Wake Forest Athletics
Tuesday Football Press Conference Quotes
10/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 24, 2006
Football Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On the situation with the UNC Coach and their players' sense of urgency:
"I would think there would be an extra level of determination by the players. I would think they would want to come out and play really hard for the coach. With this being an in-state game, there will be a lot of emotion anyways. But I do believe this will turn it up a notch."
On the possibility of beating NC State, Duke and UNC:
"I think our players understand that we have a tough game in front of us and that North Carolina is a very talented football team that will obviously be very motivated to play us. We're in a position right now where good things can happen to us down the stretch, but we've got to go play hard."
On UNC's run defense:
"I think if you look at what has happened, they have played some really good teams. Rutgers may have the best running back in the country. A lot of teams that they have played have been very good running teams. I think we look at North Carolina as very sound, very talented and I think part of the problem with North Carolina is they have played a really tough schedule."
On the health of our team:
"I think everyone is pretty much healed and ready to go. Nobody is perfect. I think after what happened with Ben (Mauk) and Micah (Andrews) and Arby (Jones), we have been kind of holding our breath. But, I think we are ready to be healthy. We're not perfect. We've got some bumps and bruises, and some guys probably won't be full speed, but I think we're pretty good for this time of year."
On Arby Jones' health:
"We're going to have to see how he practices. I think he practiced OK last week, and this week we'll determine how many reps he gets on Saturday by how he looks in practice."
On how practice has looked:
"Practice is good. I think the things that I always worry about when you have an open date is that you don't come back and do the little things well. You don't take care of the football, special teams, catching punts, catching passes, running the football and holding onto it. It's the fine tuning things that once you're good at in the middle of the season and then you take a week off and you don't know how to bounce back."
On what he has been drilling into his players:
"Fundamentals are key for us. I think we talk about that a lot and try to do as much we can in practice."
On the attitude and emotion of the team:
"I think the break was good for us from a physical standpoint. But, I also think it was good for the players from an emotion standpoint. I think they needed a break from the coaches. The only issue is if we can get back on our feet and start playing well again."
On how the break will hurt the momentum of our team:
"Typically, if you're not playing really well and you're beat up then you look forward to the break. However, we were playing pretty well and I think the break will be good for us physically, but as coaches we'd assume to just keep on playing."
On guarding the players against dreaming about bowl games too early:
"It's absolutely a concern. The only reason we are six and one and have won six games is because we have played hard every time out there. The only way for our season to be the way we would like for it to be is to play hard these next five games. Therefore, it has nothing to do with dreaming, but everything to do with working hard and playing hard on Saturday."
Patrick Ghee, senior safety
On the game:
"We need to make sure we prepare for UNC this weekend."
On UNC's running backs:
"We need to make sure we tackle well and be really physical out on the field."
On UNC's record:
"We've learned this past year, especially against Duke, that if we don't initially come out focused and ready to play, any team can beat us. We had a tough time against Duke this year and we weren't really expecting it. Carolina is going to come out hard and it's going to be a tough game for us."
Steve Vallos, senior offensive tackle
On the impact of the UNC coaching situation:
"I don't think it will change their mentality too much. We're all grouped together, us, UNC, Duke, and NC State. Anytime we play each other, the same media is always there covering us. They build it up to be a rivalry game."
On the chance to beat all three in-state ACC rivals for the first time since 1987:
"It would give us more respect around the state. Anytime we can go to Carolina and beat them on their home turf, it would be a huge victory."
On UNC's 1-6 record:
"Their record doesn't indicate how good they are. They've played Clemson and Rutgers. Those are two top 25 teams. They are definitely better than what their record shows."
On Wake Forest being ranked:
"It's good to be ranked, but if you're going to stare at that all week, you're going to lose your next game. You just can't get caught up in all of that."
