Louisville Postgame Quotes
September 27, 2014 | Football
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Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
(Opening statement)
"We'll take it. It was a struggle. We had to battle really hard. I'm very proud of our defense. Our defense is playing at a very high level and was able to make a lot of big plays. We sacked the quarterback a bunch and stopped the run. Anytime you're able to stop the run and put them behind the sticks we have a very good advantage because we have some guys who can really rush the passer. It was great to see them do that. Offensively, we just kept killing ourselves. We turned the ball over and a couple of them were just on simple exchanges between the quarterback and the running back that really hurt us. We had some bad penalties that backed us up and put us behind the sticks. We did find a way to move the ball and win the game.
"It was great to see Brandon Radcliff come in and gave us a big burst. He gave us a lot of energy. He was faster than the other guys out there. I thought Reggie (Bonnafon) showed a lot of poise and a great, competitive spirit. He certainly had his share of mistakes out there. To play well at quarterback we need all 10 other guys around him to do their job really well and we're not there yet. Statistically we got a little bit better, but when you have penalties and turnovers, it really hurts you."
(On figuring out offensive mistakes)
"I would hope, but we're kind of a new team every week now. We've been battling some injuries and we're still a work in progress. Thank God we have a great defense, because it's allowing us to work at getting better offensively. I was disappointed in special teams tonight. Our specialists are guys we've really been able to count on, and that hurt us tonight."
(On improving over the length of the season)
"When you can win games and not play very well, that helps a lot. What we're trying to do is get better right now, immediately. We do have a tough schedule towards the end of the season, so it's going to be important that we do improve and get better and learn how to execute without hurting ourselves. I always go back to the first thing you have to do to win a game is not beat yourself. We did some things today that could've beaten ourselves."
(On the one thing the team can do to improve from this week to next)
"I think if we get rid of the turnovers and take care of the football, get better technically. I like the way we ran the ball late in the game. We did a great job of picking it up and running the ball better. But we have a lot more than just one thing to do. That's the problem."
(The third and 13 play on go-ahead drive, was it a designed play?)
"It was. It was a speed option. They were substituting their dime package in and they've been very good in that package throughout the season. We hit it one time earlier with a run to Radcliff for a touchdown. What they did is, they took their safety and roll him down to our tight end side. So I made the call from the sideline to run a speed option away from it. We haven't shown any speed option but we've been working on it and Reggie is good at it. He really showed his competitiveness to go get that first down."
(About Will Gardner's status)
"Well he had a good week; he got better as the week went on. They just said he wasn't ready to play yet, so they wanted to see how the weekend went. He had a lot of rehab today. We brought him to the hotel. He had a lot of rehab at the hotel last night, but I don't really know any more than that."
(About Reggie Bonnafon handling in-game situations)
"He's very calm. He's pretty calm, easy to communicate with. I thought he did a good job of really listening; being able to picture what either Garrick (McGee) or I am telling him, and then going out and trying to do it. I liked the way he handled himself on the sideline and out on the field."
(About possibly being surprised about how Radcliff played)
No, you should see him working in practice. He really works hard every time he touches the ball in practice; he sprints down the field and puts it in the end zone. I probably should have got him in there a little earlier, because he's really shown the speed and the toughness in practice. But it was great that it showed up today, because we really needed it."
(Lorenzo Mauldin's injury)
"I think he got like a stinger. I saw him holding his shoulder like that and Kyle (Johnston) came over and told me he should be back in a little bit. He didn't tell me what the injury was, he just said he'd be back in just a little bit, but he also told me he got three sacks after the injury, so I'm thinking it's probably not that bad."
(On Dominique Brown getting limited carries and RB situation)
"He's (Brown) ok. It's hard on him when he turns the ball over and I take him out. You know that's hard on him. We're going to need him throughout the year. We're going to need him to get his confidence back and come back and really help us win games like he has early in the year."
(On problems on the exchanges)
"On the first one, I don't think we really got our arm up. That was the communication I got from the back and the quarterback. The second one, he ran the wrong play."
(On Reggie's mental toughness coming back after the passing of his father)
"What he was able to do all week long, come in and focus and prepare and concentrate. He missed a whole week of practice when his father passed. I'm really impressed with him. You can't say enough about how much maturity he's shown in the last couple of weeks."
(On holding Wake Forest to less than a yard per carry)
"Yeah, it's a great job. Sacks help. That's one of the things about college football is the sacks take the rushing yards away ... I'm wondering when they're ever going to change that. But no, they dominated the line of scrimmage (our defense), they tackled really well. It was a dominant performance by our defense. Even when they got backed up, they came up with huge plays to not allow them to kick field goals."
Lorenzo Mauldin, Sr., DE
(On having three sacks after the shoulder injury in the second quarter)
"It felt great. At first when I hurt my shoulder I thought I tore my labrum again. They doctored me up, and God said they needed me so I chose to step it up."
(On how good the defense has been so far)
"We're playing marvelous. This is as good of a defense as it was last year. You know they say that we're missing a lot of guys but a lot of guys stepped up and I'm proud of our defense."
(On how he has stepped up when the defense needs him)
"If I'm needed wherever that is what I will do. If they need me to rush on a certain down I'm going to step up and be a leader on the defense."
(On how he feels after the game)
"I am a little sore but I am very happy, the guys on offense came back after halftime and pretty much did what they had to do. The defense played great. I got dinged up but I came back and ended up with three sacks. That was a bit of motivation for me because I told myself that defense needed me and it was my time to step up if I was hurt or not."
(On getting sacks)
"We make it fun on the sidelines, but during the process I am just happy I got back there to the QB."
(On the offense needed)
"Yeah we found that out pretty much throughout the beginning of the season, but I have faith in our offense. Our offense is always going to score and that is all we need them to do pretty much. So if the defense can give them the ball back we know we can score."
(Was there a mindset, knowing the offense needed you)
"Thought process going into the game was to stop the run. They can run so we knew that we were going to need to get to the QB. The QB is young so we told ourselves if we get to him the game is over."
Brandon Radcliff, So., RB
(On being seen as the third string running back and coming in and getting the majority of the carries)
"You know we all come out here and do our job. We go out and practice and grind everyday. When your number is called, you just have to come out and capitalize on it."
(On setting career highs in yards, touches, and touchdowns)
"It's great. I go out and practice everyday to get better and waiting for my number to be called. I was glad I was able to capitalize on it."
(On what can be improved on before playing the next opponent)
"Just coming out more physical, being able to finish and punish the opponent. We have all the tools to come out and become a better player."
(Did you expect to have that big of an impact in this game as you did)
"Every game you expect to do something good, you work hard everyday and expect the team to come out and do the same thing as well."
(On whether he knew he was going to start)
"We talked about it, but I had the first play of the game so you know I was excited. I just came out and put the work in, and study the play books and I was ready."
(How soon did you know you were going to get the first play of the game)
"This week coach told me I had the first play of the game and I was pretty excited for it. Then Tuesday the game plan came in and I knew I had the first play."
(Can you talk a little about the way the game played out)
"I felt that the game was pretty good, and we finished a game that was very important to us."
Reggie Bonnafon, Fr., QB
(On getting the first start and victory)
"It wasn't as pretty as I thought it would be, but we still got the win so that's all that matters. There are some things we need to do different and some things to clean up we will be fine."
(On the atmosphere in Papa John's Stadium)
"I can't even put it into words. With everything that has happened the past two weeks, you know it's a blessing to be able to get this opportunity along with a win and to know my dad was looking down on me. It feels really good."
(On what it felt like to finally get into the game)
"It felt great. I have been putting in work at practice for a while and to finally come out here and see it pay off felt great."
(On what he can take away from this game to prepare for next week)
"Just the speed of the game and keeping up with the tempo and not coming out and getting nervous. It's hard coming out and being relaxed and staying calm when everything is going so fast and everyone is loud."
Wake Forest Coach Dave Clawson
(Opening statement)
"Again, I'm proud of our football team, with the effort they play with, the physical toughness they have. I thought our defense played their heart out, and it's the same story on offense. We really struggled to block people and were overwhelmed up front and U of L has a heck of a defensive front. We were very concerned about that match up going into the game and they are certainly as good as advertised. They gave us absolute fits and we really struggled on some match ups and they do a nice job rushing the passer. So congratulations to Louisville. I'm proud of our team. We had the game with six minutes left in the fourth quarter with a chance to win it and that's a good football team. So, we'll continue to go back to work and get better and figure out a way how to move the football."
(On their defense) "I think defensively our kids gave up a couple of big plays and our kids battled their tails off and I mean we challenged our two's last week in practice and some of those guys had their best week of practice they've had so we made a commitment to play them. Brad Watson had his best week of practice. We were going play him. We were already playing him regardless of what happened with Kevin. So we had made a commitment to play him. Grant Dawson had a good week at practice, and Des Floyd I thought practiced a lot harder this week so we made a commitment to play him. A lot of those guys were upset they didn't play last week and we said if you want to play, practice hard. If you practice hard we'll play you and most of those guys responded and we played them."
(On failing to get something going) "That's been us all year. I think there is three games that we've finished with negative rushing yardage so that's, well when you throw in the sacks, we're in the negative numbers and that's been an issue all year. We `re really young up front and you know we've played really good fronts and we've played those really good big fronts that are physical and they're seniors and juniors, we're over matched. I mean it's they've got some big guys that play football and they're juniors and seniors and they're bigger and stronger and at some point you've got to block some people one-on-one. When that has to happen we certainly struggle."
(On trying to loosen things up) "We're just trying to be creative in how to run it. We're trying to slow down the pass-rush. That's what some of the screens are, shovel passes. Shovel passes are really a version of a screen and you're trying to slow down those ends and so we put in some screens last week. We put in shovel passes this week and it's a way of trying to creatively run the ball and get angles on blocks and not have to block the end."
(On the interception of the shovel pass) "At that point then they scored and you know we were a little bit, kind of playing from behind at that point so we would have run it again. That play probably helped us today more than hurt us. Again you look at our running numbers and they're bad but if you include the shovel passes in there, which is really a run play, you know it's still not good but it doesn't look quite as bad."
(Concern on being in the right place at the right time) "Yeah, but if there is any color at all we just gotta throw it down so, we're going throw some growing pains at quarterback and we'll learn from that play and he'll be better."
(On QB John Wolford) "It's just so hard because when we give him time and we get open, he's accurate. When you don't give him time and guys don't get open, it's hard, so a quarterback is part of the equation. You've got to protect him and guys have to get open. There are times we protected and we threw it down the field and we didn't get open. We took some one-on-one deep shots and they had us covered. A quarterback, it's obviously an important position, but he forced to throw today where he shouldn't have, but a lot of times he was under duress and there's times that we didn't get open."
(Thoughts on Johnson play)
"It's just the NCAA and the officials have been very proactive in defending players, and so these are all rules for players safety which I think we're all for. Its certainly wasn't a dirty hit, it wasn't a malicious hit. But by how they officiate, that is a targeting penalty so it's just one of those bang, bang plays that the officials have to call it the way they see it. It wasn't dirty and it wasn't intentional but by the letter of the law, that's a personal foul and an ejection."
(On taking the game that far and losing)
"Yeah, it's a catch 22 that certainly coming into this game, one of the goals is to stay in it till the fourth quarter but then when you're that close and you don't find a way to win it, its certainly disappointing. I don't think there's anybody in that locker room that's happy and you can certainly take the view from 30,000 feet and say we certainly made a good account of ourselves and our kids played hard and we gave ourselves a chance to win and all that's true but when we wake up tomorrow that's still one that's in the right hand column for us."
(On five plays after the shovel pass interception, losing containment)
"Yeah, I mean we had a strength call go the wrong way and we're out leveraged. And at some point, we had to get off a block and make a play and we didn't do that, but they had a good play call and we got out leveraged a little bit. And you certainly hope third and 13 you can rally and get that thing on the ground."
(On not making mistakes like interception in the end zone)
"It's also knowing the situation that we're in a low scoring game and we're in the red zone and we've got a good field goal kicker. For us kicking field goals right now isn't the worst thing in the world. If you want to put this game in a nutshell, we had two red zone turnovers that led to 14 points. That's at least a 20 point swing and that's the football game."
(On the players looking fatigued)
"Yeah, our defensive guys are playing more snaps then we'd like them to and again. We're not even making first downs on offense, keeping them off the field so you just got to find a way to move the ball and make first downs and try to keep those guys off the field."
John Wolford, QB
(On having a lot of family in the stands today affecting his play)
"No, they're in the stands, but I really don't think about that during the game."
(Regarding the shovel pass interception)
"Usually you expect that when you pitch that, that there wouldn't be a defensive lineman there. I've got to get my eyes there, but that's probably on me, but in practice we never saw a look where someone busted through."
(On Tylor Harris recovering three fumbles, including one in the end zone)
"What a tremendous effort by him and the defense as a whole, to get three turnovers against this team, you know this type of game when people counted us out completely. If our offense plays well and we don't turn the ball over we win that game, goes to show you what we can do in the ACC. It can't be me having one good quarter like Utah State or having sporadic good plays, I have to put together a complete game for us to win.
(Regarding overthrowing Cam Serigne in the end zone)
"Yeah, I should've put a little more touch on it. I was trying to lead him some, but still that was a bad throw."
(On that sequence's false start, coupled with the dropped pass, and then the pick)
"You've got to go play the play and forget about the last one, and I like to think I do that, but we can't turn the ball over in the end zone A. and B. as a whole on offense one bad play can't turn into 3, 4, or 7. So, we have to find a way to correct it."
Kevin Johnson, CB
(On hit called for targeting)
"I hit him with my shoulder. I actually couldn't feel my shoulder and arm after the hit was over. So I know I got him good with my shoulder, but as far as the high-speed collision, I am not sure where I hit him. Like I said, that is the rule, so I am going to have to try and get a lower angle on him. Try to hit in the midsection next time.
(On how he watched the rest of the game from the sidelines)
"I actually wasn't allowed to watch the game. I was sitting in the hallway and I was trying to see from the jumbotron."
(On being inside when you can't help your team)
"I wanted to get out there and help out my team the best I could. From what I could see, I feel the defense played great, they rallied up and played great football. That's great and exciting for us to keep building on that."
Brandon Chubb, LB
(On what changed when UofL offense stalled before being able to score three times)
"Maybe just frustration a little bit, I would say our conditioning level is pretty good. We have the depth to rotate if someone is tired, we do have people to play for them. I would just say frustration or long-term memory. You have to forget the play that just happened and move on to the next one. It's all about that play at the present, you can't be thinking about the 30-yard run he just got or the 40-yard pass he just threw. You have to think about the play that's happening right now. Just getting short-term memory is the key thing with the drive especially if they have momentum."
(On Louisville being rattled after the big play in the end zone when WFU took the lead)
"Yeah, they were definitely rattled. First of all, they didn't expect us to come out like this. They didn't expect to play this Wake Forest team. You could tell that through the whole first half, they were just stunned and didn't know what to do. I think that touchdown did rattle them. It took all their momentum away, and they just found a way to come back. It's just one of those plays where you got to take it and keep going. You got to keep making plays. The game isn't over until the game says 0:00 after the fourth quarter."
(About the interest and excitement of playing a close game but the disappointment of losing)
"It reminded me of Miami last year, same situation. We were up in the first half, people didn't expect us to win. We were the underdog by a million points or whatever it is. And you come out busting them in the mouth, it's just a great feeling but also you can't get too excited. You have to play four quarters. I think that's what happened both times and it's frustrating but it's on us. It's something we have to get better at. Vanderbilt last year, Miami last year, Louisville this year, all those were winnable games. It came down to the fourth quarter and we should've won. We just have to work on sealing the deal."
