Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Press Conference & Video: September 18
9/18/2018 3:08:00 PM | Football
Dave Clawson, Ryan Anderson and Sage Surratt met with the media Tuesday
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest football coach Dave Clawson, offensive lineman Ryan Anderson and wide receiver Sage Surratt met with the media Tuesday (Sept. 18) as the Demon Deacons prepare for Saturday's contest against No. 8 Notre Dame.
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"To wrap up the BC game, it is what it is. That game on offense, we moved the ball but we didn't score enough points. In six trips to the red zone, we only scored three touchdowns. For three games, we have had the same issues on offense. In the BC game, it caught up with us. Those issues are we turn the ball over and we don't score touchdowns in the red zone. We have to convert at a higher level. We have to stop turning the football over, When you turn it over seven times in three games, it is too high of a rate for us to be successful.
"Defensively, it is a very misleading film. We played 69 plays and in 59 plays we gave up a total of 180 yards. In the other 10 plays, we gave up 344 yards. We are giving up way too many explosives. It was an issue that popped up late last year, really starting with the Notre Dame game. This was a game where we lost some eye-discipline with balls going over the top. Tulane we gave up the two long touchdowns and even Towson we gave up some big plays. We gave up 10 explosives (against BC), six of them for touchdowns. It is not one person. We have good players that are playing good football 90 percent of the time, but in the secondary you can grade out at 90 percent and that lost you the game. One play it is this guy, one play it is this guy, one play it is this guy, and when you add that up, it equals 41 points. I thought in terms of defending the run, even though we gave up yards, we played physical. We tackled Dillon hard. That didn't cost us the game. What cost us the game was our inability to defend the play-action pass and giving up deep shots. It is a priority to get that fixed.
"The challenge doesn't get easier. Notre Dame comes in as an undefeated football team. On defense, they are excellent. They have yet to give up more than 17 points, playing Michigan, Ball State and Vanderbilt. We know the defense well. Coach Lea was on my staff at both Bowling Green and Wake Forest. He learned this defense from Coach Elko and there are a lot of similarities to what we do. They are executing it at a very high level right now. It is a lot of the same package that Coach Elko ran here. It starts with having good players. Every one of their linebackers is a senior, and they play like seniors and they act like seniors. In the secondary, everyone is in their third year in the program. They are playing a lot more man coverage. You can only do that if you feel comfortable with your corners. Up front, they are excellent. They are Notre Dame and get the best of the best. They have all four and five-star guys who look the part.
"Offensively, their quarterback, Wimbush, is a freak of an athlete. He can make people miss. He could probably be their best tailback, if they played him there. He has an ability to escape and break contain. He has a strong arm and can throw the ball down the field. They push the ball down the field and he makes some beautiful throws. Their O-Line loses to first round draft picks and are still one of the best in the country. I thought BC's offensive line excellent, but this is another step up. They have two excellent running backs and their receivers look like our defensive ends. Their receivers are 6-4 and 230 pounds and they let those guys go up and box people out and get the ball. They certainly did that to us last year.
"It is Notre Dame, so you know you are going to play against good players. This is a top 10 team coming to Winston-Salem and it is a national game. We are excited to bounce back and this a big opportunity for our program. Like any week, our focus needs to be on us and making sure we get better."
On performance in the red zone:
"I think part of it is that we haven't made as many big plays this year. Last year we made a lot of big plays. A lot of times we have these 7-, 9-, and 12-play drives for us to get to the red zone and now it's executing plays 11, 12 and 13. A lot of it in the red zone is about winning the one-on-ones. When you get down there, you're not going to get a lot of soft zone or off-man. You're going to have to beat press coverage and execute against blitz and you have to do it quick. We have two balls in the end zone that should have been touchdowns. We had our hands on two of them. The other issue is on third downs. We had some uncharacteristic drops. We had four or five drops the other day and all of those were either touchdowns or third-down conversions. When you play an ACC team like BC, or any ACC team, if you drop five balls, especially a ball that keeps the drive alive or gives you points, you're probably not going to overcome that. To be honest with you, if it wasn't for how well our special teams were playing, we wouldn't have been in that game. Right now, the last two weeks, our special teams have had two of the best performances we've had since we've been here. You don't get that fumble recovery on that punt and if you don't block the punt for the touchdown, that game wouldn't have had as competitive score as it finished. That being said, you can't drop passes in the end zone. Bottom line is you have to make plays down there."
On the defense:
"I've sat this week in every defensive meeting. I've been with the defense more this year to begin with. A lot of the times, I'll help with the scout team and help prepare the look for the defense. This week, I'm in the back end. I'm listening to the checks and making sure there's communication. I'm not going to go over there in three days and wave a magic wand. To me, it's more emphasis that this is clearly an area that needs to be fixed. It hasn't gotten better from week one to week three and we have a lot of football left. It has to get better. I'm willing to be back there and hear the checks and emphasize the things that the defensive coaches are emphasizing. Sometimes when the head coach gets involved, there's a bit more urgency. We're past the point of saying it's going to get better with time. I need to know what we're doing, why we're doing it and who we're doing it with to make sure that things follow through and improve."
Redshirt senior center Ryan Anderson
On playing Notre Dame:
"They are a good front. It is a defense we are relatively familiar with, with Coach Lea taking over for Coach Elko. But from my experience, every game that you think you know what the defense is going to do, turns out to be the exact opposite, so we can't expect too much."
On playing a top-10 team and the history with Notre Dame:
"It is a cliché, but it's the same for every game. We don't get more excited or less excited depending on the opponent. Having a good offensive output is great, but at the end of the day we lost that game (last game vs. Notre Dame). It comes down to focusing on ourselves. We know we can play with anyone. We just have to execute on the things that we need to work on."
On what it will take to beat Notre Dame:
"We need to fix the mistakes. Some of the mistakes we had been making in the first two games caught up with us, like turning the ball over and not scoring in the red zone. We got away with it against Tulane and Towson, but we didn't get away with it against BC. I think if we fix those I think we can beat anyone."
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Sage Surratt
On scoring his first touchdown:
"It felt good. It's always positive when we put points of the board so it was good for the team."
On contributing early in his redshirt freshman season:
"I am just trying to adjust to the game and do my part and my assignments. I'm just playing hard."
On confidence after early success:
"I feel pretty good. I just try to go out there and focus on doing my part and my job. If everyone does their job I think we have a really good chance to win. I just try to focus on all of the little details."
On scouting Notre Dame:
"I know they do a lot of man-coverage so we have to win those battles out there. They are a great defense and ranked No. 8 for a reason so we are going to have to have to bring our A-game."
On the impact of a win over a top-10 team:
"That would be a good jump for us and give us some good momentum for other games throughout the season. If we do the little things I think we will have a good chance to win it."
On focusing on the little things:
"Throughout the first three games I don't think we did a good job at that and that's what the focus was on. Hopefully we can do those things this week."
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"To wrap up the BC game, it is what it is. That game on offense, we moved the ball but we didn't score enough points. In six trips to the red zone, we only scored three touchdowns. For three games, we have had the same issues on offense. In the BC game, it caught up with us. Those issues are we turn the ball over and we don't score touchdowns in the red zone. We have to convert at a higher level. We have to stop turning the football over, When you turn it over seven times in three games, it is too high of a rate for us to be successful.
"Defensively, it is a very misleading film. We played 69 plays and in 59 plays we gave up a total of 180 yards. In the other 10 plays, we gave up 344 yards. We are giving up way too many explosives. It was an issue that popped up late last year, really starting with the Notre Dame game. This was a game where we lost some eye-discipline with balls going over the top. Tulane we gave up the two long touchdowns and even Towson we gave up some big plays. We gave up 10 explosives (against BC), six of them for touchdowns. It is not one person. We have good players that are playing good football 90 percent of the time, but in the secondary you can grade out at 90 percent and that lost you the game. One play it is this guy, one play it is this guy, one play it is this guy, and when you add that up, it equals 41 points. I thought in terms of defending the run, even though we gave up yards, we played physical. We tackled Dillon hard. That didn't cost us the game. What cost us the game was our inability to defend the play-action pass and giving up deep shots. It is a priority to get that fixed.
"The challenge doesn't get easier. Notre Dame comes in as an undefeated football team. On defense, they are excellent. They have yet to give up more than 17 points, playing Michigan, Ball State and Vanderbilt. We know the defense well. Coach Lea was on my staff at both Bowling Green and Wake Forest. He learned this defense from Coach Elko and there are a lot of similarities to what we do. They are executing it at a very high level right now. It is a lot of the same package that Coach Elko ran here. It starts with having good players. Every one of their linebackers is a senior, and they play like seniors and they act like seniors. In the secondary, everyone is in their third year in the program. They are playing a lot more man coverage. You can only do that if you feel comfortable with your corners. Up front, they are excellent. They are Notre Dame and get the best of the best. They have all four and five-star guys who look the part.
"Offensively, their quarterback, Wimbush, is a freak of an athlete. He can make people miss. He could probably be their best tailback, if they played him there. He has an ability to escape and break contain. He has a strong arm and can throw the ball down the field. They push the ball down the field and he makes some beautiful throws. Their O-Line loses to first round draft picks and are still one of the best in the country. I thought BC's offensive line excellent, but this is another step up. They have two excellent running backs and their receivers look like our defensive ends. Their receivers are 6-4 and 230 pounds and they let those guys go up and box people out and get the ball. They certainly did that to us last year.
"It is Notre Dame, so you know you are going to play against good players. This is a top 10 team coming to Winston-Salem and it is a national game. We are excited to bounce back and this a big opportunity for our program. Like any week, our focus needs to be on us and making sure we get better."
On performance in the red zone:
"I think part of it is that we haven't made as many big plays this year. Last year we made a lot of big plays. A lot of times we have these 7-, 9-, and 12-play drives for us to get to the red zone and now it's executing plays 11, 12 and 13. A lot of it in the red zone is about winning the one-on-ones. When you get down there, you're not going to get a lot of soft zone or off-man. You're going to have to beat press coverage and execute against blitz and you have to do it quick. We have two balls in the end zone that should have been touchdowns. We had our hands on two of them. The other issue is on third downs. We had some uncharacteristic drops. We had four or five drops the other day and all of those were either touchdowns or third-down conversions. When you play an ACC team like BC, or any ACC team, if you drop five balls, especially a ball that keeps the drive alive or gives you points, you're probably not going to overcome that. To be honest with you, if it wasn't for how well our special teams were playing, we wouldn't have been in that game. Right now, the last two weeks, our special teams have had two of the best performances we've had since we've been here. You don't get that fumble recovery on that punt and if you don't block the punt for the touchdown, that game wouldn't have had as competitive score as it finished. That being said, you can't drop passes in the end zone. Bottom line is you have to make plays down there."
On the defense:
"I've sat this week in every defensive meeting. I've been with the defense more this year to begin with. A lot of the times, I'll help with the scout team and help prepare the look for the defense. This week, I'm in the back end. I'm listening to the checks and making sure there's communication. I'm not going to go over there in three days and wave a magic wand. To me, it's more emphasis that this is clearly an area that needs to be fixed. It hasn't gotten better from week one to week three and we have a lot of football left. It has to get better. I'm willing to be back there and hear the checks and emphasize the things that the defensive coaches are emphasizing. Sometimes when the head coach gets involved, there's a bit more urgency. We're past the point of saying it's going to get better with time. I need to know what we're doing, why we're doing it and who we're doing it with to make sure that things follow through and improve."
Redshirt senior center Ryan Anderson
On playing Notre Dame:
"They are a good front. It is a defense we are relatively familiar with, with Coach Lea taking over for Coach Elko. But from my experience, every game that you think you know what the defense is going to do, turns out to be the exact opposite, so we can't expect too much."
On playing a top-10 team and the history with Notre Dame:
"It is a cliché, but it's the same for every game. We don't get more excited or less excited depending on the opponent. Having a good offensive output is great, but at the end of the day we lost that game (last game vs. Notre Dame). It comes down to focusing on ourselves. We know we can play with anyone. We just have to execute on the things that we need to work on."
On what it will take to beat Notre Dame:
"We need to fix the mistakes. Some of the mistakes we had been making in the first two games caught up with us, like turning the ball over and not scoring in the red zone. We got away with it against Tulane and Towson, but we didn't get away with it against BC. I think if we fix those I think we can beat anyone."
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Sage Surratt
On scoring his first touchdown:
"It felt good. It's always positive when we put points of the board so it was good for the team."
On contributing early in his redshirt freshman season:
"I am just trying to adjust to the game and do my part and my assignments. I'm just playing hard."
On confidence after early success:
"I feel pretty good. I just try to go out there and focus on doing my part and my job. If everyone does their job I think we have a really good chance to win. I just try to focus on all of the little details."
On scouting Notre Dame:
"I know they do a lot of man-coverage so we have to win those battles out there. They are a great defense and ranked No. 8 for a reason so we are going to have to have to bring our A-game."
On the impact of a win over a top-10 team:
"That would be a good jump for us and give us some good momentum for other games throughout the season. If we do the little things I think we will have a good chance to win it."
On focusing on the little things:
"Throughout the first three games I don't think we did a good job at that and that's what the focus was on. Hopefully we can do those things this week."
Players Mentioned
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