Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Football Press Conference Video & Quotes
9/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Head coach Dave Clawson
Opening statement...
"First of all wrapping up the Gardner-Webb game, as I said after the game, it was good to get a win. Going back and watching the film, I thought our defense at times was dominant. I thought we overwhelmed them. I was disappointed to not get the shutout, but we learned some lessons even in that last series that I think will help us moving forward. Right now I'm really happy with the kicking game. We're kicking the ball off well. Our protection on PAT/field goal right now is doing really well. We've been accurate with our kicks. Alex (Kinal) did not have his best day but I think we all know that he's a proven commodity. He's reliable, dependable and he'll be fine. Offensively it was improved, it was efficient. The two things that bothered me was obviously the production in the red zone - it could have been a 40 or 50 point night if we were just average in the red zone - seven trips to the red zone, two touchdowns, two red zone turnovers. In the greater picture, you're not going to win a lot of games turning it over three times, so those are clearly areas we need to get better at. But clearly improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. Like I said after the game, to a man in the program we know that the competition is going to get tougher, and that is clearly the case this week with Utah State."
"If you look at the history of (Utah State's) program, they've really done an amazing job turning it. Probably for most of the 1990s and early 2000s by-and-large this was not a very good program. Then Gary Anderson went in there with a plan, they were 4-8 in that neighborhood for two years, and they had a breakthrough 11-win season and he went to Wisconsin. Matt Wells was part of that building process and he has certainly sustained it and put his own mark on the program. So you have a team that for 13 years did not have a winning season, and now for three consecutive years has been a really good football team. They are picked to be one of the top teams in the Mountain West. On offense, it starts with their quarterback Chuckie Keeton. He's a dual-threat guy. He's got a live arm, he's extremely athletic. He's one of those quarterbacks where you can have the play defended exactly right and it can still be a 15-yard play because of his athleticism. Slot receiver Jojo Natson can change the game in a play, a dynamic player, punt returner, they run the speed sweeps with him, he's in the slot, he is a matchup problem. Their running back Joe Hall I think is a very good player. He's a pro prospect and very shifty. I think he has really good vision. They've had a 1,000-yard back for a number of years and he's probably the guy that they hope gets that number this year. They're good on the O-line. They've graduated a number of players, but they're an older, experienced group. They've built their program, they've redshirted people. They're inexperienced, but they're not young. For the most part they're playing guys who have been there for two or three years. On defense they are really, really good. Their defensive coordinator Todd Orlando does a great job. He's done a great job everywhere he's been. I tried to hire him at Bowling Green two years ago as our linebacker coach and then he got offered the job at Utah State. They are multiple, they're 3-down, they're 4-down, their blitz packages in third down, it's anybody's guess where they're coming from. (They're) really creative, physical up front. The two linebackers the Vigil brothers are two really good players. Zach, that guy in the middle, that has a great nose for the football and plugs gaps and pursues the ball really well, and then Nick has become a really good edge player for them. And then their secondary is really good. They have a Tennessee-transfer (Daniel) Gray. They have a true freshman Jalen Davis who really looked good. He had a pick-six last week and another interception. This is a quality football team. This is an older football team - they have 33 juniors and seniors in their two-deep - and this is an excellent football team. We have to go most of the way across the country playing on the road again against another good football team, so this will be another great challenge for us."
On getting his first win at Wake Forest last week...
"It was a great relief to score an offensive touchdown. That was a really a mini celebration getting that one. You want to get that first one. You don't want the lead paragraph on the (media's) articles to be that the staff is still looking for their first win. So you're happy for the players, it's a reward. We got to play a number of players in the game, which you like to do early. Now we can move ahead and try to win as many as we can going forward, but it's good to get that first one done."
On the challenge of traveling to Utah State...
"Really where it creates a problem is on the way back, because the team doesn't get back until Sunday morning at 7 a.m. It really creates a lot more havoc for your Army (game) prep. Whenever you travel to the West Coast, the trip out is easy. You get two extra hours. You'll get your kids downtime, that's not the problem. The problem is always the next week. When you play these games you prefer to have a long week afterwards because you basically lose a day o nthe flight back. The challenge is the football team. They're an older football team, they're a physical football team, all the things they do on defense with our offensive line, it's Louisiana-Monroe again with probably a little better players. The game is a challenge enough no matter where you play these guys. I don't mind going on the road. You get the guys a little more focused, you keep them in the hotel and (Utah State) is having a white-out, it's really nice of them, they're letting us wear our home uniforms."
Graduate WR E.J. Scott
On the progression of the offense last week...
"It was good to see us moving the ball. We moved the ball well. A couple turnovers could have made the score go the other way - it could have been a much greater difference in score. But we moved the ball well and made progress from week one to week two, so we just want to keep building off that."
On the next game at Utah State...
"They're a good team. We respect them. We know it's going to be a challenge this week, but we're ready for it. We're excited to go out there and we're ready to build off what we did last week and get another chance to showcase what we can do."
On joining Wake Forest as a transfer...
"The guys in the locker room made it easy. They've welcomed me with open arms since day one. It's been a really easy transition. Having new coaches come in at the same time, everyone was getting adjusted to the new atmosphere the same way."
Senior DE Zachary Allen
On the satisfaction of a win over GWU after loss...
"I feel like it was a great win for the team. In college football, no wins are easy and I felt like getting a win last week was comforting moving forward during the year."
On a great defensive performance against GWU...
"I think it was great for the defense. Like I said the game was more comforting for us. The coach gave us a great scheme and I felt like we executed it our best and we got the results we wanted."
On the difficulty of learning a new scheme...
"Yes I feel like it is difficult, but I feel like getting the summer in before the fall, and putting in the time and effort made it an easy transition for us."
On what he did in the offseason to work on getting better...
"I did a lot of film study, worked out with teammates constantly. Making the transition from linebacker to defensive end was tough at first in the spring, but with teammates help and film study it made it pretty easy."
On already having a road game helping with preparation for Utah State...
"Yes. I feel like this past week with the win, was comforting leading up to Utah State. They are a great team, and we have put a great scheme in and we'll see the results."
