Postgame Quotes From Coach Ron Vanderlinden
10/9/1999 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 1999
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
On win over Wake Forest: "I'm glad we got the win. We came in expecting a very challenging game down here. Wake had the nation's No. 22 scoring defense, and they are good. They deservedly are a good, hard-nosed defense. It was tough sledding. Late in the game we were able to put two tight ends in and balance things out [against their packed-in front] and start asserting ourselves. We did not play well early, but we have enough character and enough playmakers who battled back and found a way to win. Defensively, we held them to 226 total yards, which was sensational, but we gave up way too many third-down conversions. That was our nemesis in Wake's two long drives. It was a great effort defensively, although it looked like they were bleeding us in their two long drives. When we needed to get the ball back repeatedly, we did. I was pleased our guys kept playing and found a way to win."
On clearing a hurdle: "I think this was a big hurdle. I told our guys today as we left the hotel that we are embarking on a seven-game schedule. I told them to relax, that no game is critical but every game is big, and every game we play from this point forward is going to be a tough matchup and going to be big. I sensed we were tight coming down here, so that's why I told that to them in order to take some pressure off them. Had we not won today, I still think we're off to a good start."
On big plays to win: "What this win tells me, and what I knew, is that we have guys who can make plays. A year ago we were having trouble making the plays to break out. But we were able to make the plays today."
On defensive effort: "To hold Wake to 226 total yards was sensational. I thought we had good, consistent pressure on the quarterback. Our nemesis was on third down. We started to get more aggressive and blitz on third down and they couldn't handle it."
On defensive stands in fourth quarter: "We needed to do that because we weren't doing that early in the game. We weren't giving our offense opportunities, and Wake was holding onto the ball and bleeding us."
On LaMont Jordan: "LaMont ran hard. We started going to two tight ends and two backs and that balanced us up [with Wake's defense]. That really gave us the impetus to keep the chains moving at the end."
On punting of Brooks Barnard: "Brooks had been a little inconsistent in practice but had been getting better each week. With the exception of one punt, where he was trying to do something he normally doesn't do, he was out there thunder-footing it. He really has a strong leg, and hopefully he is going to continue to be strong out there."
On Lewis Sanders: "He really has to be an All-ACC corner. He is really having a tremendous year. His interception in the first half was a huge pick [on the 3-yard line]. The ball was not thrown to him, he had to go get it."
