturday was turnovers. We didn't turn the ball over, which we were happy about. Defensively we didn't take it away from them, so we were even. If we were plus-two on Saturday, we could have won. That's going to be a key this Saturday. We have to take care of the football and defensively have to turn the ball over."
On changing the team's preparation:
"I think our coaches are doing a better job. I think our players are doing a better job preparing. We tried to prepare this team early in the year like you would a more veteran football team, like all the teams we prepared in the past. That just wasn't getting it done. I think what we're doing now is, we're doing a better job coaching and our players are doing a better job preparing. I just like what we're doing as a football team. We're getting better each week. We need to step up going to Boston College this week, and I think we can. I think we'll have another good week of practice and take our best shot."
Junior defensive tackle Jyles Tucker
On the Florida State game:
"Overall, everybody played a good game at Florida State, but it's all about making plays."
On preparing for Boston College:
"It doesn't matter big or small, football is football. Preparation is the key. They have the biggest line in the nation, so you have to battle every play. I feel we might be a little quicker up front."
On the importance of the game:
"You take it one week at a time, and this would be a huge win, a must win. I truthfully feel that we can win this game; everybody has got to come out to practice this week and be mentally prepared."
Sophomore wide receiver Kevin Marion
On his performance:
"Even though I don't get a lot of touches, I don't worry about it. I just want to win. Every week you get better and better, but I just go out there and try to make plays."
On playing close games:
"We don't ever go into a game thinking we may just get a couple of points. We always want to win. Last week was very disappointing because we knew we had the game in reach. It was just a couple of plays that got us beat."
On Boston College:
"I know they are practicing hard, but we just have to practice harder."
On the importance of this game:
"I know we can win. I understand we get down sometimes and people might not give us a chance sometimes. We just got to go in there and play hard, and not worry about anything else. We just have to go in there and play football."
Sophomore defensive end Jeremy Thompson
On the challenge of playing at Boston College:
"It's going to be a hostile environment. They have a really good offensive line. It will probably be a climate change, and it will be pretty tough to adapt, but I think we can do it."
On the Boston College offensive line:
"They are probably even bigger than last year. They have the biggest offensive line in the nation right now. They are pretty much 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-8 across the board and more three hundred pounds. It's going to be a challenge for our defensive line and our interior players. We're up for it though. We're working hard this week to get prepared for it."
On combating BC's size:
"We have a quicker D-line. We're smaller but we'll use our quickness to our advantage."
On facing tough environments:
"I think the team is responding to it pretty well. We didn't have as many errors as we had thought. We had a pretty sound game other than their two big plays. We're getting pretty experienced in terms of away games."
Sophomore center Steve Justice
On Boston College:
"It's definitely going to be a great game. The two years we've put it on them, but we know they're going to be ready. They have a 5-1 record, and they're looking real good, big and fast. So it's definitely going to be a tough game especially because we're going up to Boston for it."
On the re-emergence of the orbit play:
"I feel like it's easier because the defense seems to flow, so you know where the ball is going to go so before the play. You know where the linebackers are going to flow so you can get yourself into position."
On seeing any uncertainty in the defensive line:
"It definitely keeps them on their toes, and I don't know how much they enjoy playing us because of all the misdirection. They are definitely looking around before the play seeing all the motion and it's fun to watch."
On why BC and Wake Forest is such a good match-up:
"They have a good defense, real big and real fast. It's going to be real tough to run like we run like we did against Florida State, even though we didn't run great. But I think we stack up pretty well."
