Louisville-Rutgers Postgame Quotes
October 11, 2013 | Football
Oct. 11, 2013
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Louisville Head Coach Charlie Strong
(Opening statement)
“We played really well on defense. When you end up getting eight or nine sacks and hold a team to less than 250 yards. You watch how (Lorenzo) Mauldin, Marcus Smith, and Brandon Dunn inside with B.J. (Butler) inside and (Sheldon) Rankins coming in on the defensive front. We didn't have to pressure that much. We were able to get pressure with four down and play coverage in the backend. It was just fun to watch that game and how aggressive we were and watch our defense get stops. Offensively we had many opportunities. When you look at us in the red zone, and I'll say this, we miss number nine (DeVante Parker). We had some opportunities in the red zone and didn't score. We had a field goal blocked and we're going to get that straightened out. Offensively, we ended up with over 400 yards. I said to our team, this is a great team victory. We got one down and we've got one next week that'll be a little tougher than it was tonight.”
(Why were there so many run plays in the red zone?)
“It's just that we try to have a balance. I don't know why it's more run than passes, but you know what? We just want to score and if we think a run play that is going to work and we have an opportunity to score with it, we're going to run the ball. If we feel we're able to protect the passer we're going to throw it.”
(How is Kai De La Cruz doing?)
“Kai had a groin problem, so he wasn't able to run full speed, so we weren't able to use him in the second half. He was running a route and he just overextended his leg and went down.”
(How close did DeVante Parker come to playing and when did you make that decision?)
“We just made that decision today that he was not going to play. We just don't know how far away he is. He continues to improve and we'll see where we are next week.”
(How close is this defense to reaching the level of the Florida defenses you had?)
“Tonight's performance was amazing. Even with eight sacks, we missed about four and five. When you can put pressure on the quarterback and you can just rush four, you feel like you have a pretty good front. I think Marcus Smith and (Lorenzo) Mauldin playing the outside are two of the best defensive ends in the country because they can rush the passer.”
(On whether he felt he got what he wanted from tonight's 'showcase' game)
“I think we did. We came away with a victory and it was a good game. Rutgers played well also. If you're sitting there with someone watching the game, you're probably saying, 'This is a really good football game.' You've got two outstanding teams and we're able to play well on offense with our quarterback - even though he threw an interception and got hit from the blind side, we still played well. And on defense, we were able to put pressure and the kicking game we played well. I think we showed the country we have a good football team.”
(What makes this defense special?)
“Well it's a defense that, you know, you look at the guys, guys that have started at that position down the middle. I talk about Brandon Dunn, I talk about Preston Brown, and I talk about the free safety Pryor, when you're good down the middle and those guys can erase the middle for you, then you'll have a chance. Because there weren't many runs up the middle, most of the runs were outside. And they were fast enough and quick enough where we could run people back so we could create, if they drop back and we feel like we could rush four, if we don't rush four, we're going to blitz.”
(There were four interceptions, could you talk about that? And also the play of Calvin Pryor).
“Calvin Pryor, he's one of those players that's going to make a lot of plays. You know, I always tell him he's a linebacker, because he won't play close to the line of scrimmage. The four interceptions were big, because, you know, the one with T-Floyd, where we were able to get off the field and then you look at the one on our sideline that Calvin Pryor made was an unbelievable one because I thought T-Floyd was going to turn around and catch it, and then Calvin broke on the ball. And Burgess, I said to Burgess right before he intercepted that ball to him I said, listen, he's going to throw you the ball. And he ended up throwing it to him. Not that I know that, okay, not saying I know that, before we huddled up, I said, 'Ok Burgess, he's going to throw you the football,' and then he throws it to him, and the offensive lineman ended up running him down. It was fun to watch tonight.”
(What is it about Rutgers that sometimes allows these games to be closer than they're expected to otherwise; why are they constant battles?)
“It's just a constant battle, it's the respect for the football programs, and that's a good football team. And I said this, I remember when I first got this job, when you walk out on the field, and you look at a football team. And I was looking at the Rutgers team, and I said to Hurtt, you know, we got to get defensive lineman to look like their linemen, we've got to get DB's to look like their DB's, because they're long, their DB's are long, and their linemen at the time, they were a good looking football team, when we first got here, I said that's the way a winning football team should look. But we ended up beating then there our first year and I was shocked, you know, we were very comfortable in how we just look at one another, and how we recruit against one another, and just going down the line of scrimmage.
(Are you going to miss having them in the conference?
“Oh, you'll miss this game, because it's a fun game and a tough battle. And you like it when we go there and they come here.”
(Without DeVante, Damian stepped up, making eight catches, 115 yards, some big ones late on that drive)
“Oh yeah, it was some big ones and Copeland's been playing well even when, Damian, we had nine, he was playing well, and we missed him on that last one, really could've put it away for us. He was wide open, but Cope is playing well, even with the third down throws Teddy made, he had Eli on the slant, he hit Gerald Christian down the middle with one, Hubbell played very well for us. It's just a collection of receivers, and they're all playing well for us, tight ends and receivers.
(On if they go undefeated are they deserving of a top two ranking)
“I think we are worthy of our ranking and I think we have a really good football team and I will continue to say that. Next week is going to be a really good test for us and we have to continue to play well and let the pieces fall where they may, but I think we have a really good football team.”
(On poll voters saying you aren't playing any ranked opponents)
“People are going to say what they want to say. The only thing we can control is how play on the football field. We have to continue to play well.”
(How would you rate your rush attack offensively)
“We had some runs... Senorise (Perry) broke that long one in the second half. I'd say at the start of the game we did very well running the football. The second half they were able to stop us a few times until we were able to break free that long run. Their front is like that and they bring so much pressure. They are a team that always brings outside pressure. That is what they live by. They live by the blitz and they call them blitz shifts. They can blitz every down, which in the first half they started off not doing that. Then, in the second half they blitzed every time. They will bring the pressure, just like we do ourselves.”
Junior QB Teddy Bridgewater
(Did you leave the message you wanted to leave on a national stage)
“Oh, yeah. Our defense, they triggered all of that with their performance tonight, with all the takeaways and all the sacks. We just played behind our defense today and I believe we got our message through.”
(On the fans wanting him to throw the ball)
“I don't pay any attention to that. I am just out there executing what I am supposed to do. “
(Do you have to fight the tendency to want to just air it out?)
“Coach Watson, he calls the plays and makes the game plan. He does a great job every week of building it around the quarterback. Our system is made for the quarterback to have success and for the quarterback to get the team in and out of the right plays with the check game and get easy completions. I just execute what I am asked to do. “
(Were there any run plays that you checked to pass plays tonight?”
“There was one. I believe we converted a first down on that call. That's what I'm asked to do in this offense; just get us in and out of the right plays. I was able to do that today and we got a first down.”
(On Damian Copeland stepping up)
“Copeland, he is Mr. Reliable in this offense. He's always in the right place at the right time and he's a detail player and it just showed tonight with his performance. I was pretty pissed when I missed him in the end zone with the wide open throw. He lays it all on the line for this team every week. He's a guy who's been in this system for four or five years now and he just understands everything we're doing conceptually and he applies it on the field.”
(Do you feel like you left some points on the field?)
“Oh yes, no doubt. We left about 17 points on the field. We should've easily put up more than 40 points tonight. That's how confident I am in our team but we just have to come back and get better.”
(What was the message you all were able to deliver tonight?)
“That we're one of the best teams in college football. That's the message and there's nothing else to be said about it.”
(On running the ball tonight)
“If things aren't there in the passing game the quarterback can be the check down so I just used my legs and got what I could get and got out of bounds or got down. “
(Were there any pass plays that you checked to run plays?)
“We have a two way system. It's built for us that if we see something we can check into a run and if we see otherwise we can check into a pass. Today they gave us some looks that required me to check into a pass and they gave me some looks that required me to check into a run.”
(How did the team handle being in a one score game in the fourth quarter for the first time?)
“We haven't paid attention to it yet because the defense played a great game today. We're congratulating those guys for picking up our slack. We know we have to improve in the red zone and we're just going to come back next week and continue to get better.”
(On getting off to a hot start and slowing down and if it was the defense that slowed them down)
“Not at all. It's all our fault. We're shooting ourselves in the foot. We're not finishing drives and Coach Washington always talks about being efficient in the red zone. We were pretty efficient but we had two turnovers today. We've been pretty efficient, but tonight we just missed out on two opportunities.”
Senior WR Damian Copeland
(On the differences in the offense in the first and second halves)
“We just wanted to come out and finish as a team. We have grown so much. We all have bought into the system, and we know what the coaches expect from us.”
(Was there any nervousness or jitters playing in a night game on national TV)
“That is all we want, we live for that. I feel like we are the best team in America.”
(What can you do better to prepare for next week against Central Florida)
“We have to come out and attack their game plan. We are going to get in and watch film on them, and hopefully come out with the same outcome.”
Junior S Calvin Pryor
(On performance of the secondary/safeties)
"We knew it was going to be aggressive, so we knew we had to cover on the back down. We had to execute our defense, and that's what we did tonight."
(Personal take on defensive performance)
"Man, we played outstanding. We gave up a cheap touchdown at the end of the half. We didn't even know what formation they were in. But we just came out in the second half and started playing, and then we played balls to the wall."
(On how it feels to have that type of performance on defense)
"Oh man, if they didn't know, now the whole country knows what kind of defense we are. We are going to bring that each week we come out here."
Senior S Hakeem Smith
(It was one of those games where everyone was getting in on the interceptions.)
“It seemed like everyone was getting interceptions. Almost everyone in the secondary had one and that's what we were talking about on the sideline.”
(Defensively is this the best you have played all year?)
“There are still some things that we need to work on, but I would say yes it was. We played from start to finish.”
(Where do you think this defense ranks in the country?)
“I would have to say we have the best defense. We work hard in practice and that shows during games. We used tonight to show that we are a top defense.”
(You guys were a little disappointed with your performance last year, how does that motivate you guys?)
“Coaches always bring up things that happened last year and things we left on the field and worked on. We fought through that and came out and played a great game.”
Junior C Jake Smith
(What happened on that fake play?)
“We had a miss communication, we were supposed to make one call but not everyone got the call.”
(What was it like only being up by 7 in the 4th quarter, and how did you handle the situation?)
“We just went out there and played great defense.”
(This was your first challenge of the season; do you feel good coming out of it?)
“I feel pretty good, but there are still some things we need to clean up especially in the red zone. But otherwise I feel pretty good about it.”
(Did you all leave the message you wanted to leave?)
“You know on the national stage with everyone watching you obviously want to send a message. Rutgers is a good team and have beaten a lot of good opponents. I don't think that game was ever out of control, but we definitely sent a message.”
(Do you think people will discount how good a team Rutgers is?)
“I think Rutgers is a great team. They always have draft picks, they always have good players as well as a good scheme especially defensively. I know they have a few guys that are high up on the draft boards. I think there a good team, national perception might be different than mine but then again people aren't the ones playing Rutgers we are.”
Rutgers Head Coach Kyle Flood
(Opening Statement)
“I'd like to start by complimenting Coach Strong's team. They have an excellent football team. We knew that this would be a tremendous challenge for us and our program to come in here and be 1-0 (in conference) and we didn't get that done. There are certain things you have to do in games like this because your margin of error is so small and we didn't do those things this evening.”
(On if he feels his team didn't capitalize on some opportunities throughout the game)
“Sure, yeah. I thought we were fortunate to get out of the second half at 17-7. I was really optimistic in the locker room because I thought we hadn't really played very well in that first half. The fake field goal got us to a point where we could get one into the end zone and I knew they were getting the ball to start the (second) half. But, I felt pretty good about only being down ten at the half. In the second half when we got it within seven we felt pretty good. I think it speaks to the fight of this football team. There's a lot of things we need to correct from today that we didn't do well enough, but the one thing that we did was fight the entire game and I'm proud of them for that.”
(On the play of his quarterback Gary Nova)
“It's hard to talk about Gary's play without talking about the protection. I think there's going to be, no question, some decisions Gary would like to have back again - sometimes to maybe take the ball and take the sack. But, we certainly took enough of them just looking at it - eight sacks in the game and he probably could have taken two or three others without putting the ball in jeopardy. The biggest issue we have right now is protecting him better. Again, I want to credit Louisville. They have some great players up front and did a nice job pressuring us. But, eight sacks is not acceptable and we've got to do a much better job.”
(On the lack of a run game and the effect it had on Gary Nova's performance)
“I think it always has an effect on it (the game). We didn't run the ball early. I thought we ran the ball better in the third quarter. When you don't run the ball early and you end up in a hole, now you've got to throw it a little bit more to try and get back into the game. If you're lacking both a run game and big plays in the passing game it becomes hard to score points. You know we fought, we scrapped, and we played good defense in the second half in terms of turning the ball over. Even though they drove the field on us a little bit we were able to turn them over a couple times. But in the end the margin of error is just too small. It's not enough.”
(On his team's injuries and having to play young players)
“We've got some young players out there playing - I think eight true freshmen and a bunch of redshirt freshmen. But that's not an excuse. We're not going to make any excuses. We train all those players during the week to perform and they know that when they are on the field they are the starters. So, they'll be better for playing and we'll be better down the road but that doesn't make us feel any better tonight.”
(With the offensive line struggles today and throughout the season does it ever make you go back and think about the shifts you made in the spring?)
“I don't think I can agree with you saying the struggles of the season. I think tonight we struggled against a very good defense, so you know if we end up in that kind of situation again we will be able to come up with a different game plan. But the game plan we had for today we thought would be the right one, but it didn't end up that way for us. But we will have a different plan for next time but we will have to see what the matchups are. The next game for us is at Houston, so we will have to look at their defense and see what the match up are, but I don't feel the same way about our guys up front tonight than I felt the rest of the year. So I can't agree with the question you asked.”
(How about Teddy Bridgewater's play? He ends up with 300 yards, but after the 17-0 lead it seemed like you guys pulled it in check a little bit?)
“Well, again you're not going to stop him from making all the plays for sure. You try to minimize his effect on the game and I thought we did that to a certain degree, but I would have to look and see what they were on third downs, they were 9 of 13 on third downs, I believe that tells you Teddy Bridgewater's effect on that game. Even though the numbers may be there or you may think that's not the type of performance he would usually have 9 of 13 keeps his team on the field and is enough to beat us tonight.”
(Coach what went into the play on fourth down to throw the ball to the end zone?)
“That was just something that we had been practicing and I thought it was the right time. I felt that we need something that would jumpstart us a little bit and get us on the board, I felt good about the call and it worked.”
(Down 17-0 what kind of fight did you see with the turnovers and the special team plays to try and get in a fight and tie it up in the fourth quarter?)
“I don't ever doubt that about this football team. We have played half our season, we have played six games three of them have been on the road, in hostile environments and against talented players. We are 4-2 and there is no lack of fight in this football team, so we are disappointed about tonight's outcome but we are excited to get back to work as a program. We have a lot of football left to be played this year.”
(Updates on Lew Toler's injury?)
“He broke his arm, and Lew's parents were here and they were at the hospital with him. I don't have any more of an update then that, but that's the situation.”
(Did you like your chances in the second half? You recovered two fumbles, blocked a field goal they missed a field goal. Then it was a seven-point game.)
“Sure! I mean we had the ball down seven, on the road in a hostile environment against a top ten-football team. I would take that anytime, and I had complete confidence at that point that we were going to make the plays to win the game. I mean we didn't do that and we have to execute better. There is a lot of things that we need to do better, but if you're asking if I would take that scenario, I would certainly take it!”
Senior DB J.T. Tartacoff
(On the fake field goal)
“We've been working on it all week. It's something we thought we could run and be successful at. I'm happy it worked.”
(On whether play unfold the way it did in practice)
“For sure. The last two weeks, the looks they have been giving me - that was one of them. We got down to the one and scored after that.”
(On having déjà vu from a season ago)
“Apparently I had Louisville's number, but they did a great job. They're a great team and Bridgewater is a great quarterback. They made a few more choices than we did today.”
(On making a contribution to the team)
“It's great, anything I can do to help this team, it's something they can count on me to do and I'm happy to pull it off.”
(On the play last year)
“It definitely was a big play, and then I got to do something similar this year, but you know, you have to forget about it. You can't get stuck in the past and move forward but it would have been great. I'll take what I got this year and we will move on from here.”
Junior QB Gary Nova
(On being comfortable against the Louisville defense)
“It was tough. They were pushing up the field. We just didn't execute. We got in our own way with penalties and I couldn't hold on to the ball.”
(On trying to coming after Louisville missed field goal)
“We were ready to win the game that's what we all were thinking. Our defense did a great job on getting us the ball back. It's on me to lead the team down there and score and tie the game up.”
(On the fourth-and-15 play at the end of the game)
“I felt pressure and stepped up. I kind of threw it too early. I didn't wait for it to open up and wasn't patience.”
(On the interceptions and sacks and if they made the quarterback nervous)
“I don't get nervous. It just wasn't going my way. I tried force one to the sidelines and got picked.”
(On the first interception)
“That's on me. All of them were on me. I can't think too clearly right now, but that's on me. I can't turn it over.”
(On Louisville and its conference schedule)
“Credit to them, they are a great team. But we missed our opportunity. We got in our way too much tonight and we can't win ball games when you get penalties and turn it over.”
