Post-Game Quotes - Notre Dame 24, Wake Forest 17
11/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 6, 2011
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Post-Game Quotes
Notre Dame 24, Wake Forest 17
Nov. 5, 2011
BB&T Field - Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe
On the close scoring opportunities in the second half...
"You know, we had the turnover down inside the 10-yard line and then took an 11-yard sack when we were inside the red zone. I think that will be one of the big things that we look at. Our kickoff coverage was not good today and we gave them good field position too many times. We didn't protect Tanner very well, and we took some hurtful sacks that ended drives. There will definitely be some things that we look at that we don't feel very good about, but I think that our effort was really good today."
On Notre Dame's consecutive touchdown drives...
"Well, we didn't play the run very well on the first series. They completed one ball and then got into the end zone with two runs. For whatever reason, whether we just didn't make the right calls or our defense wasn't ready for it, I just don't think we were very strong defensively on those first two drives to start the half. After that the offense moved the ball pretty well, but those two drives really hurt us."
On the running game...
"I thought Brandon Pendergrass did some great stuff for us tonight. The turnover was tough, but he really stepped up when Josh Harris came off with the hamstring injury. Right now we're full speed ahead with Orville Reynolds; we just feel like he has to play at this point. Josh just couldn't go in the second half, so Orville was up."
On playing very close against the Irish...
"We've played some very good football teams, and Notre Dame is just another one of those teams. We're disappointed that we lost, but we should feel like we're capable of beating good football teams. I think we'll take that down with us to Death Valley next week, and hopefully we'll play a lot better than we did the last time that we played down there. Our guys can bounce back."
On playing true freshman Orville Reynolds...
"I've got the feeling that if you get your first snaps against Notre Dame, then that's a pretty good sign. Going forward, we're going to need Orville these next three weeks. We can't get by without a couple of running backs. He'll get work, and assuming that everything goes well, he'll probably get more work over the next three games than most true freshmen that are playing get in an entire season."
Sophomore Quarterback Tanner Price
On lack of emotion and energy in the second half
"It was a disappointing way to come out in the second half. Offensively we really stalled. We got into the red zone multiple times and ended up shooting ourselves in the foot. And things only got worse with the fumble, the holding call, the sack, and other penalties. Those penalties and errors are mistakes that we just can't have and when we get in the red zone we have to score."
On Notre Dame's defensive line
"Notre Dame has a great defensive line and did a great job penetrating all night and putting pressure on us. I just don't think we played well offensively, and we will just have to learn from what we did and improve upon it."
On games to come and preparation
"I think it's just something mental. I think we are going to have a great week of practice. There is still a lot to play for this season. Next week is a really big game and we are still in it."
On emotions following the game
"It is definitely really frustrating and when we go in and watch film of this game we are going to hate it. But this is not to take anything away from Notre Dame because this is a great team and they were deserving of the win. But the errors and mistakes we made really caused us to hurt ourselves and that is unfortunate."
Redshirt Junior Wide Receiver Chris Givens
On next week's game...
"We will definitely be ready, we still have a lot to look forward to. We'll go back to practice this Monday and do everything it takes to put ourselves in the best position to win on Saturday"
On atmosphere on campus and in game...
It was great. It was wonderful atmosphere getting to play in front of everybody and having all of the cameras around. It was a great atmosphere, but it would have been a lot better had we gotten the W."
Redshirt Senior Running Back Brandon Pendergrass
On the fumble in the red zone...
"When I had my hands wrapped around the ball and I was going to the hole, I just felt something come in, and then next thing I know it was out. It's a bad feeling, a bad feeling. Usually we look at fumbles as if you're doing something bad, but I had it in there, and it just managed to get away from me"
On the mood of the team... "We're down. We lost. It doesn't matter if it was a good team, it could have been the number one ranked team in the country - we feel like we can compete with anybody. Coming up short doesn't give you any good feeling at all - you just know you should have won the game. We had a lot of great opportunities, and they were a great team, but we let it slide away."
On next week week's game against Clemson... "I know we'll be ready. We've just got to bounce back, look at ourselves in the mirror find out what we did wrong, correct our mistakes, and go back to work tomorrow and Monday"
On Orville Reynolds... "I told him the game's the same. Football doesn't change. The guys are bigger, and they fly around a little faster, but you have to go out there and play the same game you've been playing your whole life."
Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly
Opening statement...
"Good win for Notre Dame. On the road, just a gritty performance. I'm proud of our team and the way they competed. Wake Forest is a good football team. I told our team this, there is a trajectory that you want to be on. When you go on the road, you want to play the kind of football that allows you to win consistently. That is closing games out. Obviously, the third quarter was the deciding part of this game in terms of our ability to put points on the board, and I think we did a great job in the second half against Wake Forest. The words that I would use are gritty and tough. Manti (Te'o) was playing on one leg and his playing for his team mates, playing for Notre Dame was just a classic way of looking at a football team and how you win consistently. You have to win games like this. Just a gritty, tough performance. That's all I can say."
On the flea-flicker interception play...
"Obviously, we felt like it was set up well for us. We will have to look at what happened there. I didn't see exactly and I didn't talk to Tommy (Rees) about it. We can overcome those things. It's the mistakes that we had in the red zone, with fumbling the football and those things. We did not beat ourselves tonight."
On your defense stepping up in the second half...
"Well there is no question that's a very good offensive football team. They have some skill players. The completed some passes, but we kept the ball in front of us. We didn't give up the big play. We made it very difficult for Wake Forest to run. Then we had the ability to pressure the quarterback. We knew the ball was going to be thrown. Again, we played three freshmen out there, we played a nickel defense pretty much the whole second half. Jamoris Slaughter went in there for Prince Shembo and did a great job. I just think it's all the little things and the toughness our team showed tonight was the stuff that we're trying to develop."
