Louisville-Syracuse Postgame Quotes
November 07, 2015 | Football
- www.GoCards.com -
Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
(Opening statement) “I'm happy for our team because they worked hard all week long. We put a lot of effort in it. It's our best team effort all year with the offense, defense, special teams. We had a lot of really good individual performances and it's something to build on. The hard work and the dedication pays off. I was really happy. We had a lot of guys smiling on the sideline and guys making great individual plays. It was one of the fun games.
(On being ahead in the fourth quarter – how does that change approach) “Maybe I'll live a little bit longer. It has been one of those years where everything has come down to the fourth quarter. It is good to see. It is good to see the third quarter when we came out and really did a nice job of separating. That was the one thing, you are nervous about coming out of the locker room. You look at the score. See where it's at. What happens if they score a touchdown? We get three and out. What we have to do. It played out real well. I think the third quarter was a critical quarter for us.
(On the offense) “We finished drives, we established the run. I was happy about our offensive line. It was great to see Jeremy (Smith), and Brandon (Radcliff) and LJ (Scott) make plays, running the ball. They broke a lot of tackles. We were able to get them into the secondary by blocking their front. We did a good job of running the ball and we did feel like, we could throw it on them too. We felt like we could get open. And, get the ball out on time. They did have some wild blitzes that they ran at us that got us a little bit there in the second quarter. We wish we could have gotten one more touchdown before half. But our guys did a good job in the locker room and adjusted to it and I thought we executed well in the second half.”
(How big was the drive with a minute to go in the first half?) “That was a well-executed drive. It was good to see and a really nice touchdown play. One that you practice all the time. Hit the right coverage… Great route… Great throw… Standing in there, taking a shot. That's one of the things you always talk about with a quarterback is he's got to stand in there and take the shot when he delivers the ball.”
(How do you think Kyle Bolin played overall?) “I thought he did a good job. He had the one early mistake in the second possession. Actually hit a different coverage than really we practiced all week, so that's probably my fault. But he had an off corner. You don't throw a corner route against that. So it is just a mistake that he made. The great thing about Kyle is he is very confident. He came back after it. And it didn't affect him at all. That's what was really good to see. He distributed the ball well. I think we must have had a lot of different guys catch balls. And he did a good job in the run game. I think that really helped us.”
(About when they knew to go with Kyle Bolin) “Lamar looked good Tuesday and then Wednesday and Thursday, he really had a setback. Reggie, we were encouraged early in the week. And then, he had a day where he didn't, wasn't able to do the things you have to do to be ready for Saturday. So, we actually knew Reggie was done early Wednesday morning, that he wouldn't be able to play for us.”
(About playing “Petrino football) “I think we went back to basics and really executed our offense. We go out and practice. I would anticipate Kyle (Bolin) being the starter. He earned that with his performance today.”
(About opening up the running lanes) “It put some pressure on the safeties and the style of defense that they run. Their safeties have to come downhill and tackle, once you are able to loosen them up. The receivers have gotten in good positions to block them. And we were able to break some tackles. I was really happy for Brandon Radcliff. He struggled a little bit this year. He has not had the same success he had a year ago. Although it pretty much started against Syracuse (last year). So we will see him finish strong.”
(About going for fourth down to give the offense confidence) “It was big. It was maybe a stupid call. You know. But if we don't get it, it is really a bad call and gives them a position to go and you are not doing anything. But we had practiced it all week. We knew there was a period we were or a time we were going to run it whether it was fourth and short or third and short. Our guys did a good job of executing it and it was open.”
(About defense getting takeaways) “It is huge. They are doing a great job. We couldn't get them sacked. That was my main concern going in, that he was able to run around and he made some good plays doing that. His ability makes you miss run. And you know, he made some good plays doing that. Certainly allowed him to score some points in the first half. But we kept coming and going at it and we had good coverage and did a nice job with the interceptions.
(About Trumaine Washington had a career high tackle and interception) “I thought it was huge. It was great to see him have the confidence because I think he knew it was coming and he had the confidence to jump it and go make the play. Sometimes when you are young, you know what is coming and you still hesitate a little bit. He didn't hesitate at all. He knew what they were running. He does a great job of studying film. He knew he had a hard day's work today. They do a lot of stuff in to the short side of the field. In the passing game and the run game. So he knew it was going to be a big game for him and he came out and produced and played great. So, I couldn't be more happy for him.”
(About what made the tight ends effective) “Throwing them the ball and just kind of getting back and executing and moving the ball around. We like our tight ends. I like all four of them. This is a good group. To get back and execute and get them involved more. We had them on the field more. They got more opportunities.”
(About getting wins under belt to change attitude) “No doubt. Two years in a row we have had to do that.”
(About Brandon Radcliff) It hasn't been him. It has been the entire offense. When you are running the ball well and guys are having success. It's all 11 other guys and 10 other guys play a big part in it. The offense has struggled running the football. Some of it has been being young. Some of it has been the ability to get to the mesh point in the right spot. Some of it has been being able to execute and get out of bad plays into good plays. Some of that has been the running backs not hitting the hole like they normally do. That is why I was so happy for Brandon today. No question it bothered him last week when he didn't get in the game. But he didn't sit around and pout all week. He went out and worked extremely hard and knew he would get another opportunity and he took advantage of it.
(About Brandon Radcliff being a good fit) “Oh yeah, I think he is a good fit. I think we are not as good of an offense as we were a year ago.”
(On whether the rushing total is because of the offensive line or the running backs)  “All of the above. That would be answer D, all of the above. You know, we blocked better and we finished blocks better. We did a good job of executing at quarterback and getting us out of bad plays into good plays. And then, the running backs I thought hit the holes hard. Broke a lot of tackles you know. We had a lot of yards after contact.”
(Is there any concern with the punt return putting one on the ground?) “No doubt. No doubt. You know. That is something that we work hard at. It is probably my fault. Return it for a touchdown. And he was looking down at the rush coming and didn't get his body in position. You know, he has a sure hand. He has done a good job catching bunts for us. He really wanted to try and return one for a touchdown. So i will take the blame for that one. Because he looked down three times at the coverage instead of just getting his body in position to catch it.”
(The other aspects of the offense, the line or the running back, did they seem to just click better when Kyle Bolin is in there?) “Yeah, you know, we have played some good defenses this year too, you know what I mean? I thought we had a good plan and I thought our players offensive line, tight ends, wide receivers, quarterback, running backs came out and executed it and they all did a good job.”
(Was it a throw or two of Kyle Bolin's that impressed you a lot?) “Well, the touchdown pass was really nice. Because when you watch that on video, he was delivering the ball right as he was getting hit. So those are my favorite plays from quarterbacks. Because I think that is where you are being courageous as a quarterback, you are standing there and you transfer your weight and you deliver the ball and you know that hit is going to be right there. So, I thought that was a courageous throw and a huge play for us.”
(Would Lamar Jackson have been able to play if Kyle Bolin had gotten hurt?) “Yeah that's a good question too. Lamar was available. But he didn't do a whole lot in practice on Wednesday and Thursday.”
Kyle Bolin, So. QB
(Seems like every time coach gives you a chance you come through) “Coaches do a good job of preparing me every week. It's just studying the game plan and understanding what the defense is going to give you and knowing what to do with the ball when they give you that. I feel like I just try to prepare the best I can each week and then when an opportunity is given, just do my best to go out there in perform.”
(How big was that opening drive for you in terms of confidence?) “I think that was a huge confidence booster for the whole team. Looking back on our past, we haven't been very effective on the opening drive of a game and us being able to just go down the field and get a TD in a couple minutes into the game was huge for us. We just have to focus on that tempo into the following drives and putting up more points earlier in the game.
(How much did the offense need this game?) “We needed a lot. We put up tremendous numbers against smaller schools. But the fact that we were able to put up 500 points against a very good Syracuse, ACC team really is going to help us finish the season.”
(On how hard it is to prepare when person on center tends to change a lot) “I don't think it's very tough. The people outside may not know who the starter is until the game day. But inside the team, we all know who's going to start normally in the beginning in the week. The coaches do a great job of game planning the offensive strategies and schemes based on the guy that's going to be playing. And they do a good job of finding the strengths that any of the QB's have. So this week, they schemed to my strengths and I was able to prepare well and go out there and perform.”
(On running game's ability to open up lines) “The line did a tremendous job. They came out very fiery….had a ton of enthusiasm. The running backs weren't trying to overdo it. They were getting the ball and running it hard up the field and I was able to put us in good plays whether it would be away from a blitz or into a blitz. I think that just as a unit, we did a very good job of understanding what we needed to do today to perform well.”
(You seem to find the mesh point well between you and the running back…How do you do that?
And how difficult is that?) “Just having a feel for the backs. Some guys tend to stretch the ball a little more than other's and just knowing who's in the game and where you need to be to get them the ball in order for them to be able to make a cut. We do a lot of work throughout the year and throughout the season with run timing and understanding mesh points and understanding where we need to get them the ball in order for them to perform.”
(How often are you changing plays?) “It depends. If we have a play called up and they give us a look that may give them an advantage on the play that was called, we prepare during the week to know what plays work during certain defensive schemes and which plays we need to get out of. When the O line alerts me and I see it, I'm able to get us into a new play. I can't really tell you how many times we do it.”
(Why do you think TE's were so effective today?) “They're just great athletes and when they're given the opportunity to perform, they always do well so it's just a matter of us getting them a chance to go out and make plays.”
(Petrino says he anticipates you starting next weekend. Do you feel that the rest of the way, that
the job is yours to lose?) Â “I'm just going to come in each week and just prepare like I'm the starter regardless of who's starting. It's the coaches' decision based on who's going to give us the best opportunity to win. So if that's me, I'm thankful for it and I'm just going to keep being hungry and pushing forward.”
(How his style fits in Petrino's pattern of things during the game better than other QB's) Â “I think all of us have ability to perform well. I just think that with experience and understanding the football game, I really try to focus on knowing where to go with the football, where our matches are, who has the one on one advantage in certain coverages and whatever defense they give us. I just go out there and whatever the play call is, I just go to my reads.”
(On the attitude of the QB's) “For all of us, we've all had success and I think that's what strengthens us together. We always have to be prepared. The fact that we've all been in the spotlight, we've all been out there in the heat of the battle. We understand what each other are going through and it allows us to work as a team and help each other out.”
(Has it been discouraging being behind a freshman?) Â “Not at all. Watching Lamar has taught me a lot.”
(On why there were a lot of turnovers from both teams) Â “I couldn't tell you that. On my end, it's understanding the defense and knowing where guys are going to be open at. I made a mistake early in the game, but luckily I was able to bounce back and not make anymore. When it comes to holding onto the football, we just have to understand that when we're about to get tackled.. we have to put two hands on the football.”
Cole Hikutini, Jr. TE
(What opened you up today?)
“We just got the looks that we wanted today, honestly. Not much different of a game plan. Kyle saw what he saw and made the throws that he made, so it kind of just opened up for us.”
(Your second touchdown, they lobbed it in; Kyle was under a lot of pressure. What did you think of his throw to you there?)
“It was a perfect throw. I saw him look at me before the play and I knew it was a mismatch, there was a shorter defender on me, so he looked at me – I knew I had to get off the ball quick and then he just put it up there for me to get. It was a perfect pass.”
(How much did the offense need a game like this to get some momentum going?)
“It is a big win for us. Now we go into the last quarter of the season, so we just have to win out basically. It was a big win for us though. Big time.”
(What is your thought on having Kyle as the quarterback? What does he provide out there and what kind of spark does he give you guys?)
“Kyle is energetic. He definitely brings energy to the team. He is a little more mature so he has more experience basically. I like playing with every quarterback on this team and it's honestly a competition day in and day out.”
(How is the mindset different from 5-4 then it was at 0-3?)
“I mean you always want to win so I wouldn't say that there is a different mindset. Definitely there was a sense of urgency to come back and make sure that we get a positive record. We prepare every game the same. Our goal is to win and move on to the next week.”
(Does the team have more confidence or feel more comfortable at this point when you start out of the gate like that?)
“I say we have gotten the ball rolling a lot better. Everyone is more comfortable. So I guess yes, we are more comfortable. We just have to keep winning.”
(Cole, you got hurt in the first game and it kind of set you back a little bit. How has your season gone and what was this game like for you?)
“I did get hurt in the first game. The training staff got me back really fast, but it's going good. I'm getting the ball more, getting in more, taking more reps. The tight end room is definitely a competition every day. We have Micky Crum, Keith Towbridge, Charles Standberry – everyone can make plays in that room, so it's fun. We make each other better definitely.”
(Has it been harder for you to get in and play as much as you'd thought? Was the competition even tougher than you had thought?)
“Well I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn't realize how good every tight end was going to be, but it just makes us all better.”
James Burgess, Sr. LB
(Talk about the big plays again, the takeaways. You almost got one, didn't you?) “Yeah, I almost got one. The defense was having fun out there today. You know, um, that's why you play the game. There was a lot of effort and energy. Everyone was going hard. You know, um, we gave a glimpse at how good we can be. We just got to be more persistent and play hard, and play to every whistle. We left some plays out there, but we played good for the most part.”
(Why do you think the defense has been so effective these last few weeks?) “We are getting it rolling. Winning definitely helps us bring confidence to the team. Everyone is playing together. Everyone is doing their job and just doing a very good job of executing it. And seeing what you see in practice, people are going to get in the game. They are not hesitating, not taking false steps, and they are just executing.”
(What makes Trumaine Washington effective?) “He's just a great player. He's a student of the game. He studies plays. He reads and reacts very good. He has good ball skills, good tackling skills, open field tackling. He just plays hard with effort and energy.”
(People just said he wasn't good enough to play college ball. How early did you notice this guy is good?)
“I noticed his freshman year. When he came in freshman year and practiced with the team, I told his dad he was going to be a very good player for this team and he's stepping up right now for this team making a lot of plays, but just working awfully hard. He came here hungry and he never changed what he did. Even though he is starting right now, he is the same hungry kid when he first came in.”
(Any sense of relief that the offense got it going today?) “Uhhh, relief? I would not say because we look to stop the offense every time we get out there. We want donuts on the board. We want zero points on the board every time we come out there, but it was good to see the offense keeping it rolling. It just encourages the defense. It makes us want to give them the ball more, to keep it going and putting up points.”
(How about mentally, second half, you are playing with a big lead. You're not playing with a one score lead. Does that affect the way you and the defense approach this game?) Â “Just keep going. Keep going. Keep going all out. Do not give up. Do not let up at all because at any given time, they can score. You know, one player messes up, and it can easily be a touchdown. Like I said, do not let up.”
(How is Kyle Bolin in practice? What is your scouting report on him?) “He's a very good guy. You know, he is smart with the ball. He makes good decisions with the ball. He can fit in a small pocket. He has the arm strength. He is mature. He has good experience with the ball. And he has, he plays with a lot of energy. He brings a lot of energy to the offense.”
(What happened to the team since it's 0-3 start?)  “Well you know, everyone, and I said it in earlier interviews early this year, no one ever looked down. We kept trying, and we kept pushing. We kept chop chopping down the wood. We got our first win, and you know, that felt good. The losses obviously did not feel good. You know we just want to keep that feeling, and try to win out. Just one play at a time.”
(Do you see any difference in the featured back's game?) Â “I would not say I saw any difference in the game. He came in and ran very hard. I think he had over 100 yards. He is working even harder now, and as a result he came into the game.”
Syracuse Head Coach Scott Shafer
(Opening statement)
“First off, congratulations to Louisville on the victory. Obviously, disappointed in the loss for us. I thought the kids were playing hard the whole game, but I thought right there in the first quarter we saw our offense respond well. Guys were playing well. We got to a plus-two turnover margin early in the game, which was one of our big goals, to be up a couple in the turnover margin. And then late there, five minutes left in the half, things went south with the pick six by Louisville. Corner made a nice play and took that down for a touchdown. And then they get the ball back again there and, you guys watched the game. Fourth and two and they throw a late, late delay back to the backside Y, tight end, and make a big play on us. Fourteen points in five minutes, six off the interception and a big play on fourth and two and then they go down and end up making 14 in the last five minutes. That's very difficult to overcome. I thought we went out in the second half and tried to fight, just didn't have enough. Louisville has to get credit for doing a good job against us. I was pleased to see some of the young kids making some plays. (Defensive back Cordell) Hudson, the new starter for us the last couple weeks, nine tackles and an interception. (Safety Kielan) Whitner, another true freshman there, nine tackles, a forced fumble. (Safety Antwan) Cordy, eight tackles, a TFL, and (nose tackle) Steven Clark, two fumble recoveries. That was good to see for those kids. I feel terrible about (quarterback) Eric (Dungey) taking a hit there. The reason I kept Eric in the game is because we were fighting to see if we could go down the field and see if we couldn't get a couple more touchdowns and try to make it a great comeback situation. I feel horrible that he got hit. If I had 20-20 hindsight, I would've taken him out the play before that or something, but I don't. I feel bad about that. Hopefully he'll be ok.”
(On the Eric Dungey injury)
“It was a football play. He got hit. He got tackled. It's upper body. It's his head. He took a hit, a good football hit, trying to make a play.”
(On the offensive struggles)
“I think first and foremost you have to give credit to the defensive side of the ball. On the opposing sideline, they do a good job of making adjustments, and then we have to make our adjustments and try to carry it forth. We haven't done a good enough job with the second adjustments.”
(On dropped passes by Syracuse wide receivers)
“(You tell them to) catch the ball. Catch the ball with your eyes first and then your hands. You know what I mean? A lot of times they take their eyes off the ball and try to peek over their shoulder and try to do something that has to happen after you secure the football. We'll go back and look at it, but you've got to play the game at your speed. You've got to see it first to catch it. Some of those instances there we did a bad job taking our eyes off the ball.”
(On giving up 14 points to end the half)
“It's difficult. It stings bad.”
(On if he has seen any improvement in his team this year)
“Well, I mean not until we win games. That's the number one goal. There's been improvement in different areas. If you go through the whole thing it's good to see some guys making plays. On the flip side of it, we're still making mistakes; we're not as consistent as we need to be in other things. But, there's a lot of encouragement in a lot of ways but there's a lot of things that aren't good enough. You just got to keep working your techniques and fundamentals each day and try and get better. You got to get big and strong in the offseason too.”
(On if they knew Kyle Bolin would be the starter for Louisville)
“No, we had no idea on that. There wasn't an ACC report or anything. I don't know if they were just making sure the other young man (Lamar Jackson) was taken care of. I think they said he was questionable or something. We weren't sure but we were thinking it could happen. So, got to try and prepare for both of them but we didn't do a good enough job of defending Louisville, period.”
(On if they prepared for Kyle Bolin to start)
“We prepared for everybody that they play on offense. He played a lot in the Clemson game as well, so we did, we prepare for anybody that played - both quarterbacks, well really all three because Bonnafon we weren't sure until Thursday if he was out as well. We looked at all of them and had some preparation for each kid depending on who was going to be in the game. So, yes.”
(On the performance of Cordell Hudson)
“I thought he did some good things. It's always hard on sidelines to get a feel for the DBs until after the game where I can watch it. But, it was nice seeing him make that interception. I know he was frustrated because he had a couple plays that he thought he could have made as well. But I really, I couldn't see what he was referring to when he was coming off the field. I really like Cordell. He works extremely hard, real bright. He transferred in with a bunch of credit hours coming in. I really like the way he's working at it. He's gotten bigger and stronger. He put on about 12 pounds last year. So he's got a great future in front of him for the next few games this year and three years after that. I was pleased to see him play with confidence out there. I liked his lift when he came off the field on the drives and I think he's going to be a very good football player.”
(On his message to the team)
“Just what I said to them in the locker room, that the one thing that we know we have is the next day in front of us, the next game in front of us. Extremely disappointed going back a few games – triple overtime loss, the last play of the game against Pitt loss – so close but not close enough to turn it into a W. The thing we talk to the kids about more than anything else is just how important it is to stay true to what's most important. That's controlling the things that are most important, our team, and that's the way we keep continuing to fight back. Keep continuing to encourage each other, not point fingers. It's the hardest thing to coach when things aren't going well. Hardest thing to do with your family when things aren't going well. Why isn't dad making more money, you know what I mean? All those types of things. We look at it as a challenge we put right out there in front of them and talk about it and we say, 'How are you going to take on tomorrow? How are you going to attack through tomorrow? How are you going to listen to what's most important?” And that's what our focus will be moving into the next week as a team, as a family. And that's how we approach it. I've been real pleased in all my time here with the way our kids have responded to difficult situations and continue to fight through it. Because at the end of the day that's the most important thing we can do. Obviously, we've got to win more games to improve and do the things that we want to do and reach our goals, but it's the way you approach the difficult times that makes you a good character young man. That's our focus right now.”
Cordell Hudson – Fr., CB
(On his interception and his play as of late) "I think it went alright, on that interception play we were in thirds, so I had a chance to just read the quarterback and feel the routes. That's basically what I did. They had a single look formation I think, so I was really just reading the quarterback and he took me to the ball and I just jumped the ball I guess."
(Do you feel it's time to step up a bit?) "These past couple of weeks, I've been playing a little bit more. I don't feel any pressure I just need to go out and play my game."
(On preparing for Bolin) "We kind of prepared for both quarterbacks; we didn't know who was going to be playing, so during the week we prepared for both quarterbacks just in case they had No. 8 (Lamar Jackson) came in. we know He likes to run the ball and we know No. 14 (Kyle Bolin)was the better passer, so we kind of prepared for both of them.”
(On the difficulty of preparing for separate styled quarterbacks) "It's not that hard, during the duration of the season we play different types of quarterbacks. We've played against quarterbacks who like to run and we've played against good passing quarterbacks, so it's not that hard."
Zaire Franklin Syracuse So, LB
(Message after tough loss to linebacker group) "It's sort of along the lines of what I said last week. “He was kind of saying 'don't let your standards slip because of the tough times you're going through and how you react in the tough times is going to make the good times feel that much better'. He was telling us that despite everything we're going through he's going to continue to give us his best effort and all he can ask is for us to continue to do the same.”
(On reaching goals and moving along in the season) "I mean, we're 3-6 now and we have the number one team in the nation coming in next week and we have to win three in a row. That's our goal and we have to take it one game at a time.”
(On being a captain, and his message amidst the losses) "Just keep working; you can't let your standards slip regardless of what happens. Meaning: if you're down three touchdowns you can't just stop running to the ball and stop doing what you're supposed to do just because things aren't going well. When you lose this many games in a row and you're on a skid, just because things are going bad, things can easily flip at any point in time so you just have to continue to keep working, keep pressing and be patient that things will turn around."
(On his mindset after Louisville went up 28-10) "It's like those type plays, I always feel like I'm so close but I'm never close enough. I came through free right up the A-gap and I was full speed. I saw it, I dove and I gave him all 230 pounds of me right into his chest and he still put the ball right where he wanted to and it was disappointing to know, that happened."
(On preparing a lot for Jackson and having Bolin start) "It's tough, that's kind of happened to us two weeks in a row now with the quarterback and different things going on. For us, I think our game plan did change, immediately once we realized that 14 is the guy and not 8; But I think he has a similar style to a lot of other quarterbacks we played, like Wake Forest, Wofford; Like when we played him, he has kind of a similar style. We just went to our base rules to handle him but it's tough when a team just keeps switching quarterbacks and we came in preparing to play 8. I don't even think 8 touched the field at all."
(On improvement on defense over course of the year) "It's tough to say that when you keep losing games by large margins. Honestly I feel like how young we are; a lot of my best learning experiences wasn't in the film room, it was kind of out on the field. A lot of guys are taking that next step, I think Keilan Whitner  had a great game today. I think he played really well. You know we got young guy Daivon (Ellison) in there, obviously Cordell Hudson and guys like Steven Clark. You can just see those guys taking their games to the next level, making more plays when before they were just a solid person to fill this hole; Now they're out there and they're being playmakers. Cordell is getting better, my own self and Marquez Hodge and J.T. (Jonathan Thomas); so we are getting better, the games just aren't going our way."
Steve Ishmael – Syracuse, WR
(On not being targeted enough) “Coach Lester does a great job of calling the run plays. He says that he runs the ball so he can open it up for the pass game but we tried to get it going in the first half. We feel like we got to be taking a lot more shots down field, but I respect what he's doing in trying to open things up through the run game. There is only certain things I can control, I just go along with the flow.”
(On who says “we need to take more shots down the field”) “Coach Lester says we got to take a lot more shots down the field, but he wants to establish the run game first. That's his method, that's what he goes by. We talk about it every time, we feel like we can run the ball because we have a good o-line, that's his style and we respect it. We just go with the flow.”
(On going up against Trumaine Washington's) “Trumaine Washington is a great football player. I played against him my senior year in high school. Growing up, I use to watch him a lot watch film on him he's a really good kid off the field as well. I've known that he's a really good cornerback and I was watching a lot of film on him this week because I knew it was going to be a great matchup. He's an exciting player, makes a lot of tackles, not afraid of nothing I was blessed to go up against a corner like that, really good corner.”
(On Eric Dungey's injury) “Eric is a fearless guy, running the ball all the time. I just respect him as a kid. He made a couple of mistakes, but looking at the positive side at least he's getting the experience. He's growing from this a lot just seeing how much he's matured over the past couple weeks is amazing. We take this loss as a team, we don't point fingers. We don't blame anybody. There are a couple of plays that I felt I could make a lot more, blocking wise, but it's tough and we're growing as a team. I respect the kid and he's just growing a lot, I'm just glad to see him grow.”






















