Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Football Press Conference Video & Quotes
11/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"Certainly very excited about this Thursday. It's a great opportunity for our program, our university, and the Winston-Salem community to get to host Clemson on national TV. BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Wake Forest University become the center of the college football world for three hours on Thursday night. It's also a great experience for our players. This is one of the reasons that people want to come to Wake Forest is that you get to play in games like this in front of a national audience, and we certainly look forward to that opportunity.
"The challenge is great. Clemson is not just a good football team, they're a good football program. Certainly one of the two elite or dominant programs in the ACC right now, they're coming off of a BCS bowl win a year ago. They're 6-2 and their two losses are to excellent football teams. Defensively, this is certainly one of the best defenses in the country right now. I think they are ranked No. 2 in total defense; statistically they are the best defense in the ACC. They have big-time players at every level. The (Vic) Beasley kid and the (Grady) Jarrett kid up front are arguably the best defensive end and the best defensive tackle in the conference. (Stephone) Anthony, the linebacker, was an All-ACC player a year ago, and he is an excellent football player. Both corners, (Garry) Peters and (Mackensie) Alexander, are excellent man-cover guys, and the two safeties can run, cover and hit. They are outstanding on defense and will most certainly be a great challenge for our offense to move the ball. Then on offense, they're difficult to defend. They're big and physical up front, they have a veteran quarterback, their receivers really present some matchup issues - the (Mike) Williams kid is a big kid, 6-4, 210 lbs, he can go up and get it - the (Artavis) Scott kid, No. 3, is extremely dynamic, the (Adam) Humphries kid is extremely versatile, they have three to four backs that can all carry the ball. They run their offense well, and the nature of what they do is hard to defend. They spread you sideline to sideline, lots of motions, and you combine that with their play action game and their physical run game, they're a complete football team.
"Having said that, our guys are excited to play. This is a great opportunity for them, a chance for us to get better. We've had a good week of prep, and we're really excited to get out there on Thursday night."
On whether playing on Thursday night brings extra pressure...
"There's that pressure every single week. If you say because it's Thursday night on national TV, hopefully our players have pride as football players that they feel that pressure every time they take the field. There's certainly going to be a lot more people watching, but again, that shouldn't change how we prepare and how we play."
On whether the second-half offensive performance against Boston College has helped the team's confidence...
"Any time that we perform well, it gives our guys confidence and it shows what we're capable of doing. We have had moments this year where we have looked certainly like a confident offense. Certainly the second half of BC, the second half of Utah State, the first 20 minutes of the Syracuse game, we've certainly had flashes where you say `Ok, we're capable of doing this.' We have not had the ability to sustain it, and it continues to go back that it's hard to ever be a consistent offense when you don't run the football. So am I excited about what we did in the second half of BC? Absolutely. The bottom line is that we were still one-dimensional. We never had balance, we never ran the football, and we continue to work every single week to try to get better at running the football. I never want us to be an offense that throws the ball for 350 yards and rushes it for 50 (yards). People can win that way (but) I don't want to win that way. I want to be balanced, I want to be able to run the football, we're not very good at it right now, but we're working to get better at it and we will get better at it."
Redshirt Senior Cornerback Kevin Johnson
On how the team has utilized the bye week...
"It's really good getting that second wind of the football season. Everybody's getting their legs back. It's really good to relax your mind and get away from football for a little bit, so right when we get into the next week we're really energetic about it, and really on the ball...We've definitely been getting into the film room a lot more and getting to know the opponent. All those are really important things you can do to get a leg up."
On playing under the spotlight on ESPN for Thursday night football...
"It's awesome to get a chance to play in a Thursday night game against a really good team. Those are the games you come to college to play. It's going to be good to get under the lights and have fun with the guys we've been training with for so long. It's a really exciting time."
On the best and worst things about the season so far...
"The best thing about this season is that our team - we've got a bunch of guys who are going to fight on Saturdays, offensively and defensively. Playing on defense, I love being on the field with those guys with the heart they show, and knowing the coaching staff puts us into great positions to make plays. The worst thing - it's disappointing we haven't come away with more W's this year. It's also a bright sign for the future, knowing those W's are going to come."
Redshirt Freshman Tight End Cam Serigne
On what has been accomplished during the bye week...
"We definitely got time to get our legs back from the first half of the season, but on top of that it gives us a little extra time to prepare. We have a big contest this week and we know that, and for us we know we have to put the extra work in and think we've been able to accomplish that this bye week."
On things the offense worked on this bye week...
"As an offense we have really been just trying to focus on the little details in the game, executing our assignments, be more focused on what the coaches are teaching us and trusting the techniques, and going into this game it's really about us just trying to establish ourselves as an offense that is needed to be reckoned with, not one that is inconsistent. Establishing that consistency is huge for us and we have really worked on that this bye week."
On the excitement of playing in prime time against Clemson...
"Definitely. It's an exciting game. What you sign up to play for is games like this. We look at every week equally, but especially this week against Clemson. We're are just excited to get out there and play on the big stage and hopefully earn some respect for Wake Forest University, as an offense and as a team, and it's the biggest stage for us to be on this week."
