Weekly Football Press Conference Quotes
11/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 23, 2010
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On what he's thankful for...
"I'm thankful for my players, my coaches and our families. For us, we consider ourselves a family and that's an extended family beyond our wives and our children. You include players and their families and coaches and their families in that. I'm blessed to be around all those people."
On if the schedule changes during Thanksgiving week...
"It's a little screwed up. Obviously, the players are out of class today. We really want to let our scout team kids, the kids that aren't on the travel team, go home for Thanksgiving. We'll try to practice Wednesday morning and let all the guys who aren't on the trip go home. That makes Thursday's practice a little challenging, trying to get a quality practice in. I'm a little disappointed because we're in a pretty good routine with our young guys. Week to week, we were doing some pretty good things. Coaching wise, I think our players were getting a little bit better, so this week will be a little upside down."
On what his message will be to the team this week...
"The message has never changed since I've been here and that's work hard during the week and play hard on Saturday. I think, for us, we're certainly a team that's not very confident right now and that's ok. That's the way young guys are. We haven't had any success and without success, it's tough to be a confident football team. Our message for the past few weeks has always been let's get better, let's work hard during the week and see if we can't play better on Saturday. I think we have done that. This week is a little different with the holiday. It will be interesting to see how our players respond. We're back on the road again. We haven't played real well at times on the road, although I thought we made some improvements, especially at NC State. At least for a half, we showed some more maturity. Hopefully we'll take another step, not only in our ability to play, but also in our maturity."
On the importance of winning this game to establish some momentum entering the offseason...
"I told our team that if I could give them a win, no matter what it cost me, I would give it to them. I would love to be able to hand them a win, because they work so hard. I don't know that there's a more deserving team in the country than ours, as far as how hard we've worked, how hard we've pushed our players. Unfortunately, they have to earn it and go get it. There's not anything that I think would be better for our football team right now than a win. Like I said, I'd give it to them, but I'm not capable of that. We've got a good plan for them, but they have to go out and block and tackle and make it happen."
On the difficulty of scouting a team you don't play every year...
"It's probably tougher because you don't have a sense of what the coaches are feeling. I think when you play in a league, especially in a division where you're playing the same teams every year, you get a feel for what the coaches are trying to do. We're going to end up playing Vanderbilt home and away for the next 10 years. We'll draw a little better bead on them from this point forward."
Senior Long Snapper Greg Bechtel
On things to be thankful for as the season draws to a close...
"I'm thankful we haven't had too many injuries on the team. It's always a good thing to get through a season without too many injuries. You've got a couple concussions every now and then, but that's just football. I'm thankful for my health, I had a good season with no injuries, and I'm thankful to play one more game as a redshirt senior. We've got one more game and hopefully we can get a win against Vanderbilt."
On the feeling of having only one game left...
"It's definitely sad to say good-bye and turn a chapter, because as a redshirt senior you've been doing this for four and a half years, so you don't really know what else to do at this point. I'm going to worry about how I feel about the season after we get through our last game because right now I'm just concentrating on trying to get that last win."
On the changes that occurred after winning the first two games...
"I don't think there's a huge difference. We came into every game with a good game plan that the coaches had set up for us. We would practice hard during the week, but sometimes you just can't pull them out. There's a lot of talent in the ACC. We approached every game with the confidence that we would win the game and with a great game plan, but we just didn't pull it out in the end."
On the challenges of staying focused this week...
"Even last night at practice, I felt like everyone was there mentally. Everybody knows we have one more week left, and you have to take each week like a regular game week. We know we have Thanksgiving coming up, but we're all mentally prepared to go into Vanderbilt and compete."
On the benefit a win could provide for next year's team...
"Getting a third win, finally, for the last game of the season would definitely help carry through the off season workouts, and that would just help everybody coming into next season to be more optimistic. It would end the season on a high note, so I think it would definitely be a positive thing."
On the challenges of facing an unfamiliar opponent in Vanderbilt...
"I think you approach every game the same. You look at what they run and their tendencies and you try to combat those and come out with a good game plan to take home the win. Even though we don't know that much about them, we'll just look at their game film and create a game plan."
Senior Linebacker Matt Woodlief
On his feelings going into the last game...
"I'm very thankful that I have one more shot to show Wake Forest and everybody else what I've got one last time. You're guaranteed 12 games a year and I'm very grateful to have one more shot at it."
On the turning point of the season...
"After the Stanford game - going out West was a different time zone and that had a big effect with us. I think that was sort of a little turning point for us. Then each week we had to get better. We had to do our job defensively. Each week we've gotten better defensively. Offensively we've had some bumps and bruises. They've struggled a lot, but we're still a team, and it's not just a one-sided loss. It's a team loss. It's been really tough, and I think where it started was after the Stanford game."
On how he's grown in his five years at Wake Forest...
"Coming in a little dude going against Steve Vallos and all of those guys. Learning from all these other good defensive players like Aaron Curry, Alphonso Smith, Jon Abbate and all of those guys. Learning from them about how they carried themselves on campus, on the field and off of the field. I think that had a great effect on me. I'm 22 and you have to grow up sometime."
On how much a win against Vanderbilt could benefit next year's team...
"If we do get a win, it's great for me because it would be a memorable moment. I want to leave my college career with a win, and I want to remember this game. And I am going to remember it, win or lose, but hopefully we'll come out with a win. If we do come out with a win, it can show those young guys that we still are a good team, we do have good athletes and we can make the team better next year. That's what I want for those young guys, and I hope to get a win for them."
Senior Wide Receiver Marshall Williams
On playing in his final college game...
"It's a bittersweet feeling. Everything that has a beginning has an end, so it's just going out there and trying to strap it in once again against Vanderbilt. It would be a great blessing and testament to the hard work I put in here. I'll be sad to leave here. I made some great friends and great coaches, but it's something where I knew this day was coming, so I have to put all my efforts into beating Vanderbilt."
On what will be going through his mind when he takes the field for the last time...
"I'm trying not to view it as my last game here. I feel like if I do too much, I invest too emotionally in the game, instead of trying to focus. When I played my last home game this past week, I didn't try to think about it as my last home game. I tried to think of it as a game that I could come out there and just play. I'm sure that it will probably be in the back of my mind, but I'm going to try to stay away from that notion of thinking as much as possible."
On how much a win could help the team carry momentum into the next season...
"I think that anytime your last game is a win, it always carries momentum over to the next year. You don't like to end the season with a loss, because then that's the last point of reference that you have. I think the win would give a lot of confidence to the guys coming back next year that look, we can win, we can beat some good teams. Vanderbilt played some teams pretty tough that are pretty good in the SEC and around the country. Beating them will honestly give us a boost of confidence going into next year."
