Postgame Quotes - ULM 21, Wake Forest 19
9/14/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 14, 2013
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Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe
On the play of the defense...
"We had a challenge today. I thought overall, our defense really hung in there. They didn't get much help from the offense today. They were off the field a lot. We kept putting those guys back out there. So they showed me a lot of courage and determination and all that kind of stuff. We forced some turnovers in the first half, which was really good. Second half, we had our backs against the wall defensively. We rose to the occasion. I thought overall, if the defense had got a little bit of help out of the offense, it might have been another good defensive day. But in the end, we didn't score enough points and we gave up too many. From a defensive standpoint, I thought our kids played really hard all day against a pretty talented offensive football team."
On the passing game...
"I was more surprised that we didn't do it earlier. It's not like we were being hard-headed. We felt like we needed to throw the football. We tried to make the miracle comeback, but we just didn't get it done. I wasn't surprised that we were able to go down the field [at the end of the game.] I was just surprised we weren't able to go more often and earlier in the game."
On ULM quarterback Kolton Browning's play...
"It's certainly not a science once things start breaking down and he moves out of the pocket. That hurt us some defensively today. I felt at times he made some good decisions, whether to throw it away or try to get it in there. I thought several times, we pressured their quarterback and he made something out of nothing a couple of times. That's what happens when the quarterback gets out of the pocket and you don't get him contained."
On the play of the offense...
"It has a lot to do not with what we're doing but how we're doing it. We're a very lethargic offensive football team right now. We have no sense of urgency. This is my fault. This is nobody's fault but the head coach, when your offense plays like they're asleep at the wheel. The deal is, a dropped ball is no big deal, and a bad throw is no big deal. That's my fault. I've allowed that to happen. The way we're playing right now offensively and the lack of intensity, it doesn't matter what we're doing. We're just a very lethargic, sloppy offensive football team. That's me, that's the head coach. I control my assistants. The assistants coach the kids. I sit there every day in practice and watch it. We've got to turn the volume up, and that's my responsibility."
ULM Head Coach Todd Berry
Opening statement...
"I've been through 31 years of coaching football and there's two things that I've learned. One is that we're going to make it interesting here. The other is that when we get out of our comfort level, we don't handle it very well. That's disappointing because we should be passed that. So obviously we're excited about the win but there were so many mistakes and that's not like us. It's not what we do. So part of me is happy but part of me is disappointed because we can be so much better than what we are."
On the play of the ULM offense and defense...
"Offensively, the quarterback is still not in sync, and so that was evident. We're kind of back to doing what we do on offense for the first time, but we didn't really execute very well at all. We had penalties which we don't ever do. We turned the ball over which we don't ever do. Then defensively, we get into the two-minute deal there at the very end, we start playing zone coverage and we don't know how to do it. That was obviously demonstrated. We got to get better at those things and we've worked on them. It's not like all of a sudden these are things that we haven't done, we just got to get better at it."
On defending the Wake Forest offense...
"There were an awful lot of three-and-outs and we were playing on an emotional high. We were playing well. Obviously we didn't work a lot against the pass this week because we spent all of our time working on the option. We got into some zone coverages and we don't play zone very well. We don't get a enough reps on it; we just don't get enough of a pass rush when that happens. We got some work to do. In some ways, last year everything was pretty upbeat. So far this year, because of injuries, there hasn't been a lot of upbeat stuff. It makes you reflect, and we have to do some reflection now. And some times reflection is a very good thing. We need to play better. We knew coming in the environment, it's a great environment, beautiful place. I'm disappointed in the way we played."
Senior Wide Receiver Michael Campanaro
On the play of the offense...
"It's just tough out there for the offense just to get things going. As a group, we just have to work better and we have to work together. The defense bailed us out all day. We were just a little too late that last drive. [ULM] played a good game. They came in with a game plan and they stuck with it."
On the two-point conversion at the end of the game...
"I told Tanner to come to me, and he did. I just dropped it. It was a tough play, and I have to be better in that. It hit me right in the chest. There's only one spot where he could have thrown that, and I knew where it was at. It was just a drop. It's just tough right now. Just being the captain of the offense, I have to make that play. The offense depends on me to make those catches. Late in the game, they came to me, and that's just the play I have to make. That's the difference between going into overtime and winning or losing."
On the dropped punt...
"I probably lost focus. It just got batted around. It's just a bad deal any time you drop those. I was just lucky that the defense bailed us out."
Senior Nose Guard Nikita Whitlock
On the team's level of intensity...
"I believe the defense is playing with great intensity. I think we're playing with great passion."
On the defensive effort...
"As a defense, our goal is to keep them to 21 and under. We were told that if we keep them to 21 and under we were going to win, so we did that. That was one of our goals and we accomplished it."
On losing to ULM...
"I'm disappointed we lost. I believe this game was a must-win. We got some hard games. This was a game where they came to our house. I really believe that we were a better team honestly, but they played better. This is how it goes."
Senior Quarterback Tanner Price
On whether the players are taking responsibility for what happened in the game...
"None of us are pleased or satisfied with our performance. We need to play a lot better and just come out this week and work as hard as we can. We can't let this game define us, and there's still a lot of football left. We need to bounce back and stay together as a team and focus."
On how the team will bounce back next week...
"Just staying together as a team. Not pointing fingers, not blaming it on offense, not blaming it on defense; just working hard and believing that we can be a good team."
On getting the ball down the field in key situations...
"Our defense played a great game and gave us a number of opportunities to drive it down the field and take the lead, and it's disappointing that we even put ourselves in that situation because it really shouldn't have to come down to that last play. As an offense we just need to have that drive to score every time we have the ball and understand that every drive is really important and that we have to be able to capitalize when our defense steps up and makes plays for us."
