Louisville Football Postgame Quotes
September 04, 2010 | Football
Sept. 4, 2010
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Kentucky vs. Louisville - September 4, 2010 - Louisville Postgame Quotes
Louisville Head Coach Charlie Strong
(On the difference in the second half) "I think defensively, we looked at the plays they have run. The first play of the game they run a will route for the long ball, and we just didn't get over the top of it. And then the second play they had the ball on the locked end, cutting the ball way back across the defense, which should never have happened. And guys just got out of position. So I was telling guys to settle down and get in position, and if you get in position you're going to make plays. If you look at it we caught three, we blitzed them on the third down, then we have a sack and lose contain. They're throwing the ball down there and getting countered and then we miss a tackle in the backfield. He's able to get it down to the three yard line. Then we knew the wildcat formation, we knew it was coming, and we didn't get lined up and then they get the ball in for a touchdown. So there were three plays in the first half and they just checked out so we're down 14 at halftime. And I just told them, `Guys, the offense is gonna get the ball, they're gonna take it and go score, and then we're back in this ballgame. But you have to believe. You have to have the confidence and believe.'"
(Halftime speech) "I just called them in and I said we're giving up too many big plays, that cannot happen anymore. We have to go play in the second half. There's 30 minutes of football left. They scored 20, we've got to keep them from scoring. And then offensively I told them just score touchdowns. Right now you have two field goals on the board and if you score touchdowns you're back in this game. So we're down 14 points just score some touchdowns and we have a chance, we're back in it."
(Adjustments made) "There were no adjustments we had to make. We just had to tackle better and get lined up. If you look at the second run where they took the ball back there was one missed tackle and a guy out of position to go make a play. And that's going to happen with a young group of guys who are still learning. We have to be able to be more and more versatile and play great blitzes."
(About Bilal Powell) "Bilal Powell is a special player, he plays and ended up with 150 yards rushing. Bilal is a special football player."
(On Bilal's touchdown) "We scored and I think we were checked out still. But we stopped standing and we played hustle ball. It was a big momentum changer for us. But then we throw the ball down the middle of the field and we drop a post-up which should have been caught because that ball was going to end up somewhere down in their territory. And then you throw it up and drop it again. We were back in it and boom boom, it's two drops. And the ball is on a reverse, and that just can't happen. We have to be good enough to overcome. We had miscues and we can't do that."
"I just know that in the first half we jumped back there. We were ready to play, it's just defensively we gave up big plays and offensively we couldn't score. But I liked the way they came back in the second half and competed. And that's all we talked about, just compete. If they compete, you feel like you have a chance. And I just told them, we have 11 games to play this season, they are going to see how we bounce back. This isn't last year. We have a good football team and you showed it here today. You got beat by a good team, but if you don't make those mistakes, who knows what would have happened. "
(On his thoughts during the last Kentucky drive) "Well that's just it, we got the field goal and got all excited. You look over and there was three something left in the game, but I just didn't want to give them the ball. They score easily and we couldn't stop them. We needed to stop them to make them punt the ball and try to get the ball with two minutes. We needed to go out there and try to get a score in."
RS-Freshman SS Hakeem Smith
(Do you think there are some things to build on from this game?) "There are some things we can improve on. We seem like we were the better team. All we do is work hard. So we know ourselves and we are the better team. We are definitely going to build on this and it will help us out in the games to come. Everybody is going to keep working hard and continue to get better."
(Do you think you settled down in the second half?) "We can't pick and choose which half we want to play hard in. We have to play hard both halves. We have to pick up the slack."
(Was it disheartening to get in the whole the way you guys did?) "Not really. We have to keep our spirits up and continue to play hard and things will come together for us."
(Do you all feel like you had a chance to come back in the second half?) "We were feeling good going into the second half. The fans got us into it and we love all of the excitement, we were all getting into it."
Senior LB Brandon Heath
(On the inexperienced as a team) "We knew we had a lot of new guys. We were too anxious to make plays and everybody had to settle down, that's what we did in the second half. We pretty much shut them out in the second half."
(What was said on the sideline after Kentucky first score?) "Coach was telling everybody to just calm down and do your assignment and cut down on mistakes. That is all he said."
(What was different in the second half?) "The whole defense settled down. In the first half, everybody was anxious and too focused on trying to make big plays. A lot of mistakes we made in the first half we had to cut back in the second half."
(Do you believe this was a moral victory?) "Most definitely, we didn't quit and we kept fighting. This is definitely something we can build on going into week two.
(On Coach Strong in the locker room after the game) "He told us to keep our heads up and to keep fighting because it's a long season."
(On things learned about your team) "We learned mistakes and we found out players who can play and players who can't."
(On gaining confidence from today's performance) "Most definitely, we will come into tomorrow and watch film. We see the mistake we made and continue to grow from there."
(Where there any young guys who impress you today?) "There were a lot of them...Marcus Smith, Mike Evans and Hakeem Smith. We had a lot of new faces out there on defense and a new scheme, so that's what we expected."
Junior DT Greg Scruggs
(On what the team did different in the 2nd half.) "We knew we were behind and we had to get some stops to get the offense the ball. I think that drive made us come out and play a little bit harder. Playing from behind can't be our motivation. Our motivation has to be that we want to win the game and get the offense the ball every opportunity we can. It has to start in the first quarter."
(On the tough start to the game) "Coach Strong told us before the game that things were going to happen, and of course they did. They had two big plays right off the bat. All we have to do is bounce back. Get the offense the ball and give them a chance to score. We have to come back and make some stops. It was a momentum swing for them initially, but it's up to us to bounce back and not get down. We have four quarters of ball to play. We have to come out and do our jobs and pick up our assignments like we do every day in practice."
(On having something to build on) "This isn't last year's team. It is different. The mindset of the team is different. The fight the guys have is different. We are going to use this as a building point. We're not going to use this as a buffer or a wall. It is a building block on where we need to go. We are going to look at the film and see the mistakes we made, make corrections, come out next week and eliminate the big plays."
Senior TE Cameron Graham
(On Bilal Powell's 80 yard run) "It was a big lift for the team. We were ready to break that play the whole game. Bilal is just lighting in a bottle. We just had to block for him and he made the play. We need to play like that for four quarters."
(On things to build on going forward) "We just have to play four quarters like I said earlier. We have to limit mistakes, the dropped balls and the missed tackles, and play a complete game. "
(On the atmosphere for this game) "It was a great atmosphere. The fans showed a lot of intensity throughout the game. It made us feel like we were at home."
(On the offense struggling) "We need to limit our dropped balls. Sometimes when you drop balls you try to concentrate too hard. You might look away too early. We need to concentrate and look the ball in and make plays for our offense. We need to pay attention and stay focused on the sideline. We have to get the play calls right and limit snap count miscues. We have to play together and concentrate."
(On Adam Froman's game) "Froman showed a lot of leadership in the huddle. He made some big plays for us towards the end of the game. He is our leader and we are going to follow him because we know he is going to make plays."
Kentucky Head Coach Joker Phillips:
"I don't think we played consistently. We made way too many mistakes. It's not what we do. We had way too many penalties and way too many dumb penalties at crucial times. We had penalties at fourth down and penalties at third down and way too many pick plays. Take away 3-4 plays, they had nothing. And our guys on the other end, we were able to be balanced on both ends as far as the running and passing game."
On maintaining confidence on the field "We just wanted our kids to feel that we had confidence in them on offense to score. I believe at times there are times you want to kick the ball on kick-offs and play good defense on them and try and get a short field on offense. We felt confidence on offense and our ability to score. It worked out this time. Down the road, if it doesn't work, I'll be getting it."
On quarterback Mike Hartline: "He's the guy I praise the most on our football team. Mike has taken a lot of criticism and he handled it like a man. He didn't come out here and have a sour look on his face. He had balance in his step and he's 3-0. I don't think anybody else in Kentucky has been 3-0. He did more than just manage the game. He made some plays to win the game. He scrambled and made some throws. He ran the ball when he needed to and he got rid of the ball when he got pressured. He managed the pressure and that's one of the things we thought he needed to do. He was able to get into protection to protect himself. Just overall, he got us into some runs when we had blitz called. We were able to hit them for some big yards. I'm really happy for Mike."
"That's what we've been telling you guys, we think we've got the ability to get the ball down the field. We've got some receivers to make the plays down the field. Chris Matthews, I hope he continues to have a season to have the same type breakout season. From the looks of it today, it seems that he has a chance."
On how the offense looked "What we have to do is be consistent. We felt like we ran the ball efficiently and then mixed in the passing game. We had too many first and longs and too many third and longs. Those are really hard to manage. Whether you have a first and twenty or a third and fifteen it comes hard to make. We got really way down and that's what nearly kept us on the field and almost what got us off the field."
On the decision to run on fourth and one "That's us. We want to be aggressive. We know that the defense is thinking, we have to run the ball and run the clock down. We feel confident in throwing the ball and confident in the players making the play down the field."
On the decision not to start Winston Guy and DeQuinn Evans "These guys have to understand there are consequences for not being on time. We ask everybody to be on time. Those guys were late for a meeting and we have to set the tone for our discipline, also. Those guys didn't start and we didn't allow DeQuinn to go out with the captains. But he's a leader, he's our leader."
