Wake Forest Athletics
Tuesday Football Press Conference Quotes
9/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2008
Press Conference Video: Coach Grobe | Patterson | Arnoux | Swank | Birdsong
Head coach Jim Grobe
On Florida State...
"We won't ever play a more talented football team. They've got talent everywhere. They probably have as good a skill group as you'll ever see with speed and athletic ability. They have everything you would expect out of a Florida State football team."
On beating Florida State the last two years...
"I think our players understand that we were fortunate both times. A couple of years ago, they weren't settled on a quarterback and they threw some interceptions. Last year, the game went right to the wire. We were fortunate to get a win at home. One good thing is our guys know they can win. At the same time, I think they're mature enough to understand that Florida State is an awful good football team and you got to play great if you're going to win."
On the team's injury status...
"We're pretty much a healthy team. Everyday I tell our guys that if you ever feel real good, you're not working hard. We're always going to have bumps and bruises in practice and tweak things in the weight room from time to time."
On the Florida State offense...
"I think this is the best group of receivers we've seen from Florida State in the eight years I've been at Wake Forest. It's a really talented group of receivers and that was before Preston Parker came back. With Parker back in the mix, they're just unbelievably good. Talent's not going to be the issue."
On how tough it is to scout Florida State after their first two games...
"They've been good enough to wear those teams out. Certainly Western Carolina and Chattanooga were both overmatched. You can see that when you look at the film. At the same time, they didn't struggle with either one of those teams. They were really easy wins. You look at some teams that played Division I-AA teams and they didn't have convincing wins. In this case, both wins were so easy that you have to be impressed with Florida State's ability."
On the difficulty of preparing for two different quarterbacks...
"It's a similar problem to what we faced with Baylor. We knew they had a more classic drop back quarterback that opened the game. Their other quarterback was kind of a jet and could run all over the field. It gave us some problems and I'm sure they'll try to do more of the same things to us this week."
On how a bye week helps in preparation for the next game...
"I've seen it work both ways. We've had open dates that I thought made us sluggish. We've also had open dates where we came back with a lot of energy and played great football. You just never know. You would hope that our team is a little bit more mature and could handle an open date. I think Coach Bowden made the statement that he hopes the open date hurt us a little bit. If you're playing good, you'd rather not have an open date. You'd like to think the older players will handle an open date better than the young guys. I'm hoping the open date will help us. Typically, coaches don't like open dates."
Senior safety Kevin Patterson
On what he did on his week off...
"Coach gave us Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off. We basically just lifted weights and caught back up on our class work. Thursday, we came out and had a helmet practice but then we got after it on Friday and Saturday and started working on our Florida State scheme and found out what they like to do."
On the game with Florida State...
"It will be a real big test this week. This is our first ACC game of the season. They're undefeated, we're undefeated and I'm pretty sure they still are thinking about the last time we came in their building."
On the big offensive numbers Florida State put up in the first two weeks...
"They've put up some real big numbers but the thing that scares me is their balance. They've been effective both passing the ball and in the run game. They have some good athletes down there like they do every year."
On the challenge of the FSU receiving corps...
"Preston Parker is a good player. He scored a touchdown on us last year. They have Greg Carr back and they have No. 83 and No. 1, both new guys but they looked pretty good on film. So we have our hands full."
On the challenge of the FSU receivers being so tall...
"It's definitely an adjustment, especially on the jump ball. The thing we have to focus on is technique and body control. We have to try to cut them off before they get deep and jump. So we try to use body control on them and after that, we just have to play football."
On whether the FSU players will use what happened in the 2006 game as motivation...
"I think they will. It was probably embarrassing for them being that it was the first time they were shut out at Doak Campbell. Pretty sure the coaches will keep reminding them about that throughout the week and they will use that as motivation as well. They don't want to get embarrassed at home, it's never good."
On the difference in the two FSU quarterbacks...
Ponder is a great thrower but he is also a great runner and people are starting to find that out. Richardson gets in the ballgame and he likes to run the ball but I've seen that he also has a very strong arm. I think that both of the quarterbacks have a balance of throwing the ball and running the ball."
On the team's attitude heading into Doak Campbell Stadium to play FSU...
"Having a lot of guys on the team from Florida, this is a game we circle on the schedule because you live to go down to Doak. We have a lot of fifth-year seniors and this will be our last time so we have to take pride in coming in and playing the best we can play. The atmosphere at Doak is crazy and I think it will get us fired up."
Senior linebacker Stanley Arnoux
On what he did on his week off...
"I didn't really do much. Just went to practice, caught up on some school work and hung out with my teammates."
On how his thoughts of Florida State have changed over the past three seasons...
"Well, we beat them the last two years. Even though we were probably ranked higher then them the last two years, we were still the underdogs. We might be the underdog again this year but beating them the last two years sort of takes the surprise out of us."
On the challenge of preparing for FSU based off of the two teams they have played...
"It's definitely a challenge because we don't know if they have opened up their playbook all of the way because they were winning by so many points. But they still looked pretty good in both games that they played."
On whether he would rather play FSU now with the players suspended or play them with a full squad...
"To me, it really doesn't matter. Florida State has so much talent, that even without those 13 players, they still won big and they played a really good bowl game last year. Of course you would like to play somebody at their best because it kind of proves where you stand but either way we have to play them."
On whether he thinks the FSU players remember the last two games with Wake...
"I would think it would be on their minds a lot with us beating them last year. They're a talented football team with great skill position players and a quarterback who came in and played really well. I would think it is on their minds."
On preparing for two quarterbacks...
"We've seen a pretty fast quarterback down at Baylor so we will try to take a similar approach when No. 10 comes in the game. They also have a solid passer in Christian Ponder. So it makes it a little tougher but we just have to try and execute the game plan for this week."
On giving up 28 points to Ole Miss...
"Ole Miss was a good team but we got the win and that's what matters. We came together in all phases of the game. So we just have to take it as that."
On where Doak Campbell Stadium ranks among the other ACC stadiums...
"Doak is up there. Being from the state of Florida, I grew up watching games on TV there. My senior year of high school, the state championship was held there so it was always somewhere you wanted to be. Now we're on a different stage but I rank it pretty high in the ACC as far as stadiums."
On whether he was upset that being from Florida, he wasn't offered to play at FSU...
"This late in my career, not really. When I was younger, I thought about it a lot. But the past two years, I've been really proud of Wake and where we have taken the program. I wouldn't trade it for the world!"
Senior Punter/Kicker Sam Swank
On his duties as both a punter and placekicker...
"It's a lot of fun. You have different techniques for each, but once you're out on the field and you've had a good warm-up, the rest is history. You just go out there have fun and do what you know how to do."
On playing at Florida State this Saturday...
"I love the crowd noise and the atmosphere; it's fun. It's like, `Wow, I'm really kicking in front of all of these people.' It's a dream come true for me, especially playing in Doak Campbell. I grew up watching FSU on T.V. a lot so being there is special."
On using Wake Forest's momentum...
"In college football, momentum's the name of the game. Coming off a big win like Ole Miss - over a very talented team like Ole Miss - really puts a lot of confidence in our guys. And that's definitely something that we feel we may need going into the hostile environment of Doak. I think our guys will handle themselves well, and hopefully we'll come out with a `W.'"
On the 30-0 Wake Forest victory at Florida State in 2006...
"It was great. Going into the game, I don't think any of us would have thought that that was going to be the outcome. Shutting them out the first time at Doak (under Bobby Bowden) was something special. It will always be with all of us who played in that game or even who watched it. It was a great time and I hope we can go from there."
On whether or not he looks forward to games coming down to a final kick...
"I don't necessarily look forward to it. I look forward to making all kicks. If it just so happens to be at the end, I'm going to try and make that. But I think it would do wonders for my health and I'm sure Coach Grobe's health if we take care of that throughout the duration of the game."
Junior offensive tackle Joe Birdsong
On having a bye week early in the season...
"It feels good but then you look at the rest of the schedule. I think we have seven straight games and you look at that and kind of wish you had a break then, but the break definitely feels good with a great opponent coming up in Florida State."
On the schedule...
"Having seven home games is always important. We have great fans in our stadium. The Deacon Tower is a big deal and that provides a lot of support for us, too. Any time you have seven home games, you have to take advantage of that."
On if having more home games adds pressure on the coaching staff and home team...
"No, I mean you want to already put the pressure on yourself to go out there and do your best, be great and play well. All the players have confidence in all of the coaches and this program as a whole. That really trickles down to everyone and that's good to have."
On some of the challenges that Florida State presents...
"As an offensive lineman, Florida State is historically known for having strength in their defensive linemen. That's what pops out on film - their athleticism. It doesn't matter where they're ranked, whether it's first or twenty-fifth, they're always going to have great athletes on defense. Another thing is they always play hard. And when you have that combination it's kind of scary and you have to definitely respect that."
