Wake Forest Athletics
Tuesday Football Press Conference Quotes
10/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 23, 2007
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On where the team is at...
"I feel better. The big thing is that I think our guys are having fun playing right now. I think stress was a big part of our football team the first three or four games, and I think our guys are relaxed a little bit and playing better."
On re-adjusting after playing Navy's unorthodox offense...
"Our experience has been that a lot of times a wishbone team will beat you twice. You worry about going and getting a win at Navy. Thank goodness we got a win. But now we have another issue, and the issue is getting back on track defensively with what we're going to see from North Carolina. It's not just the week of preparation trying to get ready for Navy, but now getting back on the ground for a real good passing offense in North Carolina."
On UNC...
"Talent everywhere. Just really talented. A great looking football team. Butch has got them playing really, really hard. Their coaches are doing a really nice job coaching them. We've seen them improve every week. And they're playing one of the toughest schedules in the country, and every week they've shown improvement. I think the thing that jumps out at you is how talented they are, but as you watch them you see how much they've improved from week to week."
On UNC's schedule...
"I think our guys realize we've played a pretty tough schedule. But they play an even tougher schedule than we've played. Our guys know when you're playing teams like South Florida and South Carolina and the other top 25 teams they've played, and then going to East Carolina--we've been there before--so we know what these guys have been through. They've been through a brutal schedule and they've got a really good football team."
On the Wake defense...
"I think we're getting better. I think Chip Vaughn has done some really good things for us back there. I think losing the two safeties was probably the biggest concern. I think we thought that depth could be an issue at linebacker. But we feel really good about those two positions right now. We've got some issues maybe at defensive end depth-wise, but overall we have some kids who are playing pretty good. We have some guys we had questions about. Guys like Brandon Ghee, Hunter Haynes, Matt Woodlief, Dominique Midgett, all those guys are really contributing and doing some really good things for us right now. I like where our defense is. We're not where we need to be yet but we're getting better."
On the UNC program...
"They're very competitive. They're playing, as we said, one of the toughest schedules in the country. And they're playing a lot of young guys who are really close to winning those close games they've lost. I think their right where they should be right now. Butch has done a good job. His staff's done a good job. The thing that's most impressed me is how hard they play and how they've improved from every week. Typically, with young guys, when they're not having a lot of success it's hard to keep guys focused, but they're doing a really good job with that every week."
On Riley Skinner...
"I think our biggest concern early in the season was turnovers. We were completing a lot of balls but some of them were to the wrong guys. I think for us, if we can continue to throw at a high percentage, a big part of our game is the running game. I think that's helped us throw the ball a little bit by being able to run the ball effectively the past couple times out. For Riley to be 70 percent or higher is really, really good and hopefully we can continue to be effective."
On being alive in the conference race...
"We've played seven games right now and that seems like a lot, but we've got five really serious games on our schedule. We have five teams that could beat us, but we could beat them if we continue to play well. And I think every team in the league's that way. BC's got a tough road, as everybody does. There isn't a team in our league that has an easy out the next five games, so I think it's going to be really exciting."
On Josh Adams...
"He's learned the offense which has really helped him. He's a guy who catches on fast. He's learned our offense pretty well. He doesn't make very many mental mistakes. We knew he had the good foot speed and the ability to make people miss. What's been impressive for me about Josh is that he's been pretty physical. For a guy who's not too heavy, he gets north in a hurry and isn't afraid to run into people. He's been impressive in every way; we couldn't be happier."
On how they'd feel if they win out and still don't go to the ACC Championship...
"I'd have to say that if we win out, we'd be pretty happy. I don't think there's a team right now in the ACC that's realistically got their sights on Jacksonville. It might be in the back of everyone's mind, but you have to focus on the present. All that dreaming about what might be ain't gonna happen if you lose. You just have to keep right on winning. If you don't focus on that next opponent, you'll be in trouble in a hurry."
On UNC...
"Carolina's very, very talented. This is a team that has our respect. They're very well-coached. They've always had great recruiting classes. There hasn't been anyone we've played whom we felt was more talented than North Carolina. I think our coaches understand the challenge we have ahead this week."
Junior safety Kevin Patterson
On winning five games in a row...
"It feels real good. We started out 0-2, but we were able to get five tough victories. It's very pivotal right now because we're going into crunch time. We have five games left, and we have a lot of momentum and confidence going into these last five games that we need to get by."
On the Navy triple-option...
"It was definitely something different. Yesterday we went out to practice, and we were in a regular formation and it just seemed awkward. So that was definitely something that you had to get adjusted to, a different style of football that you had to get adjusted to.
On the UNC offense...
"I see a very explosive team. They have a lot of athletes. They have a young freshman quarterback, but they have a lot of good receivers that can stretch the field on us and make plays in the open field. I think they have a good balance of the running game with the passing game."
On the Wake-UNC rivalry...
"I don't think it's something you worry about, but I think it's a game you always want to win for bragging rights. When I first got here, I didn't know much about it being from Georgia, but the first time you play those guys you see how intense it is out there, and you definitely want to win for bragging rights."
On who is Wake's main rival...
"Probably North Carolina. Pretty much every ACC school we take pretty seriously, but since I've been here, North Carolina probably brings out the most folks and everyone really wants to win on both sides."
On recovering from the 0-2 start...
"We definitely turned things around. We basically took it one game at a time. You lose two games like that, you just have to put it behind you and focus on the next game. Even though we were 0-2, we knew we had a good squad. We just weren't playing our best football. As the season has gone on, we've gotten a little better each week, offensively and defensively and special teams. We've just put it all together and gotten some tough wins."
On fighting for the division...
"You definitely think about that. We know we're going to need some help, for Boston College to lose. But at the same time, we feel that if we take care of our responsibilities, it'll come into play. We look forward to the rest of the season and we'll see what happens."
On what stands out about Josh Adams...
"I'd probably say his feet. His quick feet and balance. He reminds me of Chris Barclay, the way he can get through a hole. He definitely gave us a lot of fits on the scout team last year getting us prepared every week, so we knew that this year he'd give our offense a new threat."
Senior offensive guard Matthew Brim
On the five-game winning streak...
"I definitely feel like we have the momentum right now. We came out at first and stubbed our toes, but we're starting to get back on a roll again, starting to play together as a team. But this last five-game stretch is really going to be a tough one. The biggest thing is we have to come out and play together, not make the mistakes, and just take each game at a time."
On the offense...
"I can just see the potential in everybody. Skinner's just such an amazing quarterback. It's so much fun to go out their and block for him each game. And then you have players like Josh Adams and Micah Andrews and Kenny Moore who can go out there and they're just playmakers. They get balls, they break tackles, they make the plays that they need to make. Each game, I just love going out there and watching these guys. As a senior, I've seen most of these guys come in, work through their redshirt and everything, and come out on the field and show what they can do. It's really a lot of fun."
On being a part of Wake's success...
"It's great. Each week I go up there, look up in the crowd, seeing everyone I know. Growing up here, Wake Forest was the first football game I'd ever seen. And I remember when, back in the day, things weren't too good. They struggled a little bit. But ever since Coach Grobe got here, they've turned this program around. It's amazing. To be a part of it is even better, because I'll look back and say that I was there when Wake Forest turned it around. Being here, and with Wake Forest being my favorite school growing up, it just makes it that much sweeter."
On playing the Tar Heels...
"When I first got here, there were so many guys all over North Carolina that I knew who went to Carolina and played there. And even now, there are guys that you'll hear about from high school that will go to Carolina. They have all these great recruits and everything. You know someone on Carolina's team if you're from around here. It's going to be a very tough game, but also there's that fun that you get to play against somebody you know or you've played against before."
On the skill guys thanking the offensive line...
"They're always saying thank you or good block or things like that. All the guys on the offense line have a great relationship with Riley and Josh and Micah. We just go out there and try to do our jobs to the best of our ability. When we look back on it, hopefully we'll say that we played hard and made the blocks me needed to make. And if people like Riley, Josh and Micah are making big plays, we know that we had a part in it. As an offensive linemen, you just look to go out there and do your job."
On what goes on in the trenches...
"As far as down in the trenches, it can definitely get pretty nasty. I've been at the bottom of a couple piles, and I feel like I've had some ankle twists and stuff like that. But I haven't had anything that I knew where a guy was holding my hand or bending it back or something like that. So far I've been pretty lucky with stuff like that."
Sophomore quarterback Riley Skinner
On the Wake Forest-UNC rivalry...
"I didn't really know about the rivalry coming in here. I never really grew up watching Carolina football too much. It was mostly Florida and Georgia. And my redshirt year we didn't play Carolina, but my redshirt freshman year, when we played them at their place, I really saw a different sort of enthusiasm from a lot of the North Carolina guys from around here. After the game, to beat North Carolina and to beat some of their former teammates, it really showed me how big of a rivalry it is, how serious people take it. The football team, the coaching staff, the administration, you hear about it all during class during game week, and all around the community as well. It's really fun. It's fun to be a part of it. Even though I'm not from North Carolina, you really get into the rivalry and the competitiveness of Wake Forest and UNC."
On Wake's main rival...
"Listening to the coaches, we take Carolina as a little more of a rivalry than some of the others. I think, lately, we've had maybe a little more of a rivalry with Clemson because so many of our games have been so close. We've just gone back and forth every year. They beat us last year. We beat them the year before. They beat us the year before that. That's become a real good series of games."
On his play at quarterback...
"I'm pretty pleased. We set standards within our quarterback room and with our coaches. We try to keep it above a certain percent throughout the year. We've been a little behind at times. But we're pretty happy where we're at right now. We're making progress. And we've been able to improve week-after-week, not just completion percentage, but judgments, taking care of the ball. The best thing about last week was not having a turnover. It was about time that we didn't have a turnover. It's pretty much been all on me. I'm pretty excited. I was pretty excited all last week to not have an interception, so it feels pretty good."
On Kenny Moore...
"Kenny's just so special. He gets himself open a lot. We realize that people are going to start sitting on Kenny. We understand that. And we're going to have to do what we can. We've got plenty of other receivers that can make a lot of plays. It's just happened that Kenny's been in the right place at the right time with a lot of his routes. And we change it up every week, and depending on the week and the defense and the team, it varies on who's going to get the ball. Obviously the catches have been a little skewed, with Kenny getting 80% of our catches this year, but something special happens when he gets the ball. He makes things happen when he gets the ball. When you have a player like that, you want to get him the ball as much as you can."
On Josh Adams...
"He brings a lot to the table. He's quick. He has that breakaway, home run speed which is great to see. Having that balance between Josh and Micah has been huge for us. Micah's come in and run the ball real hard when he's come in. A lot of times on the goal line, third and short situations, he uses his strength, weight, and ability to bull-through people and get some first downs and touchdowns for us. That's been just as big as Josh getting some 70- or 80-yard runs."
On Josh Adams' personality...
"He's a real relaxed guy. He's real friendly. Everyone on the team gets along with him. We have a great time with him. And everyone's real surprised seeing how relaxed he is coming into the game as a freshman. It's real fun to watch him go to work."
On being the underdog...
"I don't really watch the news and see if we're the underdog. We pretty much assume that we're going to be. I don't know what it's going to take. We thought last year, winning the ACC and going to the Orange Bowl, we wouldn't always be the underdog, but obviously it's still the same situation. We don't mind it at all, to be honest. It's not a big factor. It's not something that we lose sleep over at all. It really just fuels us to prove ourselves."
On the UNC defense...
"They're really skilled. A lot of people look at their record or look at how young they are on defense. I think 10 of the 20 people they have listed on defense are freshman, but they have some very talented freshman. They're fast, they're really athletic, and they're well-coached. Butch Davis has done a very good job getting that defense lined up right. They show a lot of different coverages and they disguise a lot of things. It's going to be tough to move the ball. They're one of the most athletic secondaries that we're going to have to face this year. So we have to be ready for that."
On UNC's record...
"They have a record of 2-5. Most people who don't really know too much about football will look at them and say that it'll be a rollover. But you see who they lost to, they lost to South Florida barely, who was No. 2 in the nation. Virginia Tech, South Carolina, all these teams that they've barely lost to are top ten in the nation teams. We know that it's going to be a challenge. There's no doubt about that. We're not overlooking them at all. We've been game-planning ever since Sunday and we're going to be ready to go on Saturday."
Sophomore defensive tackle John Russell
On Navy's triple-option...
"Our coaches told us in meetings that it'd be awesome to line up and just play someone who's kind of conventional, with drop-back passes and normal runs that we see week-in, week-out. But I don't know, playing Navy was fun for me. For a lot of us, I think it was fun. We got to see something that we don't usually get to see. They had a lot of speed and did things differently, so that was fun. I actually enjoyed it. But it'll be good to get back, especially playing Carolina, such a big game for us and such a big game for them too."
On the season...
"It's unreal to think that it's already gone by halfway through the year. But things have been going well so far. And we really want to finish up on a high note. We have five games left and each one is equally important. You can't look at next week until this week is taken care off because UNC's just a great team all-around. They have a lot of speed on offense, a lot of great skill players, and their defense is playing really well. I think it's going to be as tough a test as we've had all season."
On the one-game-at-a-time mentality...
"I think that's just a testament to our coaching staff and the family of our team. Guys play well together, and everyone's best friends off the field. I'd just say that, recruiting-wise, we've gone out and found great players, great guys, guys that do well in the classroom, do what our coaches tell them to on and off the field. That's really been the key to our success the past couple years. We got a lot of work to do this year, and we'd like to end up where we end up last year, but it all starts with taking care of North Carolina on Saturday."
On looking back upon the first two games of the year...
"We played two really talented teams with a lot of great players, but looking back at the film, we had opportunities to do things and we messed up. Just some mental mistakes on our side, being out of position, or doing things that we're not really doing right now. But they probably look at film and say that there were other things that BC or Nebraska could have done differently to stop us or put some more points on the board. So there were definitely times during the first two games when we'd look at film and say that we should of had it, but there's nothing you can do about it now except move on and play your best on Saturday."
On the Wake defense...
"I think we've come a long way. Not just since the summer, but from the first couple games of the season. Each week, everyone's getting better, just doing fundamental things on the field, making tackles. Slowly we're getting better at taking the ball away and we're scoring with it. There's a lot of guys on the field that have potential to score when they get the ball in their hands. I think we've come a long way and I think there's a lot of parallel's with this year's defense from last year's defense."
On still being alive in the conference race...
"We're well aware that we're still in it, but Coach Grobe's reminding us constantly that there's nothing we can do about them. We just need to take care of us. As long as we're taking care of us and putting ourselves in a position to win, I think we have the shot to be in Jacksonville. But that's so far away right now. We have five really tough games ahead of us."
Junior safety Chip Vaughn
On UNC...
"On film, I see a lot of young talent. A lot of speed, a lot of quickness. And for them I think it's a matter of time before things start to really click."
On the biggest difference between being a reserve and a starter...
"I think the biggest difference is being in a leadership role. As a backup, you can't really say stuff about how you feel. Guys aren't really looking up to you. But when you start playing and starting, you gotta do things right, by the book. That's the biggest thing."
On being in the conference race...
"I think, right now, the biggest thing for us is to keep winning each week."
