University of Louisville Football Post-Game Quotes
November 27, 2009 | Football
Nov. 27, 2009
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Louisville Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe
(Opening statement) "I'm sorry for the seniors because we wanted to win this game for them. That's a great group of guys. It's an unbelievable group in terms of character and their determination to fight. When we got down today 28-7, they never gave up and that's what they've done all season long. They've very coachable and they're great people. They're men of great character and they're going to be very, very successful. I wish we would've been more successful for them this season and today. They're going to be great husbands and fathers and they're going to be great at whatever vocation they choose."
"We just got behind early and had to abandon the run a little bit. We wanted to run the ball a little more coming into the game, but after falling behind 28-7, we had to throw a little bit more than we wanted to. We missed on a couple of big passes, but again, I'm proud of the way our guys played and I'm proud of their effort. It's unfortunate we didn't get the victory for our seniors because we really wanted to get this one for them. You spend so much time with these guys and I actually spend more time with these guys than I do my own kids. I love them and they're just great guys."
(On the injury to WR Doug Beaumont) "Doug is going to be fine. It looks like he has a sprained neck and shoulder. He's in the lockerroom right now, so he should be fine. They went ahead and did a CT scan and that came back negative. I want everybody to know that's a huge answer to a prayer. We appreciate God protecting Doug and it doesn't look like it's a serious injury. He'll be sore for a couple of days, but again, I give a lot of praise and glory to God for taking care of Doug in that situation."
(On the injury to LB Jon Dempsey) "Jon had an MCL strain on the first play of the game. He played a few plays afterward, but just couldn't go. He should be fine and I don't think it'll be a surgical situation. He's going to be out 4-6 weeks and then we'll get him healthy and get him ready for the NFL."
(On the progress of the program) "Obviously, we're not where we want to be but as I talked about in the press conference on Monday, I think we're headed in the direction we want to get back to and that's competing for a BIG EAST championship. We're not far away and we have a lot of really good young players that gained a lot of valuable experience this year. The one thing about this team is that they continued to fight and they never gave up. I really don't think they're that far away. It's frustrating for everybody, but I do feel like we're on track. We need to get this recruiting class finished up because we have some really good players coming. I'm hoping I get another year. They gave Dan (Hawkins) another year at Colorado and I'm happy for him. I've won one less game than (Pittsburgh coach) Dave Wannstedt won in his first three years at Pitt, so I hope I get another chance to come out and be the coach. I want to coach these guys and I want to coach at Louisville."
(On the crowd at Friday's game) "We have great fans here and I appreciate the fans coming out and supporting the seniors today because I know it was important to them. We have great fans here at Louisville. They're passionate and they love football. They're educated and they know how to cheer. They cheered loudly today and we had a good crowd."
Louisville QB Adam Froman
"It's really hard because we wanted to go out there today and get a win for these seniors. These guys have put their heart and soul into this program. We didn't get it done and that's the part that hurts. You want those guys to leave with smiles and everything. You want to hear the happiness and whatnot after a win. It hurts knowing that it's the last time you get to step out on the field with those guys."
(On the crowd today) "Those are the true fans out there today. Regardless of what was going on, regardless of the record, regardless of what the weather is like those guys were there. I can't tell you how much we appreciate those guys. Everybody who was in that crowd was into it. That's probably the loudest crowd we've had anytime this year and there were probably half as many people. We can't thank the people who came today enough."
(On this possibly being head coach Steve Kragthorpe's last game) "I don't know anything about how this all works. Coach K is a great guy. He recruited me. He's a great coach. We didn't get it done this year, bottom line. People say it's the coaching, they can say whatever they want, but the bottom line is we have to get it done on the field. At times we did, at times we didn't this year. We didn't do it enough. If he's back great, if not as a team we have to move on and focus on winning football games regardless of who is on the sideline calling plays."
(On Doug Beaumont being injured) "I was scared to death to be honest with you. I just talked to him in the locker room and he is doing fine. He's up walking around just fine. He gave me a big smile. He sells out for this team day in and day out. He would do anything for this team. He'd go out and do that exact same play again. He's mad because he didn't catch the ball. I was scared to death when he was on the ground but he is a warrior. He got up and he's doing fine. We need to get him well and make sure he's 100 percent healthy. He's up in the locker room walking around. I just gave him a big hug. So he's doing well. You don't want to see that happen to anybody, ever. It is even worse when it happens to not only a teammate but one of my really good friends. That was really scary for me."
(On the hit being dirty) "The guy lowered his head and the crown came right in on him. I don't want to get into it too much, but it happened a few times that game."
(On trash talking between sidelines) "Rutgers made a pretty classy move and took a knee. We were talking amongst ourselves just kind of praying for Doug. There weren't any exchanges between sidelines."
Louisville LB Chris Campa
(On the post-game lockerroom) "A lot of goodbyes and sorrows, and we were all sorry we lost the game and were sorry that it was the last game I got to play. Just a lot of goodbyes."
(On being without another starting linebacker) "It was kind of tough, I had to play mike for one series and steve for a series and then we brought in a whole nickel defense. We just had to make do with what we got."
(On Coach Kragthorpe in the lockerroom after the game) "He was just saying goodbye to the seniors and `I hope you make it to the next level' and how we were still winners no matter what. He said the best he could, what else could he say. It was my last game. We were more concentrating on each other, on the seniors and saying goodbye. Coach K said he tried to send us off on a good note but that is just how football is. We played hard."
(On Coach K) "He is a good coach, he is a great coach. He leads us. It just happened that things didn't always go our way the past couple seasons. It is a shame, you shouldn't put it all on him. He's a good coach. When things go wrong everything falls on the head coach shoulders. It looks bad on him to be going the way it has been going. It is not all his fault. Players got to show up even if we are low on depth. And those who are left have to step up. But things just didn't go his way. I know it (UL record) looks bad. I wasn't here for the first year. We started good the first year I got here. And it fell off and I am not trying to make excuses but we were low in depth and we had a new system and different coaches.
(About Rutgers) "We didn't adjust very well and they ran that a lot. They kept the pounding the ball and we didn't step up, and it took us until the second half to step up. They kept running the ball and they kept trying 12 and 22 and power, power the ball. It took us until the second half to step it up. We didn't adjust to the run in the first half. "
Louisville FB Joe Tronzo
(About the crowd) "It was tough as far as scheduling, everyone in my family wanted to be there but just couldn't be here because of Black Friday and the biggest shopping day of the year and a lot of people have to work. But for the people who did come out they seemed really into it. They showed a lot of emotion and a lot of support for the seniors and I am forever for in their debt for that."
(On his career) "It has been disappointing just for being here for the glory days during the success and ever since I was in eighth grade when I won the Toy Bowl and in senior year in high school I won the state championship. When I got here I can't imagine myself going out on a 4-8 note and that is just the way things. You have to have a positive attitude about things and it obviously has been frustrating but not something that I am going to look back and regret. I chose Louisville to put Louisville on my chest and represent my city. I don't have any regrets about it and I would do it all over again. If they told me that this was going to be my senior season -- 4-8 -- I would still come here because I am a Louisville boy and proud to represent my city and my family."
(The difference in and Orange Bowl and 4-8 team) "It is (a fine line). When you go and look at the tape -- and we say in the off season that the weight room doesn't win football games -- you have to go out and win football games. Obviously if you are stronger and faster, it is going to work out. But when you see the tape and see the lack of execution ... that is what it really comes down to. You can have the biggest and strongest and fastest guys on the team but if they are not doing it all eleven together, it is not going to add up to success. Frankly, that has been the whole problem, we always see it on tape and say the tape doesn't lie. When you see 11 guys executing, you see a big time play. When you don't you see sacks and tackles for loss. When you see all those things then it is kind of bad. We shot ourselves in the foot and that is the most disappointing thing about it. We can never say that we didn't play hard. We just didn't play smart at times."
(About Coach Kragthorpe) "I think he is a good coach. He catches a lot of flak, but understandably. He is the head coach of this football team and when you come in and talk to the guys, you know that he has their back. You saw the crowd get all riled up when Doug went down. Coach K was in there yelling at the refs telling them and getting after them and really sticking up for his guys. I think that there is a lot that encompasses (being) a coach. The biggest thing is that the players have to know (is) that a coach that they have your back and we always known that he has. He has a great amount of character and he has instilled that into us. (He) punishes us for things we don't do right because he actually cares that we become better men. I would talk to Mr. Jurich and tell him to keep him.
(On the progress of program). "You can't argue with the record but the last couple games we have played a lot harder. I am confident in this program and this city and whatever changes come about I will always have faith in this Louisville program. I have always had faith in this city, so I know that these are just bad times and it will just take time for this program to come out on top where it deserves to be."
(On lack of execution) "It is on a little bit of everybody. You call plays and you know the players gotta play. It comes to everybody. Everybody wins the games and everybody loses the games."
(About the records the past three years) "I think he (his theoretical boss) would wonder why, why these things are going on. I would have to look at it and get a lot of players' opinions. There are a lot of things that happened inside this program that a lot of people don't know about that he has had to catch a lot for. But you can talk to any of these players and see the respect they have for this man. When it comes down to depends on what the players feel about it. We all support him because he has our backs."
Louisville WR Trent Guy
(About the crowd) "I'm happy with my decision to come here. I knew this was my last game so I just wanted to show confidence and technique, get some tears out, and let it go like that."
(About Doug Beaumont going down) "That's a scary moment for anybody. I felt for his mother at the time, because we didn't know what was wrong with him. Doug's a tough guy. He comes out, plays hard, practices hard every day. He gives his all. He's probably the hardest worker on the team and you can see that going into the game. Doug is a hard worker, he's on every special team. He starts on offense. He goes everywhere in the field, so to see my brother laying down on the ground like that, I feared for him but I hoped for the best."
(On the crowd) "It wasn't a packed house but they were into it. It could have been better but we had fans show up who really cared about the program, care about these seniors who weren't going to be here anymore. I am happy with the turnouts. My family was here, lots of seniors' families were here, so that is the main thing, the most important thing, is that our families were here to support us."
(On what's next for him) "I am working on my degree to be done in December. I should graduate in December with my degree in communications and I am going to go train somewhere and try to live out my dream and try and make the next level. But if not, I will go find a job or come back and coach."
(On your 40-yard time) "I was clocked at 4.29 in high school that was the fastest. I don't think I am slower now, I just wasn't working on 40 times and that will come now and on Pro Day. (Future of this program) We have a lot of hard working younger guys, these guys who aren't leaving ... these guys with whatever coach they have, they gotta go out and play hard every game like we did this year. Although unfortunately the record didn't show how hard we worked. We went out and laid it out on the line and played with our hearts but the record didn't show it but these younger guys are passionate about this game and they want to win games. So whoever is here, those guys are going to work hard and hopefully they will do a lot better than we did this year."
(What is difference between success/defeat) "I wouldn't say coach. A lot of the time, when we look at the games, and I have said it a thousand times we have struggled with penalties and turnover and if we don't get this penalty or that turnover the game, the momentum changes momentum is real big maybe we those games maybe we are 11-2 or 12-1 whatever. We have to execute better as players ... carry the game plans out better and make the big plays and eliminate penalties and turnovers and our season could be a lot better."
(On Coach Kragthorpe calling plays) "Coach K can call some great plays, like I said, when we took shots at times and we didn't execute or make the catch. I can't give him a grade on how he well coaches because I thought he did a great job. Other people may not. Like I said Coach K is a great man and wants you to succeed outside of a football and in life as well as on the football field. He didn't take the field feeling like we are going to lose this game. He coached it the best of his ability. We have to do better as players and as coaches as well. He never showed negativity in this building. Coach K never paid attention to those outside, no matter what, he never brought that negativity into the stadium. H e stayed positive and he wanted us to work hard and go out and win games."
Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano
(Opening statement) "I'm really proud of our kids. They really responded the way I thought they would, but you never know until you go out there and do it. I thought they played hard. And they played with class."
(On the Beaumont Hit) "I didn't see it. I was actually watching David Rowe. The technique he was playing on the receiver I was kind of excited the pass got knocked down, but then I saw the flag. There's not a bad bone in Zaire Kitchen's body. I know him as a person. It's one of those things. It's a contact sport. I pray for the young man that went down and according the reports, he is going to be fine. I heard it was as shoulder blow, a clean hit. I was very pleased with our team. They kept their composure, and they kept their focus. There were some shenanigans going on after that, and our guys just played football and stayed in the moment. That's what we teach, and we're really proud of the way they responded."
(On the Wildcat Formation) "Mohammed is a really special talent. We keep expanding that little by little. You earn your touches around here, so we feel like Mohammed needs to keep getting the ball in his hands. We have to find different ways to do that. The wildcat is one that we know will be in his hands. We need to keep building around him as long as he keeps producing."
(On the quarterback starting the game and gaining confidence) "I think it's important after last week's game we come out and have some early success like we did. When you're young like that you don't have a lot of experience to call upon, he created some on how to come of the mat and come out and play and I think hat will serve him well. All these things will serve him well. I can't wait for when he is done with this season, and gets to spend a whole offseason learning defenses because it's so hard to learn our offenses and their defenses. He can just spend time learning defenses and go out next spring in training camp and know what he's looking at. It's going to be fun."
(On scoring early) "I think the guys came out very focused and they executed well. I thought our offensive coaches had a really good plan. Credit to Louisville. They made some adjustments and took some things away. I thought it was a back and forth game, but I thought our players were very focused and executed. I thought Louisville was ready to play and played well. I thought they were executing well. I thought our guys were executing well."
(On running the wildcat early in the first half) "We planned to run Mohammed more this week. Again, I think as a staff, we determined that he deserved the touches. As I tell you guys all the time, it's like a pizza. How many different ways can you cut it? And who deserves to get it? Who's earned that privilege and that right? Things that he's been doing, we felt that he had."
(On Lowery not playing) "He played good football for us. He was hurting this week. Steve Beauharnais is a guy we've got to get on the field. I can't wait to watch the film on the plane home because I hope he played the way I think he would have played, but I didn't watch him at all to be honest with you. I was kind of watching the other stuff. He's a talented guy. He needs to be on that field, so we've got to figure it out. Antonio is a good player as well. I think he's felling a little bit better. I think he'll feel better next week. We just got to figure out how to get them all out there."
(On Tim Brown's performance) "Not only was he bumped this week, but something happened during pre-game that tweaked him a little more. Quite frankly, when we ran out of the tunnel, I didn't know if he could play or not. He showed a lot of guts."
(On Brown gaining 1,000 yards for the season) "Did he get a 1,000? Good for him. He deserves it. It's not been easy. He was a guy who battled. Tim Brown has done a lot for Rutgers and Rutgers has done a lot for Tim Brown. It's really been a good thing, and he's got two more left. We'll see what he can do."
(On the status of Shamar Graves) "Shamar did go to the hospital. No word yet."
(On bowl game possibilities) "Tim and Kevin and those guys will handle all that. They'll keep me up to date. If they want me to make a phone call, but right now, the best thing we can do for our bowl position is play the best we can against West Virginia. If we can win that game, I'm sure that helps up somewhere. It never hurt by winning. That's going to be our sights. I want our team and our families to get home and have Thanksgiving. That's what I want them to do first. Then, we'll turn our attention to West Virginia."
(On the Offensive Line Protection) "It was a little bit better. I don't know how many times we got sacked. One, we could have tucked it and ran. Tommy was trying hang in there because he thought something might open late, which we instructed him to. He did a good job there. I thought it was much improved. Again, there is such a fine line between playing winning football and not. And no, most of it isn't schematic. Most of it is being on point every play. One guy I thought played really well was Billy Anderson. Billy recovers the fumble on Mohammed's mishap. Then he forces the fumble on that big third down play. The guy that doesn't get a lot of attention or notoriety is as steady as they come and a great member of this football team."
Rutgers QB Tom Savage
(Coming off of last week's performance) "I thing we just got it going. The first half we were on fire. The offense was doing awesome and the defense was getting the ball back. You can't ask for more than that."
(On Tim Brown being open) "We saw that. Tim's such a great athlete and we wanted to take advantage of that mismatch."
(On Rutgers' quick start) "I felt like I was getting in the groove in the beginning. I was enjoying it. Our offensive line was blocking awesome like they always do."
(On rebounding from last week's performance) "I really had to show the team that I wasn't really too rattled about last week and I'm able to bounce back and be the leader I should be."
(On Mohamed Sanu running the wildcat) "He's just an unbelievable athlete - the quickest way we can get him the ball... I'm hoping for a pass one day."
(On the second half - was the game plan more conservative?) "I just think we weren't taking advantage of some of the opportunities we had. I know I missed a couple of guys, made a couple of bad reads.
Rutgers WR Mohamed Sanu
(On his performance/workload) "It was pretty nice, I liked it. I just had to make a play. Tom called on upon me so I just stepped up and tried to make a play."
(On running the wildcat) "I just tried to read the linemen to see the holes develop and I just tried to hit it."
(On what Louisville did defensively that made the wildcat effective) "We just saw openings and we just tried to hit those openings."
