Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Press Conference & Video: Oct. 15
10/15/2019 1:12:00 PM | Football
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson and student-athletes Cade Carney and Suliaman Kamara met with the media Tuesday (Oct. 15) at the team's weekly press conference luncheon to discuss the Deacs' upcoming game with Florida State.
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"Wrapping up Louisville, I think some of the things I said after the game were appropriate. I was proud of how our kids battled. We were down 21 points right at the start of the second quarter and we come back and fight and make that a three-point game. But the bottom line is we gave up a kick return for a touchdown, another that leads to a touchdown, a punt return that leads to a touchdown and a turnover that led to a touchdown. That is going to be hard to overcome against anyone, let alone a team that's playing at the level Louisville is right now. They had a great plan and they executed really well on offense. They came ready to go and we were slow to join the party. Once we did, we certainly tried to catch up. Losses like that happen and they can be good things if you learn lessons from them. There were a lot of teachable moments from that game. Hopefully we will come out a better team this week. I don't really want to talk about the last onside kick and the replay. It does no good to do that. We need to move on and we look forward to playing a very talented Florida State team on Saturday.
"Florida State certainly has all the pieces of the puzzle. They have two quarterbacks. They have one of the top two or three tailbacks we will see all year in Cam Akers. The receiver, Terry, is a big-time player. They have tremendous skill on offense and a big, physical offensive line. Like Louisville, they are capable of making explosive plays. Certainly after how we played last Saturday, that is part of their plan and they will take some deep shots. We have to defend the deep ball better. We have got to keep leverage on the football better than we did on Saturday. Defensively, they are always gifted. They have long corners and active safeties. It is probably the most physical front we have played so far this year. They are big and athletic. Florida State has always had talent. They have a staff, in their second year, that has made adjustments and are figuring things out offensively and defensively. When they are firing on all cylinders, they are still Florida State. We are going to have to play extremely well on Saturday. It will be a great challenge for our guys. For the first time all year, we have hit adversity. It is easy when you are winning. Since the College Football Playoff started, there has been one Power 5 team that finished the year undefeated. It is part of football and almost all teams go through it. We have to bounce back and I think the leadership in our lockerroom will get us refocused."
On the team's focus after the Louisville loss:
"You meet with them Sunday and first of all that game, it felt like a marathon game. I didn't get home until 1-1:30 and I didn't fall asleep until 2:30 and we're back in the next morning and when we met with the team, it was 16 hours later. They were still upset and that's not a bad thing. You want a team that cares and you want a team that's emotionally invested and if I showed up on Sunday and there were smiles, that would be disappointing. Then you cover the lessons, you cover the teachable moments and you got to move forward and I think we've done that. After today, it was a good practice and we're not talking about the last one, we're looking forward to the next one and I thought overall our effort was good."
On Jamie Newman's shoulder injury:
"He's kind of day-to-day. He got hurt at the end of the second quarter. We had X-Rays to try and eliminate the worst thing that could have happened to him and that was eliminated. He was able to return. He's sore and we'll just take it day-by-day and see how he feels later in the week. It's been one practice and we'll have a better feel later in the week."
On the team's defensive adjustments they need to make this week:
"Our defense broke in the Louisville game. Again, give credit to Louisville. You go in with a plan and they did some different things in their bootleg game that they really had not done a lot of and we did not adjust very well. It was players, coaches, all of us. They did some different things and we defended their base stuff really well. The run game, I thought, their lead zone and all that stuff we defended and they could have run their bootleg 30 times and we still haven't defended it. We just kind of went so extreme in some of the things we had to defend because of what we didn't defend against BC and they had their answer with their counterpunch and we never countered their counterpunch. I would say defensively our players and our staff certainly don't feel good about what we put out there on Saturday. Any time that happens, it's always a shared responsibility and as coaches, we felt we put our coaches in the best chance to succeed and by the same token, we can't give up explosive plays. Some of the balls over our head, some of the big plays they got, we lost leverage and we went into the game saying we can't lose leverage in coverage and we can't lose leverage in tackles and again, anytime things don't go well it's a shared responsibility and having said that, if the offense doesn't get off to a slow start, you don't have the turnover, we don't throw the red zone pick before the end of the half, if we don't give up two kickoff returns and we don't give up a punt return in spite of how poorly we played on defense, we still win the game. We didn't play well on defense but certainly the cliché that says you win and lose as a team is very appropriate. For as many points and yards we had on offense, we certainly didn't start fast. You give up 62 points and you can say that 28 of them were on short fields or a kick return, punt return or turnover. The first 28 points, 21 of them there wasn't a lot of fault. You'd love to find a way to get off the field but when drives are starting on the 20, the 14 and the 13, odds are certainly against you."
Senior Running Back Cade Carney
On the loss to Louisville:
"We have a 24-hour rule that is set and then it is nice to be able to forget about it and move on to the next game. That's what's nice about our schedule- every week we have an opponent that is just as big as the last. We have a good opponent to look forward to and a lot of film to break down, so as bad as it stung on Sunday, we have to switch gears. I think the team has done a good job and we are ready for Florida State."
On Florida State:
"Coming off the bye week we didn't have the best game. We came out and made too many mistakes and shot ourselves in the foot early, so the rest of the game we were trying to play catch-up. We are looking forward to Florida State. They have a roster full of five-stars and a roster full of experience. In some of the positions where they don't have as much experience, they are plenty athletic enough to make up for it. They are a good team and we have a big challenge ahead of us."
On wanting to get back on the field:
"A lot of redemption this week, that we are looking for. We came out and made too many mistakes and things just went downhill from there. We gave the defense too short of a field to work with and shot ourselves in the foot. We are excited. It starts this week in practice- it's not just Saturday or Saturday night. It is nice that today we got to redeem ourselves on the field and we had a good clean practice today and everyone worked hard."
"We have an awesome group of guys on this team, a lot of leadership. The guys are mature and plenty of these guys have come off losses. With this one being the first ne this season, a lot of the older guys are showing the younger guys how to bounce back and be resilient coming off a heartbreaking, down-to-the-wire loss. We have done a good job of bouncing back and getting back in the right direction."
Redshirt junior defensive lineman Suilaman Kamara
On Florida State's offense and bouncing back after a loss:
"Their offense is full of talented guys. As a defense we just want to come back to our basics, calm everything down and just do what we know. Other than that, Florida State is a very talented group. The offensive line has some massive guys. Their receivers outside on the perimeter have a lot of speed. They are full of five stars and talent and we respect them. It will be a good game."
On having two bye-weeks in four weeks:
"I think it is good for us, because we have a lot of guys that play a lot of snaps, so it gives them time to recuperate. Towards the end of the season we are playing much bigger opponents and we are going to need everybody on the team, so it gives us a chance to get our bodies ready."
On the loss to Louisville:
"It was a little sickening after the loss, but I feel like everybody moved forward and know that is in the past and we have to get ready for Florida State. It was hard, but the next day we were ready to go and get back into practice and a new game plan."
On bouncing back and getting back on the field:
"This is a big game for us. Both teams are coming off a loss and it is all about how fast you get up and how fast we can recover and face adversity and just keep pushing. We are trying to get better all around. All of the mistakes that we made last weekend we are trying to fix so we can play faster and get on with the game as fast as we can."
Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening Statement...
"Wrapping up Louisville, I think some of the things I said after the game were appropriate. I was proud of how our kids battled. We were down 21 points right at the start of the second quarter and we come back and fight and make that a three-point game. But the bottom line is we gave up a kick return for a touchdown, another that leads to a touchdown, a punt return that leads to a touchdown and a turnover that led to a touchdown. That is going to be hard to overcome against anyone, let alone a team that's playing at the level Louisville is right now. They had a great plan and they executed really well on offense. They came ready to go and we were slow to join the party. Once we did, we certainly tried to catch up. Losses like that happen and they can be good things if you learn lessons from them. There were a lot of teachable moments from that game. Hopefully we will come out a better team this week. I don't really want to talk about the last onside kick and the replay. It does no good to do that. We need to move on and we look forward to playing a very talented Florida State team on Saturday.
"Florida State certainly has all the pieces of the puzzle. They have two quarterbacks. They have one of the top two or three tailbacks we will see all year in Cam Akers. The receiver, Terry, is a big-time player. They have tremendous skill on offense and a big, physical offensive line. Like Louisville, they are capable of making explosive plays. Certainly after how we played last Saturday, that is part of their plan and they will take some deep shots. We have to defend the deep ball better. We have got to keep leverage on the football better than we did on Saturday. Defensively, they are always gifted. They have long corners and active safeties. It is probably the most physical front we have played so far this year. They are big and athletic. Florida State has always had talent. They have a staff, in their second year, that has made adjustments and are figuring things out offensively and defensively. When they are firing on all cylinders, they are still Florida State. We are going to have to play extremely well on Saturday. It will be a great challenge for our guys. For the first time all year, we have hit adversity. It is easy when you are winning. Since the College Football Playoff started, there has been one Power 5 team that finished the year undefeated. It is part of football and almost all teams go through it. We have to bounce back and I think the leadership in our lockerroom will get us refocused."
On the team's focus after the Louisville loss:
"You meet with them Sunday and first of all that game, it felt like a marathon game. I didn't get home until 1-1:30 and I didn't fall asleep until 2:30 and we're back in the next morning and when we met with the team, it was 16 hours later. They were still upset and that's not a bad thing. You want a team that cares and you want a team that's emotionally invested and if I showed up on Sunday and there were smiles, that would be disappointing. Then you cover the lessons, you cover the teachable moments and you got to move forward and I think we've done that. After today, it was a good practice and we're not talking about the last one, we're looking forward to the next one and I thought overall our effort was good."
On Jamie Newman's shoulder injury:
"He's kind of day-to-day. He got hurt at the end of the second quarter. We had X-Rays to try and eliminate the worst thing that could have happened to him and that was eliminated. He was able to return. He's sore and we'll just take it day-by-day and see how he feels later in the week. It's been one practice and we'll have a better feel later in the week."
On the team's defensive adjustments they need to make this week:
"Our defense broke in the Louisville game. Again, give credit to Louisville. You go in with a plan and they did some different things in their bootleg game that they really had not done a lot of and we did not adjust very well. It was players, coaches, all of us. They did some different things and we defended their base stuff really well. The run game, I thought, their lead zone and all that stuff we defended and they could have run their bootleg 30 times and we still haven't defended it. We just kind of went so extreme in some of the things we had to defend because of what we didn't defend against BC and they had their answer with their counterpunch and we never countered their counterpunch. I would say defensively our players and our staff certainly don't feel good about what we put out there on Saturday. Any time that happens, it's always a shared responsibility and as coaches, we felt we put our coaches in the best chance to succeed and by the same token, we can't give up explosive plays. Some of the balls over our head, some of the big plays they got, we lost leverage and we went into the game saying we can't lose leverage in coverage and we can't lose leverage in tackles and again, anytime things don't go well it's a shared responsibility and having said that, if the offense doesn't get off to a slow start, you don't have the turnover, we don't throw the red zone pick before the end of the half, if we don't give up two kickoff returns and we don't give up a punt return in spite of how poorly we played on defense, we still win the game. We didn't play well on defense but certainly the cliché that says you win and lose as a team is very appropriate. For as many points and yards we had on offense, we certainly didn't start fast. You give up 62 points and you can say that 28 of them were on short fields or a kick return, punt return or turnover. The first 28 points, 21 of them there wasn't a lot of fault. You'd love to find a way to get off the field but when drives are starting on the 20, the 14 and the 13, odds are certainly against you."
Senior Running Back Cade Carney
On the loss to Louisville:
"We have a 24-hour rule that is set and then it is nice to be able to forget about it and move on to the next game. That's what's nice about our schedule- every week we have an opponent that is just as big as the last. We have a good opponent to look forward to and a lot of film to break down, so as bad as it stung on Sunday, we have to switch gears. I think the team has done a good job and we are ready for Florida State."
On Florida State:
"Coming off the bye week we didn't have the best game. We came out and made too many mistakes and shot ourselves in the foot early, so the rest of the game we were trying to play catch-up. We are looking forward to Florida State. They have a roster full of five-stars and a roster full of experience. In some of the positions where they don't have as much experience, they are plenty athletic enough to make up for it. They are a good team and we have a big challenge ahead of us."
On wanting to get back on the field:
"A lot of redemption this week, that we are looking for. We came out and made too many mistakes and things just went downhill from there. We gave the defense too short of a field to work with and shot ourselves in the foot. We are excited. It starts this week in practice- it's not just Saturday or Saturday night. It is nice that today we got to redeem ourselves on the field and we had a good clean practice today and everyone worked hard."
"We have an awesome group of guys on this team, a lot of leadership. The guys are mature and plenty of these guys have come off losses. With this one being the first ne this season, a lot of the older guys are showing the younger guys how to bounce back and be resilient coming off a heartbreaking, down-to-the-wire loss. We have done a good job of bouncing back and getting back in the right direction."
Redshirt junior defensive lineman Suilaman Kamara
On Florida State's offense and bouncing back after a loss:
"Their offense is full of talented guys. As a defense we just want to come back to our basics, calm everything down and just do what we know. Other than that, Florida State is a very talented group. The offensive line has some massive guys. Their receivers outside on the perimeter have a lot of speed. They are full of five stars and talent and we respect them. It will be a good game."
On having two bye-weeks in four weeks:
"I think it is good for us, because we have a lot of guys that play a lot of snaps, so it gives them time to recuperate. Towards the end of the season we are playing much bigger opponents and we are going to need everybody on the team, so it gives us a chance to get our bodies ready."
On the loss to Louisville:
"It was a little sickening after the loss, but I feel like everybody moved forward and know that is in the past and we have to get ready for Florida State. It was hard, but the next day we were ready to go and get back into practice and a new game plan."
On bouncing back and getting back on the field:
"This is a big game for us. Both teams are coming off a loss and it is all about how fast you get up and how fast we can recover and face adversity and just keep pushing. We are trying to get better all around. All of the mistakes that we made last weekend we are trying to fix so we can play faster and get on with the game as fast as we can."
Players Mentioned
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