Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Football Press Conference Video & Quotes
9/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 25, 2012
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On getting the running game going against Army...
"We simplified things a little bit, so I thought our offensive staff did a good job by giving our kids stuff they could handle. Certainly the running backs ran (well) but they needed some blocking up front. We really haven't had that early in the season, so it was nice to have that come around."
On Duke...
"This is a good football team. I think this is the best Duke team we faced so far. Coach (David) Cutcliffe has done a great job. They're playing good on both sides of the ball; both defensively and offensively. This is a big challenge for us and another ACC game. We talk about playing in-state games but anytime you're playing in the league, it's very important."
On junior flanker Michael Campanaro...
"He had a good year last year but I think a lot of credit went to Chris Givens who was a great player for us. I think Camp got overshadowed a bit; he's a good football player. I think it helped him last Saturday to have the running game go as good as it did. Camp can't do it by himself. Hopefully he'll continue to have good games. I think if he does that means everyone else is doing pretty good."
On Duke's offense and defense...
"I think we're going to have to score a lot of points. These guys are really good offensively, but the thing that's got my attention is how much they dominated Memphis from the defensive side of the ball. I don't think Memphis had close to 200 yards offense last week. This is not a one-dimensional football team. Coach Cutcliffe and his offense have been known to put up points and lots of yards on everybody, but this is a much-improved Duke defense. We've got to play well on both sides of the football."
On redshirt junior Nikita Whitlock's status for Saturday...
"Nikita's biggest problem is he's been out for a while. It's going to be hard for him to come back (this week). (With) those high ankle sprains, you get to where you feel good walking to class but you get to pushing against people, especially in his position going against guys who are 300-plus pounds, (and it) makes it a little bit tougher. Quite frankly, I have my doubts about him playing, or playing well, or playing a lot this Saturday. But we'll see, you never know."
On the defensive line for Saturday...
"We would love to have (Nikita) back. But honestly, I think it's a stretch to think we'll have him back for Saturday and play like the old Nikita Whitlock. I really like the way Tylor Harris is playing right now. I thought he did some really good things against Army. Getting Hasan Hazime in at nose tackle was good for us. I think we've got a little bit of flexibility, it's not as big of a concern that we've got to have Nikita back overnight. Certainly, if he gets back in the mix it helps us."
Junior Wide Receiver Michael Campanaro
On his performance against Army...
"It was a good game as a whole offense. We got things going early so we were able to put up a lot of points. I was just happy to be able to contribute. Tanner found me a lot and the offensive line did a good job protecting him all day, and when he has time back there it makes our jobs easy as receivers."
On his connection with Tanner Price...
"Tanner and I have been working with each other for a long time. You can tell out there on the field because he's been finding me a lot through the middle. He knows when I'm going to break a route off short and things like that. He's been doing a great job this year."
On the improvement of the offensive line...
"They've shown huge strides throughout the season. They've been getting better each week. It was big for them to have a game like that, especially coming off last week against Florida State. I thought as an offense that it was great for us to put up 49 points. Those guys are getting better each week, and it shows with our offense out there."
Senior Linebacker Riley Haynes
On what a win like Army can do for the team...
"I think it's big for us. That was a must-win, especially to get six wins in our league because it's not easy. Any time that you come away with a win you have to be really happy. Obviously we have to build off of it; we had a tough loss against Florida State and bounced back to play pretty well. We need to play well again this week to pick up a win against a really good Duke team."
On the importance of conference games...
"They're huge. You have to win your conference games. They're always your biggest games of the season, especially with Duke. We always have close games. I don't even know how many games we've won by one or two points against them, so it's definitely going to be a close game and we understand that. You have to come out and play your best game in conference games and if you don't, you're going to take a loss."
On Grobe's perfect 11-0 mark against Duke...
"I don't know. We don't really look at streaks that much; it's year-to-year. We know that they're a really good football team and that we'll have to play our very best football to beat them. That's the bottom line; we don't look too much into the past because we can't change it. We look at this game and at the team that they have right now and we know it's going to be a battle, so we're going to have to bring everything we've got to beat them."
Junior Nose Guard Nikita Whitlock
On his health...
"Everything is great and coming along. When I first injured (my ankle) they said three to six weeks, and I never go with the minimum when I'm healing. I think this week I'll come back and really get to play again. Coming off an injury, yesterday was my first day running in two weeks, so I've lost a lot of endurance and I've lost a lot of strength. I haven't been able to work out. I don't expect to be out there 80 plays or 70 plays straight like I usually am, but I do think I'll be able to take 60 percent of the reps."
On not being to play the past two weeks...
"It's been really hard. That tough loss against Florida State was hard to swallow, and then that really close game against Army, I wished I could have been out there to help my guys a little bit. I just look at it as if I can get healed, I can help them for this next eight games."
On Duke's offense...
"Everybody knows that Duke likes to throw the ball. They bring a really good pass rush offense; their line is really good at blocking the pass rush. They have a veteran offensive line with a lot of seniors, a lot of old guys and a lot of good players. Of course, (Conner Vernon) can roll and can catch some balls, and their quarterback is pretty good. The offense, to me, is something to be aware of definitely. It's not an offense that we can go in there and just shut down. Look forward to big plays coming from Duke, but also look forward to our defense getting in there and getting a few sacks."
