University of Louisville Football Post-Game Quotes
November 22, 2008 | Football
Nov. 22, 2008
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Louisville Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe
(On WVU QB Pat White) "Pat's a phenomenal player. We had him dead-to-right a couple of times and he gets away. We knew coming into the game we had to stop Pat, but we didn't do that. He had a couple of big passes."
(On the play by Johnny Patrick to prevent the WVU TD before the half) "I'm really proud of Johnny and the way he played on that play. I think when everybody sees Noel Devine break down the sideline, they say `game, set and match and it's over,' but Johnny did a great job on an unbelievable effort-play. The defense steps up and does a good job of holding them there. Our guys are playing hard and I'm sick we're not winning. I hate it for our guys in the lockerroom because they're working their tails off everyday in practice. I thought we played hard in the game today, but it's very frustrating."
(On whether it's a lack of focus on the struggles in the second half) "We had a couple of turnovers and I think that was the biggest thing. That hurt us. They took the opening drive (of the second half) down and scored, and then on our drive, we get the first down yardage and fumble. We get a couple of balls batted down when we've got guys wide open. The margin for error when you're playing good teams like West Virginia is very, very small, so you've got to make sure you're capitalizing on every situation and we're not doing that."
"The bottom of line is that the first drive of the game, we have to get points. Whether it's a field or a touchdown, we have to get points on the board. We did a great job of running the ball. That was something I knew coming into the game we'd be able to do. We had almost 200 yards rushing against a defense that's giving up about 90 yards on the ground, so I thought we had a good game plan in terms of that. When we get down in the red area, we have to pound the ball in the end zone."
"We did have good numbers, but we also had a big number in turnovers. You can't turn it over five teams, because you're just killing yourself. Particularly with the number of possessions with the clock rule, you have to maximize the possessions you get. You can't turn it over. In the games we've won, we've done a good job and we haven't turned it over."
(On Louisville C Eric Wood) "He's a warrior. The guy's an absolute warrior. As I said in the press conference the other day, the Eric Wood you see on Saturday afternoon is what I get to see every day, Monday through Friday. The guy prepares his tail off. And not just in terms of on the practice field, which he does an unbelievable job of, but also with the way he watches film. Everything he does is in preparation to be the best he can possibly be and he's a great football player. He's going to continue to be a great football player. I'll sing his praises from the highest rooftop to every professional football team I get a chance to talk to because if I'm coaching, I want Eric Wood on my football team."
(On where to go from here) "That's what's hard and we're very frustrated right now. Close doesn't count. We've got to bridge the gap and the bottom line is that we've got to get to six wins. I think if we get to six wins, we're in (a bowl game). I told the team we've got to find a way to win six. That's means going up to Rutgers and playing a good Rutgers team that's hot right now and knocking them off on the road."
(On whether the players believe that getting to six wins is attainable) "Absolutely. Our guys are great in the lockerroom and there's a lot of heart and character in that lockerroom. I love the guys in there. Again, I thought they practiced hard all week long and I thought they played hard today. They played their hearts out and left it on the field. I don't think there's any question we've got great guys with great character in this lockerroom. They work hard and they want to be successful. Trust me, these guys want to be successful. We've just got to find a way to get that sixth (win)."
Louisville C Eric Wood
(On ending 1st half with momentum) "We knew we had a great shot the whole time, and it just came down to a few key turnovers, and few big plays for them. It's unfortunate that it ended the way it did, but guys kept fighting. And that's kind of symbolic of this senior class, keep fighting. And that's what we're going to have to do in this final game, maybe two more games. But that's what we're going to have to do in life too."
(On mental focus) "Mistakes are going to happen, and they made their mistakes too. It's just a shame he fumbled the ball with 40 seconds left. Mistakes happen in college, and that's the story of a lot of our losses this year. Mistakes happen at crucial times and it seems like when we get something going turnover, get something going penalty. And it's those crucial mistakes offensively that ended up hurting us."
(On 2nd half) "It's my knowledge that I think we are the best conditioned team we play and I feel like we're going faster in the 2nd half. It just seems like when it comes down to a crucial play here or there it just doesn't happen. And that might be a lack of experience at positions, and it might just be unfortunate circumstances that are tough to deal with."
(On last lap around the field) "I just felt like the people that stayed we should appreciate them a little bit. And the fans that stick with us, the fans that were there early to greet the seniors with their families today. We appreciate all that, and it doesn't go unnoticed to us.
(On last game) "It was tough walking off the field knowing that my last game at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium was a lost. But you know everything has to come to end. And it's unfortunate that it happened. I would love to play college football forever, just kind of fits me and my personality. Its promise in this program, and it going to be tough walking away but I will always be back around this place."
(On being captain of Louisville) "I think it's my role as a captain of this team to play through whatever gets thrown my way. I kind of done that my whole career, I've never taken it for granted. I've been in the lineup, I never thought I would start as a freshman so as soon as they put me in, and there was no way I'm coming out of one of these games. Because as soon as I give someone else a shot I might lose it. So that has kind of been my attitude in my whole career, and that attitude has helped me start however many games. It's a shame it ended like this but hopefully in this last game maybe two games, we can leave a little momentum for the upcoming season."
(On Pat White) "Pat White is a heck of a player, he's got a ton of talent. I'm sure he'll be able to play multiple positions at the next level. Credit him, he made a lot of big plays today."
(On overall game) "It's tough, it's just the way things seem to be going around here. We have guys doing things right, we got a lot of guys who really care about this program, and care about being good people. It seems like the breaks are harder to come by. It makes you not believe in karma but it's tough. Something like that is extremely unfortunate, it seems like they were batting a lot of balls down today. They weren't pass rushing quite as hard because we were running the ball real well. And then they could just sit back and jump and try to bat the balls down and there's nothing you can do as an offensive linemen, so that makes it extremely frustrating."
Louisville QB Hunter Cantwell
(On team's frustration) "Yes, you play hard, play well and you're right there in it. For whatever reason mistakes, execution, you take yourself out of it. To their credit they made some plays we knew they were going to do that."
(On multiple interceptions) "The D-line gets their hands up and the ball gets batted, it just hangs there forever and you're unable to pull it down. It's tough, it's just a roll of the dice."
(On the second half) "I don't really feel like it's bad karma, its football and things like that happen. You have to eliminate the bad things that we can control."
"It's one of those things we're going to have to look at film at see what you could have done better and what they were doing. We're hurting ourselves pretty much."
(On bowl game possibility) "I'm not 100 percent familiar with bowl committees and how they select their teams. I know if we win Rutgers will be bowl eligible. We have to beat Rutgers and let the chips fall where they may."
(On the overall team feeling) "If this team didn't have character a lot of guys in the locker room, this really means a lot to them. Every time we go out and play we've lost a lot of games lately, but each time we come out we're going to give it our all and fight to the death. That really means a lot to the guys in our locker room."
(On mental mistakes on film) "You can see guys not doing their assignments, not lined up properly you can see holding, forcing things dropped balls. You can see mental errors. That's definitely something that's big emphasis that's big. We'll try to watch film tomorrow and try to eliminate some of those things."
West Virginia Head Coach Bill Stewart
"First of all, thank you all for being here. I know you say it's your job but I hope you had a good entertaining afternoon. I want to complement who I think is one of the class acts in football in coach Steve Krathorpe. I think he is a great guy and his players after the game were just awesome. He's got some class acts out there, and that was a tough one. When they come together after the game, and pay homage to the master coach then you know what the sport is all about, you really do. I was so frustrated at the half to have 215 yards rushing and have two blown opportunities. I just wanted to cry, I really did, but you can't do that in front of the guys. 7-7, I wish I knew the formula I'm going to go back and strain and try. And we're going to meet and meet. All I know is I thought Jarrett Brown was in, and the officials made a good call, if they thought that was what it was its good judgment when TV said it wasn't."
"And little Noel (Devine) fell couldn't have been a better play call, couldn't have been a better blocking, couldn't have been a better running, he walked in. But he's tripped, poor little guy tripped, but what we didn't do. We didn't lay it down, and Pat (White) didn't start bickering, carrying on and complaining with each other. What we did was bonded. We came back, and our theme all week was just take care of business. Take care of business, and I told them this was a business trip of all business trips, we need to come to Louisville. Unlike two years ago, I don't care one point, 20 points, 100 points and get out with a win. We had to find a way, you don't want to put too much on `I gotta'. So what we did was try to regroup, and we had some good plays and we ran a number five. I took some of you alls advice, and put it in number five's hands. I just told the team in there the greatest young man, number five became the all time leading, quarterback rusher in college football history. You all witnessed something special today, that we might not see in our lifetime, maybe the spread offense is what happened, but it's going to be tough to do. That young man did a great job, to rush for 376 yards, 41 carries it awesome, to have 498 yards on 52 plays that's awesome. What really frustrates me though, is the 24 possessions."
(on today's play) "Yeah, it was a hard hitting game, they're beat up, we're beat up. With Victor Anderson who I helped recruit. I took a personal interest in that guy. I thought we did a bang up job. It shows you what kind of men Louisville has. He's getting the right guys, we're getting character good men at our programs."
West Virginia QB Pat White
(On breaking the quarterback record) "I have been under center at West Virginia for awhile. I have had a lot of success and a great offensive line."
(On having success on the Cards defense) "Great blocking upfront, just the whole man effort."
(On seeing things they didn't see in practice)"Everything we worked for and saw on the film, they gave to us."
(On the play where he broke the rushing record) "I was doing what I was coached to do and that was to stay in bound. I guess I should have been smart and tried to get the first down. And I probably could have gotten it."
(On going into the half and the third quarter) "On the one inch line and when you are in the inside the five yard line for four straight plays, it is frustrating especially for the guys up front that work so hard. We didn't get in, but everyone kept their composure, kept working and came out in the second half ready to play."
(On play calling) "We just have to execute, the play calling was there. They wanted it more then we wanted it."
(On reflecting on breaking the record) "When I'm done, I will probably sit down and think about it. Right now I am going to enjoy my last two."
West Virginia RB Noel Devine
(On the Game) "When we execute we are hard to stop."
(On game plan change) "We just have to go out and execute plays."
(On things not seen in practice) "We watched film and just studied. We just keep a basic offense that we run. Run the quarterback and run the ball."
(On running game success) "Our line up front did a great job today."
