Tuesday Football Press Conference Quotes
11/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 8, 2005
Head coach Jim Grobe
On having any letdowns after being eliminated from bowl contention:
"I don't sense that in practice. Our kids like to play and Saturday will be a challenge for us. It will be fun. This is something you dream about when you're a kid, playing a ranked team on ABC."
On playing against Miami:
"We're in a league where everybody has good players. We're pretty young, but we're capable of playing really well. We'd have to play our best football to have a chance, but that's why you play. I like our football team, so I wouldn't rule us out of anything."
On learning from the Georgia Tech game:
"I think what the players saw in the film was how many mistakes we made. Whether it was a dropped pass or a fumble or poorly thrown ball or poor protection or a time where we missed a block or a time where we had blocks made but ran in the wrong area. All of our players saw that if we could have taken care of ourselves, we could have moved the ball better."
On the team:
"We've got a lot of guys that are banged up that are somewhat day-to-day. We don't really know much until Thursday. Everybody thinks I'm trying to hide my hand, but I'm not. By Thursday, we'll know who has practiced and who hasn't, and certainly if you don't get enough practice time you won't play very much."
On Cory Randolph's knee injury:
"We'll see. He didn't practice last night, and he's going to wear a knee brace. He's got a little bit of a sprained medial collateral ligament which is like a sprained ankle. He's sore, (Mauk is) sore. Ben has a back strain he got in the weight room last week. We're walking wounded right now, but hopefully we'll have those guys ready to go."
On playing the last game of the season:
"Our players have been really focused all year on playing the next opponent. For us as coaches, we have no feeling that the season is winding down. We just know that we need to have a great game plan for our guys. Our only thought is to give our guys a plan that we can practice all week and hopefully execute on Saturday to give our guys a chance to win."
On playing Miami at home:
"I just like being back home. It's nice to be off the road. I think our players enjoy playing at home and not having to jump on airplanes and all those kinds of things. Miami is obviously a great football team, one of the top three or four teams in the country right now. We have our work cut out for us, but I hope our players realize what a great opportunity we have."
On the last game for the seniors:
"It's tough. In some cases we've had guys that have been banged up that haven't quite finished the way they wanted to, but we've got a good group of 10 seniors. Not all of them are starters, not all of them are playing a lot of snaps right now, but they're all good guys. They're guys that have hung in there and worked really, really hard for us. They've made us a better football program. We'll miss these guys. They've been great kids for our program."
Senior defensive tackle Goryal Scales
On Saturday being the end of his career:
"I can't believe it is coming to an end, but you have to prepare for this game just like it's any other game."
On how you prepare knowing that Saturday is the end:
"My motivation for this game is that it's going to be a challenge. Anytime that you play the No. 3 team in the nation, it is always a challenge."
Senior punter Ryan Plackemeier
On what he plans on next year: "If God has a place for me next year at the next level, I would definitely look forward to it and accept the challenge."
On the Lou Groza award nomination for Sam Swank:
"That is as a result of the coaches. Swank is going to be special considering that he is only a freshman. I try to help him deal with pressure situations and how to deal with entering the game at crucial points, because he is only a freshman."
Senior offensive lineman Greg Adkins
On this being the last game of your collegiate career:
"Looking back it's been a long five years. I'm excited. We definitely have a big opportunity to beat the number three team in the country. What a way to finish your collegiate career playing the number 3 team in the country at home. So I'm excited."
On fan attendance:
"We're not worried about the fan attendance, because regardless we're going to continue to play hard and as a team we realize the opportunity that we have. I think the faithful Deacs will be out there. But really the crowd always gives us great support."
On being a native Floridian and playing Miami:
"Growing up in Florida you hear about the "U", the tradition that they bring. The NFL stars that they put out there. They definitely bring an extra edge to the game."
Senior quarterback Cory Randolph
On the last game of his career:
"I can't believe it, but I can. It's been a long journey. Unfortunately, it has to come to an end without postseason play. It's been a good experience at Wake, and I have a lot of good memories I'll take with me for the rest of my life."
On the game against Miami:
"Just go out there, play and have fun. My family will be there, which is always great. It's just one last time to go out."
"We need to come out and establish our offense early. Against Georgia Tech we waited way too late to get things going offensively and left the defense out on the field. I think that cost us the game. If we can establish ourselves early in the game, we could be in good position to win."
