Weekly Football Press Conference Video and Quotes
11/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 10, 2009
Press Conference Video: Grobe | Griffin | Nenon | Skinner
 Jim Grobe  | |
On playing and losing so many close games...
"As an assistant and as a head coach I've been doing this about 35 years. I've had two or three games in a season where we played right to the wire and came up short, but not this many times."
Coming down to the wire...
"We've got a couple of really good teams left to play. We've got to get the next one if we are going to have a chance. There's no wiggle room, we know what we've got to do. Wins are the only thing that's going to help us now."
On the bye week following the Florida State game...
"We've gone 11 straight weeks. It's been hard. We've gotten banged up over the course of the season. It's going to be nice to be able to catch our breath. We just need to be able to catch our breath with a win."
On beating Florida State the last three seasons...
"I think some good things have happened to us. We've won a couple of really close games with these guys. It's been a game of turnovers in the past. We're not forcing so many turnovers on defense and they are taking better care of the football. It's going to be a tough football game for us."
On Florida State missing Christian Ponder...
"It'll affect them like it would us if we didn't have Riley Skinner. I'm sure the young player is very capable. You very rarely have a backup quarterback that can't get the job done. In our case Ryan McManus is very capable. But anytime you lose a guy with all that experience, especially one of the top quarterbacks in the league, it hurts."
On scouting backup quarterback E.J. Manuel...
"We don't get to see a lot of tape. This is a really talented guy, we know that he's got great skills, the ability to run and throw. He was personally recruited by Jimbo Fisher. I'm sure all the things they're doing with Christian Ponder, they feel like they can do with Manual."
On injuries affecting teams' starting lineups...
"You're week-to-week. One of the things that's affected every team in our league is injuries. You don't know from one week to the next who the starting lineup is going to be filled with. You've just got to go make it happen. We've got a young defense. After 10 games it's hard to say you've got a young defense, but still most of our veteran guys are on the offensive side. If we don't have a good offensive performance it will be hard to win."
On Bobby Bowden...
"He's a great man. Other than being a heck of a football coach and one of the all-time greats, he's a good guy. That's what's so good about Coach Bowden. I think he'll beat you 100 to nothing if he can, but after the game if you beat him he's going to be very gracious. He's a guy with a lot of class and certainly one of the best football coaches of all time."
On Bowden's legacy at FSU...
"You really have to take in all that he's done for that school. You really need to be in a mindset that whatever Coach Bowden wants to do you're going to let him do. I think he's earned that right and he's done great things for the school. Anytime you get these legendary coaches that are toward the end of their career, it's important as a school you let them go out the way they want to go out and when they want to go out. He's been great and still is great for college football. If you spend anytime with Coach Bowden you know he's got a competitive spirit and he's still a heck of a football coach."
On the team now contrasted with the start of the season...
"We're a better football team. I don't think there's any question. I would love to be able to rewind with the team that's playing right now and start the season over again. This would be a pretty special year for us. The way we played against Miami and Georgia Tech, there's no question we're a great football team. One of the keys is keeping our heads up. Our guys don't enjoy playing good teams just tough, we need to win, we need to keep our heads up and come back and play a great effort Saturday against the Noles."
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Quarterback
On being so close so many times...
"We've lost some close games in the past that have been as frustrating as the ones we lost in the past few weeks but they have never really been strung together like this with losing games by two or three points to teams that you could have beaten. Those are teams that are going to be 10 or 11-win teams once the season's over. It's pretty frustrating to know that you've been that close but you know we've won a few of the close games in the past. Right now, we just haven't been able to finish them out. It's crazy that with this year, we still have hope for the season. There are two games left and we have a chance to go to a fourth-straight bowl game. We have a good team coming in with Florida State. As much bad that we have had this season, there still is some good to come. We're taking that into mindset and taking that to the field."
On what he is telling the team to keep the moral up...
"I don't have to tell them much. This team has been pretty impressive by the way people have responded week-in and week-out with these losses. It's not like we've been getting whooped all up and down the field. That is what really crushes you because it makes you start questioning yourself. We're taking the best teams in the conference to the wire and are leading half the time going into the fourth quarter. We just need to find a way to finish. We're trying to find a way to put four quarters together because we have two great teams coming up. You really don't need to say anything to anybody. Everyone knows what is at stake. None of us want to be home in December watching the bowl games. We want to be practicing and getting ready for our own bowl game. The way the conference has worked out with winning six games, we can go 4-4 in the conference and still go to a pretty good bowl game."
On if the gameplan changes for Florida State...
"We gameplan like we do every year for Florida State. We look at the film and see where we can exploit them and where we can go with the ball. We'll prepare the same way we do every week. I don't think the gameplan is going to change."
On playing his last home game at BB&T Field...
"It's going to be a pretty emotional game for all of us seniors. We've been together the whole time and have experienced a lot of ups and downs together. To know that this is going to be the last time playing in front of the fans at BB&T is unreal to think about right now. I'm trying to put that in the back of mind and not think about it yet. Hopefully it's going to be a great crowd. That's one thing all of us seniors are really hoping for. Despite the way the season has gone so far, we hope the fans will still come out and support us on Saturday and be in their full force. We want to leave on a good note and the fans are a big part of what we do. We want to thank them as well by going out on a great win. I think we could be the third team in NCAA history to beat Bobby Bowden four times in a row and maybe the first in the ACC. That would be pretty unbelievable to do and it would also put us a step closer to a bowl game."
On Wake Forest having success against Florida State...
"Especially being from Florida and hearing about Florida State everyday on the radio and TV growing up. To play a program like that with their history and the legacy that coach Bowden has and to be able to beat them three times in a row and have an opportunity to do it a fourth time is pretty remarkable for a school of our size. There is a lot at stake this week and hopefully it will be a great game Saturday and great last experience at BB&T."
On the legacy his class is leaving at Wake...
"We would love to get that last win but that's not what we're going for. We don't want to beat Florida State just to be the winningest class but we want to win so that out team can be playing in December. The success we've had here is going to be fun to look back on after the season and its something we'll defiantly do afterwards. We'll sit back and take a breath and talk about memories and games but we can't do that right now. We have two good teams coming up and we can't take any time to talk about what we've done already. We have to keep looking ahead at what's coming up. We had a really good practice last night. Despite how the season has gone, and especially with the young guys, we come out on Monday nights flying around and having a great attitude. We need to keep that mentality going."
On his health...
"I feel great. My head is good and I'm ready to roll."
