Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Football Press Conference Video & Quotes
9/3/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sep 3, 2013
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On getting the first win of the season...
"It's really important. I think for every team, you would like to win your first game and hopefully not get penalized too much for the mistakes you make. I feel that's what we were able to do. We made some mistakes in the opener but came away with the win, so it's a lot easier to correct your mistakes after a W."
On playing 10 true freshmen against Presbyterian...
"Really (they were) just kids that we think will help us down the road. We felt like last year we left some guys on the shelf that should have been playing by the end of the year. Unfortunately, there's no science to that. We're playing some kids right now just on special teams that we think may actually work their way into playing time on defense. But I think just with the thought that it's important to win, you got to not only play for the opener, you got to play for nine, 10, 11, 12 down the road so our thoughts were a lot of these freshmen we put on the field on some cases, just on special teams have an opportunity to work their way into the defensive side of the ball."
On freshmen center Cory Helms starting his first game...
"Cory is a little different cat; there's a guy that started for us up front. I thought he played really well. (He) Had a couple plays he would like to have back; we would like to have back, but I thought that he played physical football, he showed a lot of toughness throughout the course of the game. (I) Really liked his play."
On preparing the freshmen for the first road game at BC...
"We've talked to them about it. Every environment that we go into on the road is a tough environment, so one of the issues you've got is not only having young guys that can make mistakes in practice or at a home game, but when you take them on the road, the mistakes typically get magnified. We're just trying to get them ready for a little bit of a hostile environment, a little bit louder environment where you don't have everybody on your side. In fact, most of them are against you. You hope they're able to go up there and get focused and do a good job."
On the defensive play against Presbyterian...
"Well, I don't know if we could have played better other than the first play. That first play was a little bit of an eye-opener, got me a little bit nervous. But after that we settled down and played really good defense. We took the ball away a few times which was nice, forced some turnovers and really didn't give up any big plays after that. So I thought other than the first big play of the game, our defense played really well. And we feel like that's what we have to do going forward, if we're going to win we're going to have to rely on our defense. We know the offense is going to have to be productive, we got to take care of the ball, all of those kinds of things; we know the kicking game is going to be very important to us. We did some good things in the kicking game but certainly can make some improvements there. I thought overall other than one big play, the defense played really well."
Redshirt Freshman Wide Receiver Jonathan Williams
On whether or not he was surprised by his performance in his collegiate debut...
"It was kind of a surprise to me. I just went out and played the best I could. Presbyterian was a hard battle for me, being that it was my first college game. I just went with the flow and played the best that I could."
On his connection with Tanner Price...
"It was kind of easy. During the summer, we worked on timing a lot. I stayed during the summer for the first session and second session, so we got a lot of work done. Also, in camp the whole offense was fighting to get stuff done."
On the true freshman...
"To me, I feel like I'm in the same boat as them. I'm a sophomore, but I'm a freshman on the field as well. (The true freshman) did good. I was surprised at how we came out and did real good and nobody was nervous. Everybody just played their game and did their role."
Freshman Center Cory Helms
On starting the first game of the season as a true freshman...
"It was awesome. I definitely worked hard to get to it, but it was like a dream come true. It was a blessing and it was exciting. It was nerve-racking when we got the ball first. When they said the play, I forgot the play at the line and had to ask what the play was. After the first play, the butterflies went away, and it was good."
On what he expects from Boston College...
"PC was a good opponent to come out with, but Boston College is going to be a real physical game. Every play you're going to just have to be as physical as you can. They have a bunch of 300 pounders, from 6-3 up to 6-8, so they have big guys."
On how Tanner Price is helping the quarterback/center relationship...
"He's real good. He was in the same position himself coming in as a freshman and playing. There are other offensive linemen who are seniors and returning guys who kind of took me under their wing a little bit."
Senior Nose Guard Nikita Whitlock
On the freshmen making their first road trip to Boston College... "Luckily, we do have a lot of freshmen, but we also have a lot of seniors. There's a good dichotomy there that keeps everybody pretty level. The freshmen keep us hungry, and we keep the freshmen level-headed. The only freshman defensive lineman we have is James Looney, and he's not a freshman to me. He came early last year and went through the spring with all of us. All you tell him is that it's going to be a different game. It's a step up - the competition is bigger, faster, stronger - it's ACC play. Buckle up, get ready to hit hard and play hard."
On Boston College...
"Even though they have a new staff, they're the same BC. They're big guys. They run a lot of 22, 23, powers and counters, straight up the middle, hit you and drive you off the ball hard. They are really physical, but who is not physical? We just have to match their physicality, hit them harder than they hit us and be able to do it for four quarters. I think that's the biggest thing with BC. You saw the Villanova game. A lot of people watched that game and said, `Oh, they're down,' but when it comes down to it, they're going to beat you in the third and fourth quarters because they're physical and they're not going to get tired.
