Weekly Football Press Conference Quotes
9/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 21, 2010
Press Conference Video: Grobe | Bohanon | Givens | Quarles
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On the morale of the team ...
"It's not good. Our guys don't like to lose, and our coaches don't like to lose. We played a pretty good football team. Our guys are down, but that's the way it should be."
On the positives that be taken from Saturday's loss to Stanford ...
"We played a lot of players. That's the best thing. We had a lot of freshmen on the field that were able to get experience that they otherwise would not have gotten. When you win by a lot or lose by a lot you can get a lot of players on the field, and that's what we were able to do. That is the biggest positive, but we didn't play well. So you have mixed feelings about it. You like to give players a chance, just not in that type of situation."
On what the defense needs to do better this week than they did last week ...
"This is a team game. Four of their drives were inside 50 yards - one was 38, one was 27, one was 23, one was 13. They got in those positions because of a long kick return, a long punt return, a fumble and an interception. It's not all defense. You look at the big scoring and you think that the defense didn't play well, and we didn't, but the way the offense played and the way the special teams played contributed to that. It's a team game, and that's what we've reminded our kids of. We didn't shoot the lights out on offense, defense, kicking or coaching, so we all have some work to do."
On what FSU quarterback Christian Ponder will bring to the table ...
"We just played Andrew Luck. He and Christian are very similar quarterbacks. They're both big guys, they both have good arm strength, they both have good touch on their passes, they have a good supporting cast and they both run really well. Luck hurt us with his foot speed by making plays when we had good coverage. Christian Ponder does the same thing. We're facing another great quarterback this week.
On the advantages of playing against Ponder a week after playing against Luck ...
"I think it gives our defense a little more a perspective on how good it is going to be Saturday night from the quarterback position. We got our eyes opened a little bit this weekend. The one thing that surprised us a little bit is how fast the kid is. Watching Florida State, Ponder is the same type of guy. He can beat you with his feet just as much as he can beat you with his arm. I don't know that it gave us any better of a plan, but at least our players have a better understanding of what it is going to be like."
On the differences between FSU's head coach Jimbo Fisher and former head coach Bobby Bowden ...
"The difference is on the defensive side. The offense is still pretty much Jimbo's. He still calls the plays and runs the offense. Defensively, we're seeing more zone coverage, but they do still play a lot of man. They still have the same type of athletes - big physical kids who can run. They're playing really good defense right now, and they've always been really good on offense."
On whether or not playing at Doak Campbell Stadium stills has the same mystique as it did in the 90s ...
"I don't think there is any question. It's a great environment, and it really pumps their guys up. They're playing really good football right now. When you look at Florida State, they are good everywhere. We know the environment is going to be tough, but we also know that their football team is really good."
On Tanner Price making strides ...
"It's week-to-week, and really day-to-day. We thought he did some great things against Duke, and we thought he did some really good things against Stanford. We had a couple nice drives with him in there, but he did some inexperienced things. He got out of a couple of good pockets, and we had a couple of times where he hurried a throw when he actually had more time than he thought. All-in-all, he probably played better than a freshman probably should against that type of defense. He's got a lot to work on, and he knows that."
On still being atop the ACC ...
"For us, we have got to remember that we are 2-1. We've won a couple of football games. There are a lot of teams out there right now who haven't played their best football and are 0-3. I think our best football is in front of us, but I tell our team that we aren't playing very well right now. We have a lot of talent - in some cases it's inexperienced talent. Our job as coaches is to get our guys playing better. The goal has to be to improve every week instead of worrying only about records. The bottom line is, Stanford is not the end of the world. It was a tough loss, but we are 2-1 and we've got some good things to play for down the stretch."
Sophomore fullback Tommy Bohanon
On the morale of the team following the loss to Stanford...
"Right now, I think we're more focused than anything, because when you get beat like that, you just come together as a team. Everybody's been working really hard, we had a good practice yesterday, and we're ready to play again."
On what lessons can be learned from the loss...
"We've just got to keep working. We've got to get better every week. We can't think about the past, we've got to think about the future and what we have to do to beat Florida State."
On the team's chances against Florida State...
"You can say that [about winning three of the last four against the Seminoles], but then again every year there's a new team. Every year there's another task at hand. They're a great team, and we just have to come ready to play."
On playing in Doak Campbell Stadium...
"It's always hard to go down there and play, because they always have 80,000 fans that come to the game. They're always going to be loud. They're always going to bring it, so it's always a tough task to go to their place and play a football game."
Sophomore wide receiver Chris Givens
On whether he is concerned about a hangover following the Stanford game...
"I don't think so. When you get embarrassed like we did, you don't really have time to worry about the hangover effects and stuff like that. We just have to focus on getting better every day."
On positives that can be taken from the Stanford game...
"Not too many. When you lose by that much on national TV there's not too many positives, not for me at least. As a team we don't want that to ever happen again, so we have to change how we practice, change our mentality, and come out Saturday ready to play."
On the importance of the Florida State game as an ACC matchup...
"Every game is important, because like Tommy [Bohannon] said, we want to win every one. Being an ACC game, we have to bounce back from last week, and we want to prove that we can play with the big schools."
On what to expect from Florida State...
"They're fast and physical. It's a typical Florida State defense. They're going to get in your face. They're going to talk noise. It's going to be fun."
Junior safety Cyhl Quarles
On the team's attitude going into this weekend's game...
"We were a little down after the loss to Stanford, which is a great team. Right now we're just coping and getting ready for Florida State. We have to put that game behind us and focus on the rest of the season. We have a lot more games to play and a hard schedule. We understand that any team can beat us if we don't come with our A-game. Right now we're just listening to our coaches, getting a great game plan, getting ready for Florida State and putting Stanford behind us."
On his message to the defense as one of its leaders...
"I just tell them to keep their heads up. We have other leaders on the team like Kyle Wilber, Alex Frye and Kenny Okoro. They're stepping up big-time to help us recover from the tragic loss that we had against Stanford. People like Hunter Haynes are helping a lot by reminding us to keep our heads up because there is a long season to play."
On Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder...
"He's a great quarterback and we're going to play quarterbacks like him all year long. Our objective is to stop him the best that we can. We played a Heisman-watch quarterback against Stanford (Andrew Luck) and Ponder is no slouch either. Our thing is to go out and try to stop him before he stops us, and read him before he reads us."
On whether beating Florida State three out of the past four years helps the team's confidence...
"It helps out with our confidence a lot, knowing that we can win games against Florida State. But they are a great team and they're going to have a great game plan. We get in big battles with them every year. We understand that we can't just go out there and think we will win because it's not going to happen if we have that mentality."
