Postgame Quotes
11/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement:
"I think today was almost our season in a nutshell. I think from the opening whistle at Elon to the final whistle in the Duke game, our kids played extremely hard and with great effort and never quit and had incredible physical effort and resiliency all year. But, again, if you look at the year as a whole, the amount of times we turned the ball over. We don't generate turnovers. In another game where we outgained our opponent, to lose like we did, it's three turnovers to nothing and we gave up the two explosive plays for two touchdowns. We're just not quite there. I'm proud of our guys' efforts. I feel bad for our seniors. I would have loved to send them out with a win and get them to a bowl game before they left. But, unfortunately we weren't able to do that. I think we've got a good core of young players that if they do the things necessary, we'll be able to take that next step next year. We have a lot of work to do and it's a hard step to take, so we've got to have leaders step up and be willing to do it. But again, we're proud of our team and disappointed with the outcome and its very simple. If you lose the turnover battle 2-0, it's very, very hard to win football games.
On Kendall Hinton's absence:
"Anytime one of your best players can't play it never helps you. I thought we had been getting in a pretty good rhythm of being able to play both and there were some explosive plays. We made a few explosives to our tight end (Cam Serigne) today and Cortez (Lewis) had a great catch at the end. Kendall, if you go back on the season, was probably our most explosive playmaker. To take arguably the best athlete in the game away never helps. Who's to say how different it would be?"
On the Defensive Secondary strategy:
"We did a good job on first and second down, but they were 5-of-7 on third downs. We were pressing, we were playing off, we were zone-blitzing. The blitzes weren't getting home and we were struggling to cover them. They've got some big receivers and they were getting them matched up some of our smaller corners and our smaller nickel and it was just some big-body throws. Duke's a very efficient offense and they're really good up front. They did a nice job protecting. Again, I thought on first and second down we did a nice job. We defended the run pretty well up until the end of the game, but the blitzes weren't getting home and we didn't do a good job of covering them. Other than the one drive, we didn't sustain drives and they sustained every drive. They just kept converting third downs, so a lot of it wasn't first or second down, it was against our nickel and our dime package."
Wake Forest Senior Linebacker Brandon Chubb
On game performance:
"It was the same thing that happened with Clemson. They did not get off the field on third down, and when you do not get off the field, especially when the third down plays go for touchdowns, that is a killer right there. That's where Duke got most of their points and hurt us the most."
On expectations of next year's team:
"I'm going to see a defense that is similar to this years but more detailed. We have guys that we are counting on that are getting older and more experienced. We're going to see a more intuitive offense with more rhythm. Clawson said we went from a bad team to a competitive this year, so you will see offense and defense feeding off of that momentum."
Wake Forest Sophomore Tight End Cam Serigne
On team performance:
"I thought we left some plays on the field, and that has been the story of our season. There has been a couple times where if we convert a couple plays here and there it is a different ball game. We lost the turnover battle, and when you do that it is hard to win football games. It is really about cleaning up the game and playing four full quarters of clean football."
On having six losses in a row:
"We would love to be able to show a better record than this year because I think we are a much improved football team. Internally we see the progress, but it is hard for us since losing leaves a bad taste in our mouths. It is just about trusting that process and knowing that we are a better football team. I really wish we could have gotten this game for the seniors; they deserved it."
Wake Forest Junior Safety Ryan Janvion
On finishing the season 3-9:
"It was definitely a disappointing loss. Losing all of those games and not finish the season did not accomplish one of our goals. We look back at the past few seasons, we get majority of our wins at the beginning of the season but we have not finished the season out. It is disappointing to lose all of those games and not send the seniors out right."
On stopping Duke on third down:
"We did a good job on first and second down. The biggest issue with third down was Duke being really good. They are really good at beating you where your leverage was. They were not taking big shots. They just knew how we were playing them and ended up beating us across our face."
Wake Forest Sophomore Quarterback John Wolford:
On outcome of the game:
"I think that we played well, we made a lot of plays, and then we had a lot of plays that lost us that game. We have been preaching since day one of training camp that if you beat the country in turnover margin our destination will be Charlotte. I have to find ways to not turn the ball over. This far along I should not be making those mistakes."
On personal difficulties of the season:
"If I could take away one play it would be that injury back in Syracuse. I can't make excuses. This is football; you are going to get dinged up. You are going to get injured, and you have to find ways to come back. You can't blame the fact that I had a bad ankle for a few weeks on a bad play. It is nice to get in a rhythm playing week to week. I can't let that effect my play that much."
Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe
Opening Statement:
"We did some of the things that, in reverse, have been done to us. Start with the three takeaways and giving up none. If nothing else, that's enough to win a game like this. We had a punt return at a significant time that was bigger than you might imagine in flipping the field position. You can't forget Ross (Martin) making a huge kick. And then last was the physicality of our offense to take the ball at the end of game and drive deep and move the ball. I'm proud of this team and proud of these seniors. It's their 32nd win in their four-year career. You can do the math, that's pretty significant. This is another winning season, the third in a row. To win your last ACC football game, you'll remember that. I think the thing right now I'm most pleased about, I have no idea where we are going but these guys are beat up and we have some people that have been playing hurt. I'm anxious for them to feel a little bit better. DeVon Edwards is finally feeling physically good enough, he's not even been able to practice. He's a warrior and we felt good about leaving him out there. Corbin McCarthy, can't say enough about him and what he did in the first half replacing Jeremy Cash. Good growth today and we'll see where it leads us to."
On whether or not there is relief the losing streak is over:
"I think there's no question it eats at you, whether you're a player or a coach. Anybody that says, ‘I'm not paying attention to it,' you just kind of realize you're listening to a guy that isn't telling the truth. That's a monkey off the back and it's been a tough run. It is a good feeling just sitting in the locker room and it's a good feeling for me to go recruiting tomorrow. When I get up at 5 o'clock in the morning to go recruiting I'll feel better than I have the last few weeks."
On Thomas Sirk coming back from injuries:
"It was his back, he's had some elbow issues, but he was tough. A lot of people still wouldn't play, but Thomas, he's just a tough individual and I'm very proud of him."
On Wake Forest's blitz pressure:
"I think it's Thomas Sirk and his growth as a quarterback. Coach (Scottie) Montgomery does a great job teaching him to be a decision-maker. Thomas has just grown each week and I'm really proud because he's had some struggles being able to practice and he put something together like he did today."
