West Virginia-Louisville Postgame Quotes
November 20, 2010 | Football
Nov. 20, 2010
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Head Coach Charlie Strong
(Opening Statement)
"Their defense is very good, they are the number four defense in the country and they played like it today. Our defense played well enough, it was just that one play that enabled to get them back down the sideline. And when you get into games like this, you have to go play in all three phases. I thought special team wise we played well. All players have to play well and that just didn't happen today."
(On WVU's defense)
"They are a very good defense and their defense played well today. You were able to see why they are the number four defense in the country."
(On Powell)
"Bilal has been battling a sickness for the last couple of days and I think his issue was that he was fatigued."
(Mood after the blocked field goal)
"We had two minutes or so to play so we thought we could get into our two minute rhythm, take the ball and move it down the field."
(Offensive plan for the game)
"Well you like to score some points. That way if you go and score some points you have a chance to go win a football game."
(On WVU stopping the run)
"Anytime with that type of defense the 3-3-5 it will get you a lot blockers to run through, We are a zone team so they were able to run from the back side and not allow the seams to open up in the defense and just run along the line of scrimmage to make plays."
(On his fourth down decision)
"At that point we had nothing going on and I didn't want to send our defense out there with five minutes to go and try and get a stop. Then we didn't get the first down and the game was over. So it was fourth and five and we made the throw we just didn't make the catch."
(The timeout and the snap right before the 48-yard pass)
"Well the guy said that they had called a timeout right before the time ran out. We just can't give them a 48-yard pass."
(On the fake punt)
"We worked on it during the week. It is something that they gave us and we were going to take advantage of it. We have practiced it time and again. We were looking for a momentum change on the fake punt but we got no points out of it."
(On keeping the defense positive)
"What you have to look at is the football team, early in the season the offense played well. But you guys have to realize that we are all in this together. You win together and you lose together. Even though we didn't play well on offense, defensively we gave up one play. If we don't give up one play it is 10-7."
(On bowl eligibility)
"What they have to realize if they want to get to a bowl game they have one more game so let's go win the next one. We had our chances here at home with two games and we just didn't get it done. I don't think there is a lot of pressure if they want to win, just go win."
Daniel Brown, So. LB
(On the fumble recovery for a touchdown)
"Basically down there, we wanted to get in and try to do something to get the crowd back into it and get our sideline hyped. We saw a lot of pressure, got a sack, stripped the ball and got a touchdown. We were all talking and saying `(Greg) Scruggs pick up the ball.' He tried to pick it up and fumbled around with it. The ball went into the end zone and then Dexter (Heyman) knocked around with it and all of us started piling on it, but good thing we got the touchdown."
(On Noel Devine's 48-yard reception)
"It was man coverage and just a miscommunication. We can't have that in the future."
(On the defense's performance)
"I think the defense played pretty well today. We came out and executed. We got them out on third downs with a lot of three and outs. Overall, I thought we came out fighting."
(On the frustration of the offense not scoring)
"Yeah, it's tough, but that's the thing about life. You got to jump over obstacles and you got to hurdle them. You just come out and never give up. That's why Coach (Strong) tells us that things may not go the way that you want them to go, but you can determine it by how you go out front and play. The ball is on the fourth and all we need is a place to stand."
Justin Burke, Sr. QB
(On the loss)
"It's never fun when you lose like that and we didn't play well enough to win that game. Our special teams came and really played well. Our defense played spectacular and offensively we couldn't get anything done."
(On West Virginia's defense)
"They are a good defense, we knew that coming in and it was a challenge for us. We have to step up to that type of challenge. We had some moments when we did, but we weren't consistent all day. We just need to bring full 60 minute games."
(On the fourth quarter interception)
"He made a good play on it. I probably forced it. I should have just got a positive play on the first play of the last two minutes. We run it all the time. We run it more than anyone else in the country and that was a little disappointing."
(On regaining possession off the blocked field goal)
"We felt good about it. I always feel good when we get two minutes. We do it four or five times a week. We are pretty well machined on it. A guy got his hand on it and the way Cameron (Graham) played he would of got that and we would have been on our way. So, that's the way it goes. That was a disappointing two minutes and we will correct it and come back next week."
(On the ramifications of the loss)
"Any loss is a big deal. Obviously, we wanted to get it on senior day and we didn't get that done, but we got next week. We have got to win that game. We wanted the last BIG EAST games and we got one more game."
Rodney Gnat, Sr. DE
(On the loss)
"It's just really frustrating. Our guys played hard, but West Virginia did their job and executed on defense. Some things just didn't go our way today and it was frustrating"
(On if the team can regroup)
"You have to, that's one thing that Coach Strong has always told us, is to be resilient and to keep coming back. We are going to have to if we want to go to a bowl game."
(On Josh Chichester's blocked field goal)
"I felt like we had a chance when Josh blocked the field goal. I felt like we were going to score and tie this game up and we were going to finish differently than what we did last week and finish strong in overtime, but it just didn't work out that way."
Josh Byrom, Sr. OL
(On West Virginia's defense)
"We knew they were a good defense coming in, but we pride ourselves on running the football and when you run the football it will open up the passing game. If you can't run the football, they are not going to respect your passing game. They were stacking the box and we couldn't move the ball. We understood that they were a good defense, but we take pride in running the football. We just couldn't get it done today."
(Why was the team having trouble running the ball)
"They had that big nose tackle in there and he just two gapped and held onto the center. They wanted to take the offensive line with the three down linemen with the linebacker. All week we said we needed to get hats on hats and let the backs do the rest. They just put so many in the box and were bringing safeties and the linebackers inside and outside. It just made it tough for us to match up and understand who we had. They are a great defense and you have to give them a lot of credit."
(On losing to West Virginia)
"It's a big loss, obviously in our mind we are thinking one game at a time and just wanted to get this win and get to a bowl game. We know we got one left, and we are going to regroup. We have a lot of pride in this team, it's a senior led football team and we are not going to stop. We are going out to Rutgers and we are looking to get a win."
West Virginia Head Coach Bill Stewart
(Opening Statement)
"What a fine football game that was. For people who are old-school like me, that was a defensive football game, that was a tough football game and it was on the road. Anytime you can get a win in the BIG EAST, especially the way we've been knocking them off all year, you have to come away feeling good. That was a physical, physical football game and I did not see many injuries because of the way they hit each other. We got after Louisville very very hard and very diligently from the defensive side of our ball. That in return, Louisville did to us. Neither side could catch the other guy in the blitz. Had that happened, the score would have been a lot more, whichever direction, than 17-10. Those games happen. It was physical, it was very much a defensive field position game and great punting. I'll tell you what, Greg Pugnetti is our player of the game for the Mountaineers. They brought everything at that boy and he never blinked. Greg Pugnetti, a walk-on who earned a scholarship this year never blinked. And for that, I'm proud.
As for stats, they had 26 yards rushing, 21 of those yards came on the fake punt. We had a kid who didn't get lined up right. Put it on me, but that's why I went punt-safe the rest of the game. I put the defense out there. I didn't want to take a chance on all of those formations. They are a tough bunch to defend. Our defense, including this week and 0-12 last week has given up two third downs in the last 25 attempts. Do you realize that we were 2 of 13 today, and 0 for 12 last week? Offensively, we were 6 for 16 with 32 missed possession and the punting game, seven for us, eight for them. For the offensive enthusiasts, it wasn't what you came to see and for that, I'm sorry. It's a win. A big win for West Virginia and anytime you can win on the road, again I'm very proud of that. I thought Louisville played really hard they were very well coached and man, are they headed in the right direction. Wow."
(On slowing down Louisville's running game)
"I looked out there sometimes and I saw five guys from the side coming and last I saw zero man coverage. They had every gap. I kept saying 'can we break the belly' and they were doing the same thing so we just kept blitzing. I like what Mike Sanford and Mike Groh are doing. I've known those guys my whole life. They protected well. Our defense, I just kept saying 'you can't get caught, you can't get caught' because I don't know if we can score enough on offense because Louisville kept doing the same thing. It's all blitz, blitz, blitz, and blitz. It was a man zone, it was just a chess match back and forth. Today, wasn't checkers, today was chess. So we just blitzed. I just said 'throw everything at them and hope we could match up and sometimes we didn't. They had an interference, we had an interference, it was a battle back and forth. But it looked to me that both defensives slowed the ranch. For our offense, our best offensive lineman got beat by their best defensive end and got a touchdown out of them. You can't win every single slug out there, it's an 80 slug fight. You can't win all 80. They're going to beat you."
(On if Louisville showed them everything they had in the first half)
"Well I felt good because I'm not a big stat guy and you guys know me. But they scored 122 points in the second quarter this year. How many did they get in our second quarter? Seven. Who gave it to them? The offense. I walked in and told the defense, 'you're fine, stay with the plan. When you blitz, get home. If you can't get home then get your hand up. But those guys are just big tall quarterbacks and we just couldn't get our hand on the ball today. So I just said keep blitzing, stay the course when we just have to get there before they get their feet set. Like I told them early in the week, I scared them to death. Whoever was quarterback, if they set their feet then the ball is gone. But we got there pretty good today."
Josh Jenkins, Jr. LG
(On Louisville blitzing every down)
"We have to find the blitz. They disguised it real well and where they were bringing it from. They would show it from one side and then bring it from the other side. They were twisting the blitzes, like they were bringing lightning. It was just very hard to pick up for the most part."
(On protecting the quarterback today)
"We had some let downs but I thought we did well for as much as they blitzed. Of course it could have been ten times better but I think we did ok."
(On improving week to week)
"I think every week we are getting better and that`s the key. I think with as much as they blitz, it's kind of hard to tell. That's not normal that they blitz on every down. They probably blitzed eighty percent of the time today. That's crazy."
(On things the line still has to work on)
"Reading the safeties more. I think we need to work on that a little bit more. Getting our eyes up on some things, we will improve greatly if we can do that."
(On if they were expecting them to blitz that much)
"Coming into this game, we knew they blitzed fifty-seven percent of the time against other teams. I wasn't expecting it that much against us."
Geno Smith, So. QB
(On the blitzing)
"They made it kind of tough on us as an offense to pick up those blitzes, because as a quarterback that is my main job to get the protection slid. I think we did a pretty good job, we had a chance to make some plays but that is the way the game goes. Anytime we get a win is great."
(On feeling that a score late would ice the win)
"Yeah, we know that we have one of the best defenses in the country and if we don't give away points, then the other team won't win. We also want to go out and score points as well because we are a very electric offense. We just have to go out there and play mistake free ball. It's great to come out with the win."
(On what happened on the fumble for Louisville's touchdown)
"The offensive lineman got beat and the guy just made a good play on the ball. I was getting ready to throw the ball to Will Johnson, he was open. That is just something that is going to happen in the game. Their going to beat our guys sometimes and we are going to beat their guys sometimes."
(On how close it was to a couple of big plays blowing it open)
"We were very close. Anytime we have physical errors you can live with that. But it is the mental things that we try and stay away from. I think we did a good job of that today. We didn't make any mental errors. Physical errors are just something that our going to occur and you just have to make those plays the next time the chance comes around."
