Weekly Press Conference Video & Quotes: Nov. 10
11/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeFB)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Head coach Dave Clawson, linebacker Brandon Chubb and offensive lineman Tyler Hayworth met with the media on Tuesday, previewing this weekend's game at Notre Dame.
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"We had a real productive bye week, more so just from a rest standpoint. We practiced two days. Our players got a couple of lifts. I think the real benefit is we're probably as a healthy as we've been since week one. I do feel that it was nine straight weeks without a bye, in major college football with how young we are, I think a lot of our players got worn down. We just wanted to recharge their batteries. Especially at Wake Forest, it's real important that we allow our players to get caught up academically with papers and exams. So, we're getting ready for a stretch run against some teams that are ranked pretty high. We're looking forward to head up to South Bend. This is an excellent, excellent football team. I would be very surprised if they're not in the top four tonight. This might be, personnel-wise, as talented a football team as we've played since we've been here as a staff. Certainly Florida State and Clemson a year ago [were talented], and these guys just have players on both sides of the football.
"Sometimes in recruiting, you run into people and you end up facing them later. [DeShone] Kizer, the quarterback, when we were at Bowling Green, we were the first team to offer him a scholarship. His dad played college basketball at Bowling Green. He was from Toledo-Central Catholic, which is a great program. We offered him very early. He came down probably three or four times for Bowling Green games and quickly blew up and had every offer. I was not surprised at all when he got to Notre Dame, and now we're facing him two years later. He was a great kid. Humble, hard-working, very personable, and he's had a lot of success. I'm sure he's a guy that works at it. They ask him to do a lot for a freshman in terms of protections. He's athletic. He keeps plays alive with his feet. He always keeps his eyes down the field to keep plays alive. It certainly helps when you have the collection of skill players they have. [Will] Fuller's an absolute, I mean he just has jets. They're going to throw the ball to him at least four or five times a game deep. Whether it's take-off routes, post routes, slant-and-go routes, they're going to get the ball deep to him. He gets behind good defenders, and once he gets the ball in space he makes people miss. Chris Brown and [Amir] Carlisle, and Torii Hunter, it just goes on and on and on, but these guys are tremendously talented skill players. I watched a cut-up of every play they've made over 20 yards and it's everybody. It's Prosise, the running back, it's Kizer running the ball, it's Fuller. Even the backup tailback [Josh] Adams has some really nice runs.
"These guys are just really, really good at the skill positions. I'm sure, as many big plays as we've given up in the last month, it is a key thing for us in this football game. Because they have explosive playmakers, and we've shown a tendency to give up some of those big plays and that can't happen. Then they have really good offensive line. They play well together, they're well coached, they're tough, they're strong, they're athletic. This is a very complete offense. Then you go to the other side of the ball and they're just as good. The linebacker, [Jaylon] Smith, is probably as good a linebacker as we've seen. He can go sideline to sideline, he can plug downhill. There are plays on the opposite sideline where you just see a flash come out of the screen and it's him making a play. The corner [KeiVarae] Russell's excellent. They've got a couple of guys up front that are excellent players and will play on Sundays. I've had friends that worked at Notre Dame, and the challenge for them is always when they get to November they don't have a conference, so there is nothing to play for. They're right in the thick of it. They're probably three games away from securing a spot in the College Football Playoff and we're their first game up. This will be a great challenge for our football team. This is why people come to Wake Forest. You get to play in games like this, in a venue like this, and our players are excited about it."
On the explosive play battle…
"They're really good at creating them and people have gotten behind them. We have to execute well. The plays we made against Louisville with Tabari [Hines] and Cortez [Lewis]. Those plays are going to have to happen, because this will be a tough team to nickel-and-dime.
On Brandon Chubb's All-ACC candidacy…
"Kevin Johnson was arguably the best corner in the country last year. Certainly some NFL scouts felt that way. He's starting right now in the NFL, but he was Honorable Mention All-ACC. Brandon Chubb should be a First Team All-ACC linebacker. He plays at a high level. He plays well against everybody. Certainly, when we play the Florida States and Clemsons, he shows up even bigger. He's played awesome football for us this year. In my opinion, Brandon Chubb should be an All-ACC linebacker and he should be first team. I felt that way last year about Kevin Johnson, and I mean, how do you explain a guy that some in the NFL felt was the best corner in college football, and yet, in our ACC voting, he wasn't even top four in the conference? What's the quote, ‘To the victor goes the spoils'? If we win more games, we'll get more guys all-conference."
Senior linebacker Brandon Chubb
On the benefit of coming off a bye this week...
"The bye week helps a lot. In the last three or four games we played, the teams we played against came off bye weeks and it helped them tremendously and I think it'll do the same for us, especially this late in the season. We've had nine straight games without taking a day off, so we're just getting our legs back under us. The team has a lot of bumps and bruises this late in the season and having a bye week helps with that. We haven't been in a game situation in a week and a half, so we've got to come out firing. We can't stay in that calm, sedative mood we've been in this past week, so it's going to be a challenge to come out on fire from the beginning of the first quarter to the end of the fourth quarter. Playing a team like Notre Dame, you don't have time to play catch-up. You've got to do it for four quarters, not two, not three."
On preparing for Notre Dame's offense...
"I see great receivers, a great quarterback, great running backs, a great offensive line and a great offense overall. They've got playmakers. Their offense is talented with two or three first rounders and a lot more draft picks. It's going to be a challenge and we've just got to prepare for it and that starts with practicing hard."
Junior offensive lineman Tyler Hayworth
On coming off a bye week so late in the season…
"The bye week really helped us because we've had a good amount of time off for guys to get healthy. We can really get our legs back under us after playing nine straight games. It feels good to get some rest, and we're mentally focused and ready to take on the Irish. We feel better. We're not all bumped and bruised up like we have been, and when you feel better, you play better. So we just need to take that and have a little bit confidence and win this game."
On preparing to play at Notre Dame…
"It's just an opportunity to show what we're made of and show that we can compete with anyone in the nation, so we're preparing just like it's any other game. We're ready to take this opportunity and roll with it."
On the Notre Dame defense…
"They're talented. We're playing college football, so everyone's talented, but they're fast and they're athletic. We'll just have to step up and do what we do, and we'll be able to hang with the best of them."
