Weekly Press Conference Video & Quotes: Oct. 20
10/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeFB)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- At the weekly press conference on Oct. 20, head coach Dave Clawson was joined by offensive lineman Phil Haynes and safety Zach Dancel ahead of this weekend's home game against NC State and spoke with the media.
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"We're excited to move forward and get last week out of our system. We learned some valuable lessons last week. The biggest thing about that game was it really came down to explosive plays. They made eight plays for 308 yards which led directly to five touchdowns. We made two plays over 20 yards for 58 yards. That's the difference in the football game. We're at a point in our program where I think we've got better players, they play hard, but we have to execute the defense better. We have a defense that's been playing well all year and shut out a team a week ago, but we really gave up one big play and stopped executing the defense for the next 30 minutes. Offensively, I think we're efficient. We're moving the football. We have drives and we're leading in time of possession, but we're just not scoring points. For us to have 248 yards at the half, I don't think we've done that against an ACC defense during my time here, but because of the lack of explosive plays, they are very workman-like drives. We missed the two field goals which didn't help. Then it really became a non-competitive game in the second half. We're very fortunate here that we have three in-state rivals. The NC State game is a very big game for our program. I think it's really neat for our players that they get to experience these rivalry games. That rivalry means a lot to our players, and it's a very big football game. North Carolina State is a very good football team. They are very balanced. They give up under 250 yards a game. What makes it even more impressive is they start seven sophomores. They're very young on defense, they've got three senior starters, but they start seven sophomores. They're very productive, they play extremely hard and there's a lot to get ready for. That's coach [Dave] Doeren's background, he was a defensive coordinator. You can see his imprints on the defense. It's impressive how well they're doing with such a young group. Offensively, they're really good. They run the football 206 yards a game. They've got three senior starters on the offensive line and they have a senior quarterback. They've got some really good skill guys. They're number one in the conference for time of possession. It's a much different challenge than a week ago. They've got big receivers. In the special teams, their return game is really good. It's a very good football team. This was a non-competitive game a year ago. It was kind of similar to North Carolina [last week]. It was a competitive game for a half. It will be a similar challenge. We have to make plays in space, and offensively we have to finish drives."
On stopping NC State in the red zone...
"The tricky thing with NC State is that Jacoby Brissett is more of a thrower than a runner. But when they get in the red zone, they'll run him down there. They have a little speed option they'll run with him, and they'll get him on a bootleg. The quarterback now becomes the extra running back. In most of their offense, they don't feature him, but when they get down there they will feature him. So we've got to be very quarterback-conscious, we've got to keep our eyes on the rushing lanes and know that we've got to account for the extra gap when he gets down there."
On the rivalry between the North Carolina ACC teams...
"I've always said we're a little bit of a niche school. You have North Carolina which is kind of the state school, and NC State seems to have their niche in the state. I think us and Duke tend to recruit the same type of players. We go against NC State in recruiting a little bit, but not a lot. I think there's a certain type of player and student-athlete that we're very unique to. I don't worry so much about what they get. I make sure that we get good players and that we're developing them. That's got to be our key to success here, player development and player retention. We're doing that, and we're on track, but it's a process."
On refocusing this week after the loss...
"It's the same challenge every week. It was the same challenge after the Boston College game. We've won two games this year on the very last play of the game. Those are emotional wins, and you've got to get them back. We haven't done that real well. Now, for the first time this year, we were in a game that was not as competitive as we would like. This was the first game that did not come down to the fourth quarter, other than the opener. The players don't feel good about how they played. We're capable of playing better than that. We said we did not execute on defense and we didn't finish drives on offense. Those are big problems but we've got to be willing to pay the price this week to fix them. Today's practice will tell me a lot. We got humbled. North Carolina played really well and we didn't. They executed at a high level and we didn't. It's as simple as that. Their space players made our space players miss. We just have to do a better job executing the defense, playing our techniques, and getting people on the ground. If we get better at that, this will be a competitive football game."
Graduate Student Safety Zach Dancel
On preparing for NC State...
"Obviously last week was not what we expected, but each week is a new week, so we've just got to come out and prepare like we always do. It's a one-week season--that's what the coaches always say. It's big that we come out and have a good week of practice and go out there and execute."
On the challenge of coming off last week's loss to North Carolina...
"We've got to correct our mistakes. This past week, we didn't really come to practice like we should have after the emotional win we had against Boston College. Obviously in the game, we didn't come out and execute against North Carolina and they did what they did. If we come to play like we know we can and we execute, there's not a team out there we can't play with. It's all about execution and how we come to play."
Redshirt Freshman Offensive Tackle Phil Haynes
On overcoming the loss to UNC...
"It's frustrating. We look at every game as an opportunity to get better. I feel like, as an offense, we still need to get better every week. We're very excited to come back and show all our fans what we can do. We're ready to bounce back from that loss."
On preparing to face NC State…
"They're a good team…They have a good defense, so as an offense we just want to get better, especially the O-Line. I don't have much football experience, but I can see that they're very well-coached on the film. They use their hands a lot…They don't show their blitzes at all before the snap of the ball, so that's really good coaching. That's one of the big things that I look at. The main thing is just staying focused and noticing the little details of their D-line and just seeing where they're lined up."
