Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Press Conference & Video: November 13
11/13/2018 1:16:00 PM | Football
Ryan Anderson and Willie Yarbary joined Dave Clawson at the Carrabba's press conference luncheon
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, offensive lineman Ryan Anderson and defensive lineman Willie Yarbary met with the media Tuesday (Nov. 13) at the team's weekly Carrabba's Press Conference luncheon to discuss the Deacs' upcoming Senior Day game against Pittsburgh.
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"Obviously, last Thursday was a great team win for our program. It was one of those games where I thought everyone contributed. On special teams, Nick Sciba hit his career-long field goal. He hit all of his kicks, which turned out to be critical. Defensively, we got lined up, we defended the run and we didn't allow a lot of explosive plays. Those are the three things we had to do. I had seen subtle improvement. I thought given the circumstance and their offense, that was the best defensive performance of the year. On offense, we didn't turn it over, we did a great job of converting third downs in the second half, our wide receivers stepped up and made some big-time catches when we absolutely had to have them and we ran the two-minute drill to perfection at the end of the game. We didn't have a lot of margin for error in that game, but our guys responded in spectacular fashion in every way. I couldn't be more proud of them.
"The challenge moving forward is we are still a very banged up football team. We've lost Tyler Williams for the year now, so the number count on defense continues to grow. We play an excellent football team. Pitt, since October, has won four out of five. They have beaten some really good football teams and their only loss is by five to Notre Dame in a game where they had a chance to win. Offensively, they are averaging 250-260 yards a game on the ground. Their two backs, Ollison and Hall, have 1900 yards rushing on the season already. Ollison is already over 1,000 and Hall will probably get there. Their quarterback, Pickett, has really improved from week-to-week. They formation you to death and personnel you to death. They go unbalanced, tackles over, run speed sweeps. If you don't have edges to your defense, they get big plays there. If you do create edges, they make you have to fit all their inside runs. They have done a great job of probing you and if they find a set or a play that you aren't fitting correctly, then bang, bang, bang. They are getting so many big plays in the run game. They only ran 48 plays last week and had over 500 yards. They are peaking at just the right time and are in good position to win the Coastal. On defense, like any team coached by Pat Narduzzi, they are aggressive. Their corners are going to get in your face and press you. They are going to out-number the run box. They are going to challenge us. We are going to have to play really well on the perimeter this week and find a way to make plays like we did a week ago. Pitt is a really good football team."
On what has changed for Pitt throughout the season…
"I think their quarterback has gotten better every week. He's playing with a lot of poise and confidence. They've found an offensive identity and have settled into what and who they are. Their fullback, George Aston, is a real throwback. He's a great football player. They're saying this is Pitt football and this is what we do. They had some injuries earlier in the year like we did but kept working and found a way to win some close games. An overtime win against Syracuse and scoring against Duke in the final 30 seconds to win that game. I can't say it's one thing, but last week's game for them wasn't even competitive."
On peaking at the right time in the season…
"I'll tell you on Saturday (if Wake Forest is peaking). Pitt's been doing it for five weeks. From beating Syracuse in OT through last week's dominating performance against Virginia Tech; they played Notre Dame as tough as anyone this year. Sometimes, all it takes is one. They got that against Syracuse and haven't looked back. With us, I don't know. We got through September and then bang. We got to the bye-week limping and then bang. It's been a bit more of an up-and-down trend for us. We played poorly at Florida State and well against Louisville. We played poorly at home against Syracuse and well at NC State. I hope we can keep a steadier pace moving forward. I think we can all agree, Pitt is playing great football right now."
Redshirt senior offensive lineman Ryan Anderson
On the NC State win and confidence level of the team...
"It was an awesome win. It is awesome to think about but it doesn't mean a whole lot if we don't come out and play this weekend. This Pitt game is huge and our confidence level is a little bit higher going into this game. After a huge game like that it always is. We have to be confident in our game plan and have a good week of practice."
On what's on the line vs. Pitt and Senior Day…
"A lot is on the line in terms of getting to that six-win mark, but we can't really think about that. It is a one-win season and this is a big game for us. It will be a really exciting matchup on Saturday."
On the run game...
"Running the ball is always very important. It is easier to play us with zero (coverage) and out nine guys in the box. It's all what the defense gives you. Sometimes you have to run the ball when they know you are going to run the ball. When you get in those situations - like Thursday where it is third-and-two or third-and-three and a lot of times we would get out there fast and run the ball, but there were two or three situations where the coaching staff trusted Jamie (Newman) to throw the ball. Sometimes it is better to throw the ball too as long as the O-line does well."
On Jamie Newman's performance...
"Obviously, the two-minute drive was awesome. He made some unbelievable throws and decisions. Some of his best plays were in the two-minute drive, the touchdown obviously, but also when he threw the ball away. He made a really smart decision because we didn't have any timeouts and we could not take a sack. That was awesome to see."
On Senior Day and playing for the last time at BB&T Field…
"It hasn't really hit me yet. I have been so focused on the game so I haven't really thought about that yet. The NC State game was the first time I really thought about this- I was talking to Phil (Haynes) and we just said 'Wow, this is the last time we will play in Raleigh.' It is starting to hit me a little more."
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Willie Yarbary
On NC State game...
"Every week we talk about getting better, so I think we took steps in doing that. It is always good to stop the rush and we have to eliminate a lot of the passing yards, but we have some confidence and some younger guys had to step up. We have some injuries but so does everyone else in the conference and the country. We have confidence and we are just trying to build on that."
On challenges the defense will face...
"They are very explosive in the run game, so we will have to get TFLs again. They have big powerful backs that we will have to get on the ground. The most challenging thing will be to stop the rushing offense. I like the challenge. I'm just embracing it .I think the rest of the defense is up for the challenge."
On Senior Day and being in Clawson's first class...
"It feels good to be that starting class and know that when we leave we maybe put Wake Forest on the map."
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"Obviously, last Thursday was a great team win for our program. It was one of those games where I thought everyone contributed. On special teams, Nick Sciba hit his career-long field goal. He hit all of his kicks, which turned out to be critical. Defensively, we got lined up, we defended the run and we didn't allow a lot of explosive plays. Those are the three things we had to do. I had seen subtle improvement. I thought given the circumstance and their offense, that was the best defensive performance of the year. On offense, we didn't turn it over, we did a great job of converting third downs in the second half, our wide receivers stepped up and made some big-time catches when we absolutely had to have them and we ran the two-minute drill to perfection at the end of the game. We didn't have a lot of margin for error in that game, but our guys responded in spectacular fashion in every way. I couldn't be more proud of them.
"The challenge moving forward is we are still a very banged up football team. We've lost Tyler Williams for the year now, so the number count on defense continues to grow. We play an excellent football team. Pitt, since October, has won four out of five. They have beaten some really good football teams and their only loss is by five to Notre Dame in a game where they had a chance to win. Offensively, they are averaging 250-260 yards a game on the ground. Their two backs, Ollison and Hall, have 1900 yards rushing on the season already. Ollison is already over 1,000 and Hall will probably get there. Their quarterback, Pickett, has really improved from week-to-week. They formation you to death and personnel you to death. They go unbalanced, tackles over, run speed sweeps. If you don't have edges to your defense, they get big plays there. If you do create edges, they make you have to fit all their inside runs. They have done a great job of probing you and if they find a set or a play that you aren't fitting correctly, then bang, bang, bang. They are getting so many big plays in the run game. They only ran 48 plays last week and had over 500 yards. They are peaking at just the right time and are in good position to win the Coastal. On defense, like any team coached by Pat Narduzzi, they are aggressive. Their corners are going to get in your face and press you. They are going to out-number the run box. They are going to challenge us. We are going to have to play really well on the perimeter this week and find a way to make plays like we did a week ago. Pitt is a really good football team."
On what has changed for Pitt throughout the season…
"I think their quarterback has gotten better every week. He's playing with a lot of poise and confidence. They've found an offensive identity and have settled into what and who they are. Their fullback, George Aston, is a real throwback. He's a great football player. They're saying this is Pitt football and this is what we do. They had some injuries earlier in the year like we did but kept working and found a way to win some close games. An overtime win against Syracuse and scoring against Duke in the final 30 seconds to win that game. I can't say it's one thing, but last week's game for them wasn't even competitive."
On peaking at the right time in the season…
"I'll tell you on Saturday (if Wake Forest is peaking). Pitt's been doing it for five weeks. From beating Syracuse in OT through last week's dominating performance against Virginia Tech; they played Notre Dame as tough as anyone this year. Sometimes, all it takes is one. They got that against Syracuse and haven't looked back. With us, I don't know. We got through September and then bang. We got to the bye-week limping and then bang. It's been a bit more of an up-and-down trend for us. We played poorly at Florida State and well against Louisville. We played poorly at home against Syracuse and well at NC State. I hope we can keep a steadier pace moving forward. I think we can all agree, Pitt is playing great football right now."
Redshirt senior offensive lineman Ryan Anderson
On the NC State win and confidence level of the team...
"It was an awesome win. It is awesome to think about but it doesn't mean a whole lot if we don't come out and play this weekend. This Pitt game is huge and our confidence level is a little bit higher going into this game. After a huge game like that it always is. We have to be confident in our game plan and have a good week of practice."
On what's on the line vs. Pitt and Senior Day…
"A lot is on the line in terms of getting to that six-win mark, but we can't really think about that. It is a one-win season and this is a big game for us. It will be a really exciting matchup on Saturday."
On the run game...
"Running the ball is always very important. It is easier to play us with zero (coverage) and out nine guys in the box. It's all what the defense gives you. Sometimes you have to run the ball when they know you are going to run the ball. When you get in those situations - like Thursday where it is third-and-two or third-and-three and a lot of times we would get out there fast and run the ball, but there were two or three situations where the coaching staff trusted Jamie (Newman) to throw the ball. Sometimes it is better to throw the ball too as long as the O-line does well."
On Jamie Newman's performance...
"Obviously, the two-minute drive was awesome. He made some unbelievable throws and decisions. Some of his best plays were in the two-minute drive, the touchdown obviously, but also when he threw the ball away. He made a really smart decision because we didn't have any timeouts and we could not take a sack. That was awesome to see."
On Senior Day and playing for the last time at BB&T Field…
"It hasn't really hit me yet. I have been so focused on the game so I haven't really thought about that yet. The NC State game was the first time I really thought about this- I was talking to Phil (Haynes) and we just said 'Wow, this is the last time we will play in Raleigh.' It is starting to hit me a little more."
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Willie Yarbary
On NC State game...
"Every week we talk about getting better, so I think we took steps in doing that. It is always good to stop the rush and we have to eliminate a lot of the passing yards, but we have some confidence and some younger guys had to step up. We have some injuries but so does everyone else in the conference and the country. We have confidence and we are just trying to build on that."
On challenges the defense will face...
"They are very explosive in the run game, so we will have to get TFLs again. They have big powerful backs that we will have to get on the ground. The most challenging thing will be to stop the rushing offense. I like the challenge. I'm just embracing it .I think the rest of the defense is up for the challenge."
On Senior Day and being in Clawson's first class...
"It feels good to be that starting class and know that when we leave we maybe put Wake Forest on the map."
Players Mentioned
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