Oct. 18, 2008
Recap |
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Photo Gallery 2
Maryland Quotes
On today's game:
"I think we finally put a whole game together. I thought our coaches, Coach (James) Franklin, Coach (Chris) Cosh and Coach (Danny) Pearman, really did a great job. They had very good plans and our kids executed them. I think this is by far the best we've played all year. I think our kids have a lot to do with that, too. I think they really took some ownership in this and kind of were embarrassed by the way we played against Virginia. I could see them getting better in practice. Like I told you, I think some guys in practice made a real effort to do things the right way. I was just praying that they would be able to come out and experience the rewards of working hard and trying to do things right."
On key points to today's game and looking ahead to next week:
"We were very well-prepared for a lot of things we thought that they were going to do. I thought the key to the game was when we turned the ball over twice in our territory and we stopped them; they got no points. I thought that was a major momentum swing for us. To me, we've got to get better in the red zone. We've got to make a few plays that we still could have made. I think we can get better, but what I'm hoping for is for us to gain some confidence from this game. Now we've got to do it again next week against a team I think is pretty good. They haven't won a game in the ACC yet, but to me, they should've won two."
On if he's figured the team out yet:
"I can tell you this, if we can find out who we are, and play like we did today and keep on working, I still think we can get better than what we are right now. That's been the frustrating thing to me. I thought we were 4-2 and had played a good quarter and a half against Cal offensively. Defensively, I thought we played a good half against Clemson. Even when we were winning, I wasn't pleased with how we were playing. I'd rather win ugly than lose well, but I thought we played well today. I have to look at the tape. I'm a perfectionist, so it's hard to please me. I thought together, as a team, we played very well and we executed the plans the coaches had very well."
On looking to the rest of the season:
"I told them that right now you're leading the ACC. You beat a team that's leading with us, so if they win all their games and we win all our games, we win the division. That's easier said than done. I told them before that game that we didn't play very well against Virginia and Virginia played very well. There isn't anything we can do to change that situation, but a win today would nullify it. It would be the best it could be without winning that game. I'd like to be 3-0 in the ACC, but I want to win the division - that's what I want to do. I want to get to the championship game. It's going to be a knock-down, drag-out and a tough five games, but we've got three at home and two away. We've got win those three at home and win those two on the road."
On the play of Darrius Heyward-Bey:
"We knew coming in to the game that we had to get him the ball because he is our biggest playmaker on offense. The defense was playing soft coverage for most of the game because they didn't want to give up the big play, so we took advantage of that."
On the touchdown gadget play:
"When we are running those plays there are a lot of things the offense, especially the offensive line, has to focus on. Da'Rel (Scott) made a really nice adjustment during the play and Darrius (Heyward-Bey) made a great catch."
On coming back from loss to Virginia:
"We practiced well all week, so we expected to come out with more energy. We followed the script that we had made for ourselves on offense and it turned out well. The bye week was really important for getting us back on track."
On the shutout:
"We have been thinking about a shutout all year; today it just all actually came together. We jelled as a defense and we were communicating well out there, something that I think we were lacking all season."
On getting to Riley Skinner:
"Getting to Skinner was really important to the game because he is the one who keeps their offense on track. So, just the fact that we had him moving around the whole game controlled the game for us."
On scoring on the first possession of the game:
"It's big to get on the board first, which is what we did against California. It puts the other team in the bind to try and make them feel like they have to score right away too, and our defense did a great job holding them down."
On the confidence of the team:
"Each week we try and grow, and we didn't play the best we could today. We have to improve each week because the confidence is there. We just have to go out and give 100 percent on every play, which is tough but that's our mindset."
On the play of Chris Turner:
"Chris had fun this game, he and I were joking around the whole game. It was just like practice. When Chris has fun he plays well. Chris was making good reads all game; he played a really good game overall."
On the morale of the team:
"Right now the morale of the team is very high as you can tell. We got a shutout, which is a boost for our defense. We are leading the division in the ACC and we are right where we and to be."
Wake Forest Quotes
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On assessing the team, after the loss:
"We didn't play very well, and that's the bottom line. I am disappointed we didn't play better. I didn't think we kicked the ball very well, I didn't think we played defense as well as we are capable, we gave up some good plays. So overall this was just a solid team loss. For us, the key is to realize that we have a lot of football left to play. We have to play better if we want to win. I thought Maryland played really good today, I was really impressed with their playing, and they did some good things on both sides of the ball. Their kicking game was good and they had a bunch of field goals. So I think that we played a good team today and we got beat, there's nothing to hang our heads about. We just got beat by a good football team today"
On Maryland's passing game:
"I think they did a nice job and they had a nice plan. We came into the game feeling like we needed to hold up in the running game and they did a nice job mixing up the run and pass. In a lot of those cases I don't think it was a case where defensively, we weren't playing very good. Maryland executed and played a very good game. "
On the offense's weakness:
"When you put a lot in your throwing game and you drop as many balls as we did today, we have been not good twice this year with executing offense - against Navy and now against Maryland. I really worried more about Riley (Skinner) having a bad game. That happened to us against Navy. He didn't play very well, but I didn't realize we would get into a game where he's really throwing the ball pretty good and we can't get to the ball. I just think bottom line, Maryland played really well and we didn't play well today."
On the absence of Swank:
"Anytime you have a fifth-year kicker that has been successful, it's not easy. I really liked a couple of field goal attempts that we missed in the first half. I really liked the way Shane (Popham) hit the ball. He was a little different than last week when he was pretty tentative. He hit them really good, but we just didn't get them to go through. I think anytime your trade-off is a redshirt freshman for a fifth-year senior, that's not a really good trade-off. But he'll get better, he'll keep working at it."
Junior Quarterback Riley Skinner
On the team's performance:
"Maryland played a good game on defense. We just did not play well; everyone on the offense. There's no one person in particular; we just did not play well. We have to go back and get things straightened out. ... We had a great week at practice. We worked real hard, were really physical and did a lot of competing. We had a great week, and they just beat us today. We came out and made too many mistakes and just didn't play well."
On Maryland's defense:
"They just played sound defense. They schemed us up really well. You could tell they had a lot of film study in their off-week because they had a good bead on what we were doing. And there were times when we just didn't make plays. The opportunities were there, we just didn't make plays."
On being shut out:
"It was pretty bad. I've never experienced a shutout before. I'm not too excited about it. It's not a good feeling. It's something where you get that bad taste in your mouth and you can't let it happen again."
Senior Wide Receiver D.J. Boldin
On the morale:
"The team never got down, not even at halftime when we were losing 13-0. Guys were still up. We still knew we had a chance, being down two possessions, but Maryland got the best of us."
Senior Defensive End Matt Robinson
On the team's struggles:
"This morning everyone had high energy. We've been getting up early to get used to it. We came out here and we just couldn't get anything going. They were making plays and we weren't. We couldn't gain any momentum. Any time we had a chance they'd make a great play and take it away from us. It was one of those days where we couldn't get things going. "
On the play of Wake Forest's defense:
"We were thinking they would come in and try to run it down our throats, then they came out doing play action, and it caught us off guard. Obviously we'd like to have a little more pressure [on the quarterback]. We created a couple turnovers which is good, but we can't give up big plays. That one play they had down there was just an amazing catch. When that stuff happens it's tough, and I thought defensively we made a good effort. We just couldn't get things going where we needed them to today."
