Wake Forest Athletics
Postgame Quotes -- Wake Forest 16, Virginia 10
10/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 20, 2012
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On offense:
"We need to find a way to make a first down, which we didn't get many of today. But the best thing we did today was carry the football. We also didn't have a lot of turnovers, which was great. The best thing we did today was not turn the ball over. We didn't lose that turnover battle."
On punter Alexander Kinal:
"I think that sometimes Alex has that type of punt that turns itself over and sometimes comes back toward the kicker. It's hard to catch those things especially in pressure situations. It's just tough. It's not easy. It's hard to catch a punt period, but under such pressure it's tough."
On defense:
"I think 50 [Nikita Whitlock] is back at full speed and that makes a difference. The other thing is that the guys that sometimes get looked over do great things. It starts with 50 and if he's playing well the other guys get loose and step it up. I thought defensively we had a lot of energy and played hard for four quarters. We didn't contain some of Virginia's plays, but we played a lot of good defense without a lot of help. We made a conservative effort to run the ball today. It wasn't pretty at times, but we took physical care of the ball and took care of the ball day and that was huge and paid off."
On going forward:
We're healthy right now, that's the biggest thing. We haven't been full strength previous to this. This is what we hoped we would be able to do defensively at the beginning of the season. We came in really determined to run the football today and we didn't have much success at that, and we didn't have that much success running it. I thought overall it was just a great defensive effort.
On Tylor Harris sacking the quarterback (in the fourth quarter):
"We know he's a really, really good player. Our defensive line coach probably thought that might be a little risky, but he had fresh legs and has a lot of talent."
On his thoughts with the score tied at 7-7:
"We were thinking, if we can kick a field goal, we could have a little momentum going into the locker room and we felt really good about that. I thought we would at least take a shot at it. We needed that energy going into the half."
On penalties:
"I think penalties never seem to come at the right time. I thought our delay of game penalty really caught me off guard. That was a key penalty. I think more so when you're in a losing streak and also when you're playing in a really, really close game, those penalties like that can really make a difference."
Thoughts on game:
"We came out today fired up and we understood the importance of this game and we realized that we really needed to get back on track this season. So it was really great to see the team play the way they did. It was really a great victory."
Key to winning:
"Our defense played a great game. They did a great job stopping their offense and making some big turnovers for us. Offensively we didn't turn the ball over, which is always good. It kept us in the game and we had a couple big plays here and there. We had a big punt return, which set us up for a touchdown. It was combination of all those factors."
Change in offense throughout the year, particularly with more concentration on running game:
"It's kind of a personnel thing. Our offense has changed a little bit, but I'm fine with it. I'm on board with the coaching staff. I understand what we have to work with, and what we're going to have to do to be more successful. It is a little bit different but I'm rolling with it."
Junior Nose Guard Nikita Whitlock
About losing helmet and coming out of the game:
"(Tylor) Harris is a big, powerful guy. I'm glad I can I trust my teammates to come in when I come out. Harris came in and they slid the protection opposite of him. It was just the perfect call, perfect play that he executed and capitalized."
Thoughts of improved defense:
"We've had hills and valleys. We've had health issues and game suspensions. But finally we're all back together and able to play for each other. We've had adversity, but now that we're all together we realize how much it counts to have everyone together. I think that's what really helped us today."
Junior Tailback Josh Harris
About recent losses:
"It's huge to get this win. It is always good to have a win. We only have a certain amount of games left, and we need wins to get to the place that we'd all like to be."
On the 60-yard punt return by Lovell Jackson
"Wow, that was huge. I told him in the locker room, you are the reason that we actually won."
