Post-Game Quotes - Wake Forest 34, NC State 27
9/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 2011
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Post-game Quotes
September 10, 2011 - BB&T Field
Wake Forest 34, NC State 27
Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe
On the morale of players on the sidelines...
"It was just a different resolve on the sidelines. Even when we had them on 4th-and-10 and gave up the home run our guys were playing hard. They were really going and getting them. It was probably a bad call on our part to bring the house and end up locked in man coverage with T.J. Graham. You could sense that our guys didn't want to let this one slip away. You could sense the importance that they felt down the stretch of not letting it slip away. It wasn't pretty, and we'll probably be mad at the defense when we get them in practice on Monday, but right now we're going to enjoy it."
On Michael Campanaro's performance and injury...
"It's a shame that he got hurt. He was probably playing as good as he could possibly play. His first half was fantastic. He pulled a hamstring, but I thought he was just tight. I thought we would get him back, but they wouldn't let him back in. When he's out there, he's a special player."
On the team's performance this season...
"I knew we were going to be a better football team. I felt really bad last week against Syracuse because I felt like we played for three and a half quarters as well as we could play, but we didn't get a win. Today was the same thing. We went right down to the wire, but for stretches we played very well. Our problem right now is that we have a more mature team emotionally, but many of our guys have not been in the game very often. I thought that was evident down the stretch today. We have to play smarter, but this is a different football team. This is a team that will continue to improve."
On the state of the offense...
"I think our coaches have done a good job. Tanner is very comfortable right now running the offense. He makes very few mistakes, and I don't even know if throwing the interception can be called a mistake. He makes a lot of good decisions, he's confident running the offense right now and our problem is that we have to run the football better. We're doing a good job throwing the football and moving it down the field, but to become a really good offensive team, we have to run the football better."
On Danny Dembry's excellent performance...
"Danny is a kid that we have always expected big things out of. He hasn't come along as quickly as we had hoped, but I don't think we could ask for anything better right now. I think he's playing really good football. He's a guy who's been very patient and worked very hard. Now that he's got his opportunity he's taking advantage of it and he's doing a very nice job."
Sophomore Quarterback Tanner Price
On the end of the game...
"It was a little nerve-racking out there. We allowed them to come back in the game and it got a little closer than I would have liked, but the defense stepped up and they did a great job."
On getting the first win of the season...
On the importance of rebounding after last week's performance against Syracuse... "This was a huge win for us. Coming off of last week, we were hoping to bounce back. We didn't get down on ourselves and we weren't going to let one game ruin our season. We did a great job today. It feels good to get the win at home and start 1-0 in conference."
Senior Wide Receiver Danny Dembry
On the trick play for a touchdown from Campanaro...
"I was running over expecting to be the thrower. We were supposed to switch sides, but I guess I decided that he could do it. I went from thrower to receiver. I practiced that play a couple of times in practice. Michael came up with a great pass in the game today, it was a perfect pass."
Senior Linebacker Kyle Wilbur
On getting a defensive stop on 4th down to win the game...
"I thought they were going to try to throw a short pass. Our coaches set up a great scheme to protect against the long pass after they went deep on us, and we had the right players in the right positions to finish the game."
On the improved defense this week...
"Last week we didn't finish. We made it up in our practice this week. Our defensive coordinators made some great calls today and they put us in the right positions to make the plays."
On the impact of the win...
"We're trying to build off of this win. We're trying to continue to get better. We didn't play our best and NC State played very well. We gave up a lot of big plays, and that's something that we will continue to work on in practice."
NC State Head Coach Tom O'Brien
Opening Statement
"Well, certainly not a good effort on our part. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. We have to get it straightened out next week. Coaches first, players, everybody on this football team. Too many big plays, we never gave ourselves a chance to win."
On giving yourselves a chance to win a game you shouldn't have been in...
"You still lose. I'm not into all this `we fought back' and all that. We lost the game. A game that we didn't play well in. I have to get it straightened out and I intend to get it straightened out."
On the most pressing area of concern in the loss...
"The defense. We haven't played defense like this in God knows how long. So many big plays. Coming in knowing that you're going to get the reverse passes and all that and it looked like we never saw one of those things ever. The fact of life when you play Wake Forest they do a great job doing those things."
On having three starting defensive linemen missing the game having an effect on the outcome...
"I'm not going to make excuses. We had who we had. It certainly would have helped but we didn't have them. We have to be able to make plays."
