Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Press Conference Video & Quotes: Nov. 8
11/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeFB)
WINSTON-SALEM - Following Saturday's 27-20 victory over Virginia, head coach Dave Clawson, quarterback John Wolford and offensive lineman Patrick Osterhage met with the media Tuesday as the Demon Deacons prepare for Louisville.
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening statement:
"It was another good, gritty win last week. We don't get a lot of style points with how we did it, but our guys showed a lot of resiliency. I thought we played a really good first half. In the third quarter, Virginia came out and did some really good things. Our guys found a way to win. Obviously, the defensive plays by Jessie (Bates) and Cam Glenn were huge plays. It was great to see our offense run the ball at the end and get those two first downs to take time off the clock. We are 5-1 this season in one-score games in the fourth quarter. A year ago we were 2-5 in those games. We are finding ways to win close games. We are doing a good job with turnover margin, red zone offense, red zone defense and third downs. Those are the critical areas. We are very improved in those areas and that is allowing us to win close football games. I am proud of our guys and that was a great locker room to experience after the game. We have goals beyond bowl eligibility. For this group, for three years, this was the first goal. That is not our ultimate goal, but it was one we had from the start of the season and I thought it was important that they enjoy it.
"There is not a lot of time to enjoy it with who we play this week. These guys are one of the very best teams in the country. Sometimes teams are really good on offense, and that overcomes a weak defense, or are really good on defense and that overcomes a weak offense. Their units are highly ranked on both sides. They have No. 1 offense in the county at over 600 yards per game. They are No. 1 in scoring offense at over 50 points per game. The No. 8 total defense in the country. They are more than just Lamar Jackson, who deserves every accolade. He is as exciting of a college player as I have seen in years. The amount of rushing yards, passing yards and just how he operates the offense. He is a special, once-in-however, type of player and is surrounded by some really good players too. In our evaluation system, they have eight or nine players who are elite ACC players on offense. The defense, it is the same way. We have had a hard time blocking these guys for two years. This is just a complete, solid football team. There is not a big margin of error when you play a team of this quality. I don't think these guys were happy with their seeding the College Football Playoff rankings and are looking for some vengeance. They have a chip on their shoulder and we will get their best."
On stopping Lamar Jackson:
He (Bobby Petrino) is such a good offensive coach. He is one of the top play-callers in college football over the last 20 years. He knows how to attack people. He knows how to use his personnel. He has a unique knack of calling the perfect play at the perfect time. He is a brilliant offense strategist and then you give someone like that a player like Lamar Jackson. A year ago, Jackson wasn't making the reads or making the throws he is making this year. He has been so well coached. His development from last year to this year is a really impressive coaching job by their staff. Now he is a complete quarterback. It is a lot to prepare for."
On getting away from what you do to adjust to their offense:
"The problem is that when you get away from what you do, your kids don't know what they're doing. We are what we are, and we do what we do. You put things in during spring football and during camp, and that is what you do. When you try to come up with junk defenses and new coverages in one week, the players don't know what they are doing and all it does is slow them down. This is not a week where you want to be slowed down."
Junior quarterback John Wolford
On defeating Virginia to become Bowl eligible:
"We were all very excited. It's cool to see guys that have been in the program for a while experience that feeling. We've worked very hard for that and it's great to see it pay off but it's short lived. That's how football is. Saturday is over and now we're preparing for Louisville."
On the victory over Virginia:
"I thought we did a great job running the football. The O-Line controlled the line of scrimmage, we had some play action passes, we controlled the time of possession and our defense played well. That usually equates to a winning formula and when you can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball that's a huge advantage for your team."
On Louisville defense:
"They're extremely talented. They have a good defensive coordinator who has seen a lot of football. Up front they're good, their linebackers are good and their secondary is good. We know we have a challenge in front of us but we have to stick to our plan and execute the football game and I think we'll have a good chance to get some plays."
On preparing for Louisville:
"Today was the first ‘Louisville practice' of the week. I thought we practiced really well on the offensive side of the ball. We were executing really well. Obviously, we have some guys that are dinged up right now so we have some guys stepping in and playing some big roles but I think today went well. We know how good they are and we have to continue to practice hard for it."
On the depth of the team:
"You saw it on defense when with Justin Strnad stepping up when Jaboree [Williams] got hurt and Grant Dawson stepping up as well. On offense, Pat Osterhage came in and played great when Josh Harris got hurt and A'Lique Terry was down. It's nice to see that we have some depth. If someone gets hurt, we know the next guy to step in will do his job."
Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Patrick Osterhage
On being called into action and helping the offense control the tempo with the run game:
"We talk a lot about how it's always the next man up and how the next guy always has to be ready because we are always one snap away from the next guy playing a lot of snaps in this football game. I tried to take that to heart and for it to be such a run-heavy game, I take a lot of pride in that. But to get in there and control the line of scrimmage like we did, it's definitely a great feeling. To know that we didn't miss a beat because we lost some players is a great feeling as well."
On what he sees out of Louisville's defense:
"Louisville has some very big interior defensive linemen, they have a lot of speed off the edge and their Mike linebacker is a very stout player that can take on some blocks on the second level. Our biggest thing this week is just getting ready to move these interior D-linemen and being ready for any of the looks on the outside from the speed rushers and the skill of those players."
