Louisville-Eastern Kentucky Postgame Quotes
September 07, 2013 | Football
Sep 7, 2013
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
| USATSI Gallery
Louisville Head Coach Charlie Strong
(Opening Statement)
“There were some mistakes in the first half. But It is a game that we can really correct. We can go back to work tomorrow. Make some corrections and get ready for Kentucky. “
(Was the expectations for the offense too high for today)
“Well you always talk about raising the standards and you always know what you have. You know the potential you have on offensive and all the weapons you have. And when you get the ball down into the red zone you want touchdowns. You want touchdowns instead of field goals. We missed opportunities. And we had guys that were open, but we weren't able to throw to them. We just weren't able to move the ball. We have to score when we get the ball and we want touchdowns.”
(What wasn't working for you)
“Just stay in the blocks. Just doing a better job and stay on the blocks. We have to create the seams and we didn't create the seams.”
(Did you learn more about your team than you did last week?)
“I told the team right before the pregame meal today, if you can go out here and play hard today, then we are taking steps to become a better team. That didn't happen and we would like to see that happen. Just because we feel like we had made a move, we raised the standard and we are trying to take another step. And if we would have went out today and took care of business, which, we didn't do.”
(Were you pleased with the defensive effort)
“We created some turnovers. But still, we gave up a big throw, when we jumped off sides. You still have to play the ball, but we kind of stood there and let the guy catch it and the guy threw the ball over our heads and scored a touchdown. You just can't give up those throws. We were able to create turnovers. A lot of lost yardage plays, but still we can play better.”
(On the Burgess missed interception)
“I told him to catch the football. He makes a good break there to catch the ball. He just continues to improve. Burgess is one of those players that can just make plays because he is very athletic. He's a guy we can put in man coverage.”
(On Lorenzo Mauldin)
Mauldin had a good day. With Mauldin with him he thinks every down is a third down. Where he wants to go on the field and rush the passer. He's doing a really good job. So, when I first heard about his accident, I rushed out of my seat and rushed down there as quickly as I could. Anytime you hear that one of your players gets hit, you are totally concerned. But when I got down there, and the doctors had checked him out I felt comfortable with what the doctors had said. And I knew if he could play, he would play.”
(On Teddy calling off the punt team)
“No you can't call off the punt team, not in that situation where that ball was. It was a 1:10 left before half and plus our side on the 50 , no we were going to punt that football. I told him to get off the field, we have enough coaches on the field. We have enough coaches on the staff, the punt team is coming. You don't send them off the field. Then we got a turnover if you remember we picked the ball up and almost went to score”
(Do you plan on using the tight end more in the passing game)
“Really the coverage dictated where the ball was going to go. They were playing quarters so middle of the field is going to be open. We can push vertical and get outside routes to get the safeties off the hash so the throw was there”
(About Devante Parker's play)
“Devante is a playmaker if you look at the throw we threw down at the end zone, he's so athletic he jumped up and took the ball of the defensive back head. He's fast enough to where he can stretch the field which he did on that post route. He's an exciting player to watch.”
(On facing a quarterback like Jared McClain)
“The thing about McClain is that he's very athletic and we knew we had to keep him in the pocket. A couple of times he broke out and if you watch him when he broke out you see how athletic he was. He was able to stretch the field and make us miss and get back across the field. When you get a quarterback like that you've got to keep him contained and keep him in the pocket.”
(On Teddy Bridgewater's playing time and taking him out early in the 4th quarter)
“Well, I didn't think offensively that we were in sync. We would've taken him out earlier if we thought we were and we just wanted to try to get back in there and run the ball. So I said 'Hey, let's take Teddy out and try to run the ball.”
(Do you ever tell Shawn Watson to try to get DeVante Parker the ball more?)
“It's so hard because you know you have DeVante there, but then you have 7 (Damian Copeland) sitting on the other side also and then you've got the guys inside with Eli (Rodgers) and 4 (Robert Clark), and then with the tight ends playing as well. You allow the quarterback to find open guys. I don't know how many yards DeVante ended up with, but Teddy told me before the game that he would have 200 yards receiving today and he ended up with 134. I think he just knew what the coverage was and he felt like he could get him open. He missed him on a couple of throws. If it wasn't for that he probably would've been close to it.”
(What grade will Teddy give his play today?)
“Probably not very good because he's so hard on himself.”
#5 QB - Teddy Bridgewater
(On a having a sense of disappointment)
“There is a lot of disappointment. I feel we did not play up to our level. We're chasing perfection and today wasn't near perfection.”
(On what needs to be fixed)
“The simple things. We have to be able to run the ball more, and that's something Coach Watson was complaining about.
(On the run game)
“I have no idea. We just could not get it going. I'm pretty sure we're going to fix it.”
(On his personal rating)
“I played average. I left a couple of incompletions on the field, and could not make a pass to Eli Rogers. These are all fundamental things, and I am still getting better so I'll learn from that.”
(On end of first half calling off punt team)
“It was a little confusing, because of the no-huddle tempo. The offensive line was already at the line waiting for the ball to be snapped when the punt team ran on the field event. So I was just thinking I know we run the play and get the first down. Coach is a genius and he calls the plays and he wanted to punt.”
(Was he surprised when EKU deferred the ball)
“I am not surprised at all. If a team is going to give us the ball and we're just going to come out and we got a couple of openings in this game. We'll just come at you.”
(On the Kentucky Game)
“Right now I have no idea how Kentucky is looking, but on the rivalry there is going to be a lot of passion. We've got a lot of bragging rights on the line, but we're just going to treat it as another game.”
(On DeVante Parker being third on the list for career receptions, what does it feel like to be part of that?)
“It's a great feeling. I had no idea where he stood in touchdowns, I just see it as going out and playing pitch and catch...
(How much confidence does he have in DeVante making an athletic play on the ball)
“I have total confidence in him. He's doing in since he arrived on campus.
(On how long it takes to get into the mindset for Kentucky)
“Right now. Eastern Kentucky is in the past. Right now we're moving forward to Kentucky. We'll be back tomorrow at practice.
(Playing at Kentucky's Commonwealth Stadium)
“It is a tough environment. Their fans are very passionate. You see a lot of blue and a lot of red also in the stands. Our fans will make the trip down to Lexington. It's a great feeling being able to play against an in-state rival.
(Almost 400 yard day)
“Everyone may see 397 yards today, but what I see is the less than 100 yards rushing. I build my success around complete offense and total offense. I may have thrown for 397 yards, but there are some things I'm going to have to work on... my check game, getting better looks for the running backs. I'm going to watch the film and evaluate tomorrow.
#2 MLB Preston Brown
(On being defensive player of the game, is that your goal as a senior to set the tone?)
“It is my job to come out and set the tone for the defense and get everybody hyped up and ready for the game. It feels good to be acknowledged after the game for that.”
(Is it a goal to have shutouts in the first half like you did in the first two games)
“That is our mindset for the rest of the year. We want to get shutouts and that's what we want to complete throughout the whole season. Hopefully we can go out next week and do the same type of stuff.”
(On next week being his last time playing Kentucky in Lexington)
“It should be a fun experience. My last time in this rivalry, hopefully we will get out with a win next week.”
#9 WR DeVante Parker
(His personal take on offense execution)
"I think I did okay. I've got to come out probably a little harder than I usually do, but today we all did good though."
(Was overall passing strategy to set up the running game?)
"Whatever is open is what we go to. We're trying to get to running game going sometimes."
(Team atmosphere on upcoming UK game)
"We are not really talking about that yet. Our focus was on this game but we will get into that this week."
#94 DE Lorenzo Mauldin
(On the performance of the defense)
“Through the first three quarters we pretty much had a shutout. They ended up getting a score at the end of the second half. We pretty much just stuck it out today and flew towards the ball.”
(On his personal performance)
“I was seeing what we had been practicing all week. We seen a lot of power runs and a lot of blocks that I'm supposed to get. Otherwise, we pretty much did what we had to do.”
(On the performance of the offense)
“They always do what they are supposed to do. That's what we can look forward to and just make sure we do what we're supposed to do.”
#18 TE Gerald Christian
(Talking about his game play today)
“I was just happy to be back, I feel like I had a good game. I still can get better on assignments and technique, there's always room for improvement, but having some catches and scoring a touchdown always feels good.”
(On scoring the touchdown)
Was it his first? “Definitely as a Louisville Card, yeah, it feels good, especially sitting out the end half.”
(The middle seemed a little more open today)
“They ran a lot of 'cover 6,' so sometimes the seams definitely to the boundary, the seams were open. We were already prepared for that, so when coach called some of the plays, I already knew I would be open, so it felt good, and I was excited.”
(On being unhappy/disappointed about not seeming as sharp offensively)
“We always have high standards, we always want to have the little things right. There were times that we went three-and-out, and our expectations are to never punt the ball and to score on every drive, so we always feel like there is room for improvement.”
(On how the TE's are fitting into this offense)
“We do good and Coach Watson, he loves the tight ends, he tries to get us in there a lot. He has a lot of plays he draws up for us, I like this offense.”
(On becoming more comfortable after breaking out in this game and going forward)
“I felt good, even though last game I didn't have as good a game, catching-wise as this game, but I was still just happy for the win. I just felt like being patient, I felt like my time would come, I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself. I felt like if I played like I knew I could play and everything would happen.”
(On his overall grade for the game)
“The way that I see it, a B minus.
(On whether or not there was a score, in their minds, that they wanted to put up)
“No, we were just hoping to score, our goal was to score on every possession, we always try to score on every possession, we don't want to punt the ball.”
On sitting out last year and learning from that:
“Yeah, I learned a lot. Last year, even though I wasn't playing, the coaches, they always had me watching what was going on. They were trying to get me prepared for this year, coming up, so I was really paying attention. When spring came, I already knew a lot of the plays, so it wasn't like I had to re-learn everything.”
(Was there a sense, on the field, that they weren't in the same offensive rhythm as last week)
“Yeah, it was like that, but we just kept not getting down, but just kept trying to push on each drive come out and coach says 'chase perfection,' so that's what we try to do on every play.”
(On what he thinks happened to the running game today)
“I don't know, I couldn't really tell, I'll have to watch the film.”
On Coach being upset about the blocking:
“Yeah of course we could do a lot better.”
(Was it frustrating on some of the plays, knowing they're trying to 'chase perfection')
“Yeah, it was frustrating but even when you're trying to chase perfection, it's always hard to be perfect. At the end of the day, there's always things that go wrong, you just always try to be perfect. If you're on top of yourself trying to do everything right, and you can get all 11 men to everything right.”
(On how the touchdown felt)
“It felt good, really good, I'm glad to be back.”
(On how it felt sitting out last year)
“Last year, that was tough, just to come at home games and sit on the sidelines, knowing you want to play really bad, because you practice with this team every day to help them get better. But when game time comes, you can't play, you just have to sit there and watch. [Does a day like today make it all worthwhile?] “Yeah, it makes it all worthwhile.”
#94 DE Lorenzo Mauldin
(On the overall game today and getting ready for it)
“Today we came in ready, we've been practicing for EKU all week. We flew to the ball better than we did last week against Ohio. We pretty much went with the same defense that we went with Ohio, so we knew their team would play fast.”
(On having a nice outing today and forcing fumbles and tackles)
“Actually I give the credit to Calvin Pryor on the first fumble, I just basically stood as the backup, and Calvin came in and knocked the ball out. I went for the strip, but I don't know which one of us got it. The second fumble, I didn't know that the ball came out, so I just know that I did my assignment, which was to tackle the ball and that's what I did. I'm just glad that the ball came out and we were able to get it back.”
(On playing like it's third down every time and getting to the quarterback)
“The backfield is my best friend to be honest. I love being in the backfield, to be able to come off the ball and get back there it's like a breath of fresh air. Everything blacks out when I'm off the line, but next thing I know, I open my eyes and I'm back there and I'm making a play.”
(On how this week may be different in preparing for UK)
“All I can say is UK is a football team just like everybody else. All we can do is prepare for them. We have to step up the ante, you know, they are an SEC team. We all have to be able to not just go out there and play like it's anybody. All we can do is prepare for them, and be able to go out and perform like we did today.”
(On chasing perfection like the offense)
“That's exactly what we're doing. Before the game we set goals, and I'll know tomorrow if we got those goals, but we set goals for this game to get at least six sacks for the defense, and be able to hold the team under 150 yards. But that's pretty much what we're doing, chasing perfection, Teddy said it best.”
Eastern Kentucky Head Coach Dean Hood
(On whether the team can walk away from this with their heads held high)
“Well, I thought that the kids played hard. There were a lot of things that we did well. They weren't able to run it on us, which is a plus. I thought our rush defense was really good, and I thought our kids were flying around, but they just couldn't create any turnovers, and that is the negative. If you want to have a chance to win a game like this, you have got to create turnovers. It wasn't from the lack of trying though; our kids were flying around, hitting good. They did a nice job of ball security and a nice job of managing the game. You know, what is scary when you play an FBS school the caliber of Louisville, you have to worry about special teams, you worry about that 85 vs. 63 scholarships, and their twos and your twos. Down the final stretch of the game I thought we did a really good job on special teams. Covering kicks, kickoff returns, and punting the ball. The negatives are we turned it over. You can't do that against anybody, particularly somebody that is as explosive as Louisville is, and that really hurt us. During the first quarter I really felt good about it. You know, even though we were down, I felt like we had good field position the whole first quarter, and then we got a personal foul on our long snapper, real aggressive guy (laughing). Got hit with a personal foul, late hit, and it let go of some field position, and then turnovers and penalties took us out of field position, and then it became a try to catch them game. We weren't going to get out of who we are, because if we would have done that it would have been 100 to nothing. We were trying to win the game; we just weren't going to be stupid.”
(On holding UofL under 100 yards rushing but still having a tough game)
“We had a hard time out there but if we would not have turned the ball over and not had a couple of penalties because that is what took us out of field position. It would have been a lot closer because we were stopping the run. If we could have generated something on offense and not fumbled or had an interception it would have been a little bit closer.”
(On the touchdown drive)
“Nice catch by Devin Border and I don't know if they had their starters in or not maybe coach strong made some substitutions maybe that's why we had success I'm not sure.”
(On Bridgewater playing in the fourth quarter)
“I don't think he was nervous about us coming back. I think they just had a couple things that they wanted to work on.”
(On how does the team rebound after a game like this)
“We won last week together, we lost this week together. Whether we won this game or lost it doesn't matter as far as preparing for Coastal Carolina. It would be a lot happier in the locker room, but it really doesn't matter as far Sunday we're right back to ground hog day we work out, we watch film, and we get into our regular game week schedule and prepare for a tough Coastal Carolina.”
#43 MLB Ichiro Vance
(How did you feel about today's game?)
“We played against a great team, a top ten team. Teddy Bridgewater is an awesome quarterback, and he has a lot of really good talent surrounding him. It's a matter of coming out there and making tackles. We need improvement in some places, but we'll come back next week full throttle.”
(You knew Teddy was going to take shots down the field. How did you prepare for that?)
“We set up different defenses based off what we know he is capable of doing. It's a matter of alignment and assignment execution. We came ready for the run as well, but they passed for most of the game. That's Teddy's forte.”
#12 QB Jared McClain
(How do you feel about the overall effort?)
“We played a top ten football team and they showed it. They had a great defense and offensively we put ourselves behind the chains. We'll just clean things up and get ready for next week.
(On being able to figure out their offense as the game went along)
“Yeah but we just have to play better, it's as simple as that. We just need to quit making mistakes, and start executing offensively and defensively. We'll look at the film, talk about it and learn and get better from it.”
(Overall do you feel pretty good? Is it a moral victory or just another loss?)
“It's a loss, this game is about wins and losses and we lost. We're going to keep our heads up, watch the film and hopefully get better for next week. I think we can use it as a learning experience to make our guys grow.”
