Wake Forest Athletics
Tuesday Football Press Conference Video and Quotes
11/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 3, 2009
Press Conference Video: Grobe | Ehrmann | McManus | Nenon | Tate
Head Coach Jim Grobe
 Jim Grobe  | |
"He seems fine. We didn't practice with him last night. I don't know how much they'll let him do today. He seems to be clear-headed, he doesn't have headaches or dizziness, so hopefully we'll have him by Saturday. I'm hopeful it's more than 50-50 whether he'll play. We've listed him as questionable, with head injuries it really is a day-to-day process. My hope is that he'll play, but certainly his health and well-being are more important than playing Saturday."
On getting over the Miami loss...
"Our players bounce back pretty well. Our guys realize we played a really good football team. We certainly gave ourselves a chance to win, we just didn't make enough plays. We're on to the next challenge. Hopefully we can get pumped up for another Top 20 team."
"We won't dwell too long on it. We went back last night, went back over all our mistakes, things we could have done better. I don't think there's one player on our football team that doesn't wish he had one play back. Everybody had a chance to make a difference in that football game. But we could not have played harder. Our focus now is hopefully on Georgia Tech, we have to leave that one alone."
On the team's recent losses...
"We're capable of winning. That's the thing that we know. We've got to have things go right and not much has gone right for this football team. Unfortunately these guys have had some really bad breaks along the way. Obviously we've had some plays we could have made that would have made the difference without needing a break. But this is just about the most unlucky football team I've coached."
On Ryan McManus...
"He's a coach's son. He has that feeling about him. He knows what's going on, he's a student of the game. He's really improved quite a bit, with all the reps he's gotten as a back up to Riley. He's throwing the ball pretty good right now, he's a really good decision maker. He's very good at running our offense. He understands the game and gets us in the right plays, he just doesn't have the experience. He is very capable but just doesn't have a lot of experience."
On facing GT's option spread offense after facing it at Navy earlier in the season...
"It does help us. Our players got to play it a couple of weeks ago, so we've got a little better understanding of the option. But then that helps Georgia Tech a little bit because they can see how we like to defend it. We've played Navy several times lately so they've got some pretty good film on it. But our players have a pretty good feel for what we are going to get on Saturday. Now we need to play better against Georgia Tech than we did against Navy and that remains to be seen whether we are able to do that."
On Georgia Tech...
"They have a lot of talent. [Jonathan] Dwyer is as good a running back as there is in the conference. They're using him as their fullback in the wishbone offense. They've got a couple of other halfbacks that are really talented and dangerous. They've got a wide receiver in Demaryius Thomas, who is possibly the best receiver in the ACC. They run an offense that is nearly impossible to defend, then they throw in the talent that's there and it's really an amazing group of athletes."
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R-SR - QB
On Riley Skinner's health...
"He seems to be doing well. I think they're just taking their precautionary measures. Concussions are something that you don't want to mess with... So I know they're just taking their precautionary measures with him right now. "
On the team's morale after losing to Miami...
"That one hurts a lot. That could have done a lot of special things if we would have won that game but I think we're in the same kind of situation that we were in after the Boston College game, where we lost a heartbreaker at the very end. We need to rally; we need to come together. We need to come out and have another good performance trying to do what we did against NC State. That needs to be the same mentality this week. We need to practice well, come out and play well on Saturday."
On what type of player he is...
"I think if I need to be vocal, I can definitely step up, but I like to lead by example. Get out there, just play hard and do the right thing, and get 10 other guys to follow me doing the same thing."
On what he'll be feeling if he is announced as the starter against Georgia Tech...
"Obviously, there are going to be some nerves. I haven't started a game since high school but I think I'm familiar with that situation of just being the starting quarterback. I'd have to get used to playing four full quarters, making those decisions and those reads but it would be exciting. It'd be a lot of fun."
On Georgia Tech's defense...
"They're a good defense, obviously. If you're the No. 10-ranked team, you're doing something right. You hear a lot about [Derrick Morgan], and he's a player. We've definitely got to know where he's at at all times - whether he's speed-rushing and what types of stunts he might be doing. We've got to get a lot more film breakdown and game plan for him. But they're athletes. I think across the ball, they've got a lot of guys who fly to the ball, that play hard and play pretty sound defense so we've got to have a good game plan for it - especially for [Morgan]. I know he gets a lot of hype, and he lives up to it too. It's not just hype. He's a player."
On playing at Georgia Tech...
"It's a challenge and it's a lot of fun. Coach Grobe always quotes Coach Prosser where the best places to win are on the road, and it's no different for us. And the fact that they're the 10th-ranked team makes that even more exciting."
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R-FR - LB
On the team's morale...
"It was a very tough loss Saturday, but I like to think that we're excited because we still have three games left and we still have an opportunity to really do something with the season. I know how badly everybody wants to win so I would say that the morale is pretty high. I think we're really ready to play football."
On moving forward after last week...
"We still have three games left and we're only 4-5. We can still finish at 7-5 and make a pretty decent bowl game, especially for the seniors. They want to go out with a bowl win. If we can get to a bowl and then win a bowl game, that's eight wins."
On how Ryan McManus has been looking in practice...
"Ryan looks great. He's one of the quarterbacks that you can trust. He won't make a lot of mistakes; he won't turn the ball over. I think we'll be in good shape whether we have Ryan or Riley [Skinner] starting."
On Georgia Tech's offense...
"They run the triple option. They have a lot of athletes on the team so they have this triple option - this tough offensive play - but on top of that, they have incredible athletes that could break it at any time."
On covering Georgia Tech's offensive weapons...
"It's tough, especially with their guys. They break a lot of tackles so tackling is going to be huge in this game. We've just got to wrap these guys up. They have great athletes; they have great personnel guys."
