Wake Forest Athletics
Post Game Quotes
9/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 17, 2005
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Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe
On Chris Barclay:
"It's nice to have him back. And he's in shape again. He's back to feeling like Chris Barclay. It looks like he's got the kinks out. And to have him run like he did and to have Micah be able to go out and run was really important. Having both of those guys is critical."
On the passing game:
"I think the biggest problem we got into is we are having too much success running the football. By the time we got to where they were cramming everyone down there inside trying to stop it we didn't have much balance at all. When we tried to go back to throwing it a little bit we weren't really good at it. Maybe the key for us would have been to put it in the air a little earlier."
On how special Chris Barclay is:
"The good thing about Chris Barclay is that he is so tough between the tackles. For a guy who is only about 175 pounds you wouldn't believe the guy would be that physical between the tackles but that is where he gets the lion share of his yards."
On the Offensive line:
"We are better up front. The biggest problem we have right now is consistency. When you run the football the thing you can't do is miss blocks and get minus yardage plays. There were times when we missed some blocks and missed assignments that took us out of drives. We like how physical and aggressive we played I just think we are disappointed that we missed some opportunities."
On how the team responded to the pressure of winning:
"The thing with pressure in football is that you only play 11 games. You ought to feel pressure every week. For us, you only get 11 shots, there is pressure every week. For us to start 0-2 the pressure built quite a bit. Our guys don't like walking around campus after losing football games. We've got guys with a lot of pride who really want to win."
Wake Forest sophomore defensive end Matt Robinson
On the win:
"That was a huge win for us. We really came out in the first half and played good. In the second half we had a couple let downs, but at the end we found a way to win. That is huge for us because we're starting ACC play next week against Maryland."
On Chris Barclay:
"That guys surprises me in practice and every game. He is an amazing player. I don't know if that made him hungrier. He is an amazing player. He comes to play every week, there's no let down in his game. He's an amazing player."
Quoting Wake Forest junior tackle Steve Vallos
On Chris Barclay:
"It was great. We have a guy to compliment Micah (Andrews). He just broke the touchdown record. It's great blocking for guys like that who make plays and score touchdowns. He's got quickness and that extra gear. He really won it for us in the fourth quarter. He always runs like that. Maybe there was more motivation since it was his first home game."
On gaining 400 yards rushing as a team:
"I'm just glad to be a part of it. That is what coach set out to do. Get after those guys, run the football, and that is what we do."
Wake Forest sophomore running back Micah Andrews
On rushing for over 100 yards:
"I was happy and ecstatic. I never thought I would get that high. It's everybody's dream coming after high school to get that many yards. Even just to play college football, I was just hoping for a 100-yard game to start the season. Now I have two 100-yard games and I'm excited."
On having two solid running backs:
"It's scary. I looked at Chris one time during the game and told him that you have three touchdowns, but I have the longest run. Then he had the long run, and I tell you what, he can't let me have anything. I wasn't upset, he was running the ball tonight."
Wake Forest senior running back Chris Barclay
On having two good running backs:
"Both of us had a really good evening. A lot of credit goes to the offensive line. They did an excellent job tonight. We were just tuned in mentally and therefore we were very successful tonight."
On his 65-yard touchdown run:
"I was running on instinct. I saw a space and took it. The offensive line, Steve Justice, Matt Brim and Chris DeGeare, these guys did an excellent job moving the D-line out of the way. I just took the space and was able to break off a nice run."
East Carolina Head Coach Skip Holtz On Wake Forest:
"Start by complimenting Wake Forest and the job that they did tonight. Coach Grobe did a great job of preparing his team. I thought they played extremely physical. I was really impressed with the way they came off the ball. I think the bottom line is they won the battles up front. They won the battles on their offensive line and was able to control the line of scrimmage. I think they have a couple of excellent backs. They do a great job of running their zone scheme. They were awfully good on offense."
On the game:
"We were hoping to get a break and create a turnover, get back in the ball game. We got things going and got it to seven. They came back down and answered and made it 14. It was like every time we started getting close, we couldn't get it. I don't know what all the stats say on our third down conversions, but I can't imagine we were very good. We were 3-for-15, which is not very good at all. It was like feast or famine. Once we got it rolling and get a first down play we could get it going. I thought (Wake Forest defensive coordinator) Dean Hood did a great job mixing up his coverages and some of the things he was doing. I am very proud of our football team for the way they fought and hung in there."
On coming out after halftime:
"We were going to try and create a turnover in the third quarter. The defense was going to set up a score. Our goal was to score two touchdowns in the third quarter and two touchdowns in the fourth. When (Aundra) Allison went the distance that was with three seconds left in the third quarter. We had 14 points and we were right on track. It seemed like every time we started going, we couldn't get a stop. When you are trying to comeback it takes both sides. It's hard to win when you give up (407) yards rushing. It takes the defense to stop them and make three-and-outs, and the offense has to make big plays."
East Carolina running back Chris Johnson
On the game:
"We did not have a good start in the first half. Coach told us to keep fighting. We fought hard, but we just didn't win in the end. I think they were not really faster than Duke, it was just sometimes poor execution, and sometimes we did a good job. We let them score too much in the first half. There is nothing encouraging about this game."
East Carolina wide receiver Aundrae Allison
On the game:
"It's a big confidence booster. Hopefully we can learn from this offensively and defensively and build. Coach Holtz is a great coach, he has prepared us. He gives us game situations each week. He helps us believe in ourselves and we believe in the staff. We went in the lockerroom at halftime and kept our heads up. We knew we could still fight back and make this a game."
East Carolina quarterback James Pinkney
On the game:
"I played alright. I could have played a lot better. I made a lot of mistakes as a quarterback, and there are things I have to get corrected. We will take away the positives, coming back is a positive. We have to correct our mistakes and stop making so many. As a team effort, we played well, but the mistakes killed us. Skip has put life in us. Everybody expects us to win, and we expect to win ourselves every game we go into. This is only going to make us stronger down the road."
