Louisville-NC State Postgame Quotes
October 22, 2016 | Football
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Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
(Opening statement)
"I thought that was a really good win for us. I'm really proud of our assistant coaches and our players on how hard they worked during the week. I thought they had a really good game plan. Our players came out and executed it. I think we got a little tired all week long of hearing about how physical a team they were and how hard they hit and I think our guys took it personal and felt like we were the more physical team out there today. We executed well. We wanted to start the game out throwing the ball. We knew they were going to bring their safeties to the run and try to outnumber us in the run, so the game plan going in was to throw the football and our guys ran really good routes and we had good protection and Lamar was very accurate with the throws. The first half I thought our defense played really, really well; completely stopped the run, got turnovers that led to points. We lost a little bit of concentration there in the third quarter. I liked the way we executed on special teams, so that was a good game for us against a team that I think is pretty good."
(On the defense being so good in the first half)
"I thought we really controlled the line of scrimmage, but going into the game our players, I think, really wanted to prove that we were a physical football team and that we could control both fronts. Our defensive front and offensive front took it personal. We really had a good, hard, physical week of practice and it carried over to the game"
(On Trumaine Washington's first pick establishing momentum)
"It was great. I thought we just did a great job on defense. Understood what they were trying to do, really shut down the run, understood the routes, but to be able to get that interception early and then lead to points is something that really helps you."
(On his confidence in his defense)
"I think we're really good on defense. I think that we do what you need to do to be a good defensive football team, which is control the line of scrimmage, linebackers that have great instincts and understand what's going on out there. And then we're able to get pass rush, which leads to turnovers. We're a smart defensive football team. We are able to do some things with our coverage, even Greenard's interception, was a great defensive call and very, very well executed."
(On Blanton Creque's record setting performance)
"Yeah. I thought he did a really nice job. We brought him out last Sunday night and worked extremely hard on our timing of everything and he did a good job all week long, so I was happy to see the snaps, the holds, putting the ball in the right spot and certainly he did a great job of kicking it."
(On teams scouting Lamar Jackson – how do you help him through that?)
"You do what we did today. You attack what they do and we came out early and attacked the fact that they were going to play man coverage and try to get extra people to the run. I'm very confident that we can throw the ball with anybody, so we come out and execute our passing game and we let him run it a few times, but it was really about throwing the football to win the game."
(What makes Cole Hikutini's so effective)
"He's a good player. He can catch the ball and run and he gets open. It's great to see his execution. I thought he could've scored a touchdown if he didn't cut-back. You have to just have more confidence in your speed. Like Kolby Smith, you don't have enough confidence in your speed so they call you 'Cut-Back Kolby.' He could've easily scored that time I think staying straight down the field."
(On the offensive line contributing to Lamar Jackson's success)
"Particularly in the first-half. I thought they were very focused and they were really giving second effort. I think that's the thing we always talk about with the offensive line is having good effort isn't good enough as an offensive lineman. You have to have second effort, you have to hustle. He had good space. That's what is important to me is that we set firmly and our tackles widen the pocket. Anytime you get space and room, I think you can be really effective as a quarterback."
(Lamar broke the school record for single season touchdowns today. He's just a little bit over halfway through the season, is it kind of hard to wrap your mind around some of those numbers that he's putting up?)
“I don't think we worry a whole lot about that. Congratulations to him. He's an unbelievable competitor. I know that he gives a lot of credit to his teammates for it. Anytime that you're having numbers like that, it means that the other 10 guys around you are really executing and doing their job too. Lamar's a special player, a special young man. I'm just really fortunate I get to coach him.”
(See anything on film on their quarterback coming into the game?)
“We just felt like we needed to mix some coverages up and not let him just throw the ball out there and the receivers catch it and run. I thought that helped us early as our ability to tackle in space and then get some pressure on him and change some coverage looks on him so that he couldn't just go off of his pre-snap look. He had to know what we were doing after he snapped the ball.”
(How has Jonathan Greenard been progressing in practice working behind Devonte Fields and James Hearns and what did you make of his game today?)
“He's a good football player and he's got good talent. Another guy that's very smart - he really understands football. A lot of times he'll know what the play is before you run it. I think you're going to see him just continue to get better and better.”
(Any word on how Devonte Fields is doing?)
“No, not yet. I haven't talked to our the medical staff yet.”
(The way you guys have scored on games at noon – any chance the rest of your home games will be at noon?)
“Yeah, why not? Right? But we really don't have anything to do with the time. They just tell us when we're going to play. All we want is for the crowd to come early and stay and be great for us. I think it helped us a few times on third down - there's no doubt about it. It was great to look up there and see all the seats full and I think we put on a good show for them.”
(How has that changed since your first time through here, just in terms of the support, the interest?)
“I've felt like we've always had a great crowd. I always felt like this is a hard place to play and that our fans are very educated and really give us an advantage. I remember back when we had Elvis Dumervil, it felt like third down was his best friend because it was loud and hard on them getting the ball snapped and then he had a real big advantage to beat that tackle.”
(What do you think of specifically the one, maybe it was Lamar's last throw to Staples, the last touchdown just how he zipped it in there? It seems like he throws some very elite passes for how good a runner he is.)
“Yeah, I think every game you're going to see one or two throws that there's not a lot of people in the country that can make. The first post to Jaylen Smith was perfect, it hit him right in stride and Jaylen showed his speed after the catch, but the perfect throw is what allowed him to continue and score. The throw to Staples was just a great job of a quick release and being able to get velocity on the ball. He really snapped his wrist and that was a fun touchdown, because I don't think a lot of guys couldn't fit that one in there.”
Lamar Jackson, So., QB
(Heard about physicality all week?)
“Yeah we wanted to show them that we were physical too. Two ACC schools going at it, and just came out with the victory.”
(Talk about how good their defense was)
“They are pretty good. Their D-line and linebackers are active, and they move around a lot. They were getting after us a little, but we did pretty good.”
(Putting style points up get in your heads?)
“Actually we just went to practice and we focused, and it was really all about focusing because last week we didn't focus at all and we came out here, and we executed, and kept scoring points. Even field goals, they count, and just came out on top.”
(Was Cole Hikutini a good option today?)
“He's an athlete. He's not just an ordinary tight end that's going to block. He can catch passes. He has speed too, but he got caught on one of them. I had to get on him about that one...”
(Are you going to get on him about the leap?)
“That whole time on the sideline, that's what I was doing. I went all up to him…”
(What did you actually say?)
“I said he shouldn't have done that. Jeopardizing his health.”
(Leave that to me?)
“Yea. No, no, no, not me. He said he did it last year, and he just tried to do it again this year, and we were making fun of him though. Playing around.”
(What's it like to have a defense that causes turnovers?)
“It makes our job a lot easier. Closer to the end zone, and one play from it. It just helps us out a lot. Our defense is pretty good. Great actually, and it helps us out a lot. “
(Are you aware of the record you got?)
“No, Rocco just told me as I was walking in.”
(What did you think?)
“Pretty good, I guess. People don't usually break a school record. That's a goal I guess. I accomplished it.”
(You showed yourself as a better passer) “I could say it's one of the games. The season isn't over with. We have to keep playing every week. Just get ready for next week.”
(What was your best throw?)
“I think the post to Jamari (Staples). I think that was the best one.”
(Not Jaylen?)
“No Jamari (Jamari Staples). Jamari caught a post too.
(You missed throws last week.)
“Yeah, a lot.”
(Did you take any additional reps in practice this week?)
“Yeah in practice. I was mad at myself from the Duke game, and coach saw that. I was like 'man I have to improve. I can't just be out here looking bad, like I run all the time, so I tried to do less running and more throwing.”
(On Seth Dawkins?)
“Man, that's amazing. A true freshman? They told me he was 17, but I don't know for sure. Man that one-handed catch today was crazy. I wasn't expecting that at all. He's going to be great.”
(Why were you not focused last week?)
“I don't really know. It was like the atmosphere was kind of dull, like I don't know. It felt weird the whole game.”
(How much did the offensive line help?)
“Our offensive line did great. I was counting seconds in my head, like five seconds, and that's a lot of time for a quarterback in college even. And our line did a pretty good job. They did a great job.”
Keith Kelsey, Sr., LB
(Coach said you all took it personally. All the talk about NC State being physical. What did he mean by that?) “Well, you know anytime a team says they are going to come out and out physical, you take that the hard as a man and as a team because we feel like we are a physical team as well. So we had to go out there and be physical today.”
(You guys only gave up two first downs in the first half, did you pay attention to that stuff as a team when you go into the locker room?)
Well, it is always a goal. We want to get off the field on third down. We say that's 'the money down.' We get to catch our breath so, we get off the field and give the ball to the offense and do what they do.
(How nice did it feel to get the field a lot quicker than last week against Duke?)
“It felt great. Last week, Duke had like seven-minute drive. I haven't been on the field that long since I've been here so, it felt great this week.”
(You guys scored on seven of your first eight offensively, but so many three-and-outs and three interceptions in the first half as well. How can you feel teams sort of will die off at the end of the first half?)
“Well, you know you can kind of feel it. Especially if we are having fun out there. Everybody flying around. Patting guys up after somebody makes a play. That's the type of football we are supposed to play. That's the type of players we got and we have to do that every week.”
(You guys were dancing around a lot out there. How important was it to be loose and play fast?)
“Well, you never want to be tight. Great defenses and great teams have fun. They are not out there dull, not celebrating with their teammates. They got to have fun and it makes you play better as well.”
(What do you think of the third down music? Do you guys hear it? Do you guys like it? Do you like how they change it up?)
“I pay attention to it a lot. I love it. I'll be trying to get the fans out of their seats and get pumped.”
(Does it help the defense when the offense can score a big lead and the other team has to pass it to get back into it?)
“That helps us a lot. You know, coach Grantham has a lot of blitzes dialed up so we can get back to the quarterback and we do what we do.”
(What was the origin of you guys maybe hearing that they were going to be a very physical team. Do you all hear that on TV or did you hear that somewhere? What kind of made you start thinking what you want to improve?) “Our coaches were preaching it all week, like they are physical team and things like that, but we didn't pay attention to it. We are a physical team and we don't care how a physical they think they are. We are going to go out there and do what we do.”
(You had a great relationship with a long time Cardinal fan who passed away this week. How did you get that news and what are your thoughts on that type of relationship?)
“I got it yesterday. I had to do a ceremony. I had to introduce a former player. Chris Morgan texted me about it. So I had to prepare myself because I had to go out there and talk right before he texted me that. It is heart breaking, but he showed the fight and will he had and I'm just glad to have had a relationship with him right before his passing and with his family as well and they are such great people and I'm going to finish the rest of the year and season for him.”
(How long did you know him?)
“About a month, month and a half. The doctor said he was supposed to die about a month ago and he showed he had fire.”
(Did you see him this week?)
“I didn't have a chance, because the nurses told us he wasn't doing too good so they didn't let me and Christian go.”
(How NC State play against Clemson give you motivation for this game?)
“It gave us a lot of motivation. They went in there and played great against Clemson except, an extra point they could have made. NC State played great so that motivated us to go out there and do what we did today.”
Cole Hikutini, Sr. TE
(Was there something about NC State's defense that made him have a good day)
“We tried to attack the mismatch at linebacker. We went out and executed the game plan.”
(On Lamar Jackson giving him a hard time on the sideline)
“I probably shouldn't have tried jumping over him, but I wanted to get a cool picture like he did.”
(On the high level the offense is playing at right now)
“I think it's at the highest-level right now. Everyone is firing on all cylinders. Our offensive line is blocking, tight ends making plays, receivers getting down the field making catches, then running backs, and Lamar is doing Lamar. I think we're doing good, everyone is on the same page. We're just trying to take it one game at a time and keep winning.”
(On what someone not watching the game would think of the 44-0 halftime score)
“What's going on with defense for NC State I guess, I'm not sure. We have an explosive offense and that's what we try to do, put up points.”
(On if it was important to put up big numbers after last week's game against Duke)
“Yeah we definitely wanted to come out and dominate after last week. We wanted to be physical, that's what we talked about all week was playing physical playing hard. Other than that, we wanted to go out and score touchdowns every time we touched the ball. That's our offense's goal so that's what we try to do.”
(On the focus for this game)
“We had the same preparation, same mindset going into the game. Coach Petrino puts together a game plan and we go out practice, run routes as fast as we can. We knew we had mismatches and we just had to take advantage of them really, go out and make plays.”
(On if there is a need to put up a lot of points for rankings)
“We don't really focus on the whole national picture. We try to take it one game at a time, but putting up a bunch of points is definitely our goal. We want to score touchdowns every single time we get the ball. Field goals are not acceptable for us as an offense basically, so we try to put up as many points as possible.”
(On whether Lamar Jackson has surpassed his expectations this season)
“I don't think so. We all knew how special this kid was. You saw him last year as a true freshman and this whole offseason. The winter workouts, summer workouts, he's just unbelievable. Everything he does is the different gears he has. We all expected him to go out and make plays and do what he's doing, it's just now the world sees it.”
NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren
(Opening Statement) “Obviously disappointed, we didn't play well in this game. We knew we couldn't turn the ball over and give them a short field and we did that repetitively early on in the game. We did run the football effectively. Will Richardson was out and that hurt us, and Matt (Dayes) got dinged up and took him out of the game so two of our guys. They did a really good job defensively, they dropped eight and had some different coverage packages early on so good job by them. To win in a game like that, against a team like that, offensively we couldn't give them a short field and we did, repeatedly. So obviously I thought we played hard in the third quarter but at that point it was a little too late. We're not going to be a good team if we rush for twenty-five yards, that's just not who we are, we're not going to stand there and throw the ball and win, that's not our offense. Defensively, up until this game we did a nice job not giving up explosive plays for touchdowns and they had a couple, so it just wasn't a good performance. Obviously it's on me as the coach to have them ready and we weren't ready to play today. We didn't execute.”
(How much of this week do you think had to do with last week?) “It's hard for me to say there isn't but at the same time I'm not going to blame it on that. I thought that we did practice better than I thought we would, coming out of what we dealt with last week. But Louisville executed at a high level today and it obviously wasn't our best against their best. They played a really good game, we didn't and I can't tell you that we weren't emotionally hurt last week. We were but I don't know if that's the reason it looked like it did today. It's hard to say that.”
(Any news on Matt Dayes?) “The trainer said that he was okay but Dayes just didn't feel like he was himself so I opted to keep him out of the game.”
(Was Lamar Jackson what you expected or almost better?) “He's what we thought he was going to be. He's been great all year. He's breaking records left and right and we knew that coming in. The thing that he's got around him, like I said multiple times this week, is he has really good players around him. I think that's a really good football team. Offense, defense, special teams, they do a really nice job and to beat a really good football team you have to play like we did last week. You've got to play a really good game and we just didn't. If you turn the ball over against a really good team you're going to look bad. If you give up big plays against a really good team you're going to look bad and that happened today.”
(From a personal standpoint, how are they different from Clemson?) “I think they have better depth at tailback. They rely on that. I think they have a better running game. Whether it's the tailback or the quarterback running. Their quarterback runs are probably more often than Clemson's. Defensively, they do have a little bit more variety I think in their coverage packages. Clemson will just jump into man-to-man and give you different looks that way. There's a lot more fire zone type defenses that they're playing with that can confuse the quarterback. But they're both really good football teams.”
(You think the ACC has a shot at having two teams in the Playoff?) “Potentially, yeah. Obviously it's up to those teams to win out to get that kind of conversation. But they are both worthy if they do that. They both play tough enough schedules.”
(With Will Richardson, is that a long-term thing?) “I hope not. He was sick and had migraines and you know we were hoping to get him better and couldn't. So we will see when we get back how he feels. He had really, really bad migraine headaches this week and wasn't able to get back with us. “
(What did you tell your crew down 44 at the half?) “I just said you've got to forget about the score right now and we've got to play one play at a time and one drive at a time and do the best we can here and see where we are at the end of the third quarter. That wasn't the team that we played with seven days ago. Let's just go back to being who we know we are. Playing physical and playing hard, having good communication on the field, doing the things we are capable of doing. I thought we did that in the third quarter. I thought we played much better.”
29 Jack Tocho, Gr., CB
(What do you think about last week and just still trying to get over Clemson?) “I don't think as a team we tried to make it seem that way. But you know, as we kept preparing and stuff there are little spurts and occasions where we spoke about the game last week and things like that - so it kind of overlaid into the game we played today.”
(How would you describe the first half where they were getting off on that lead and kind of getting what they want?) “Explosive and we just weren't prepared to bounce, to fight back. They kept throwing punches and we just weren't punching them back.”
(Do you see a physical difference between them and Clemson? Were they any different or any more difficult?) “I think the quarterback plays a big factor. Just his ability to scramble and keep the play alive. Being a DB covering for more than like seven seconds, that's a big task.”
(Where do you think you guys go from here? Are you just trying to throw this one away?) “Yea we don't have a choice. I mean we can't keep pressing on like that. We always have a one and on mentality so this game is behind us and we just have to keep pressing on to Boston College now.”
(Obviously you guys praised Jackson a lot during the week but was he almost better than perhaps in person?) “There is a real difference between game film and real life speed. And he is a tremendous athlete. He did have that quick twitch that we expected but it just showed in the first have that we weren't really prepared for it."
Joe Scelfo, Gr., C
(How much of this week was about last week and just trying to get over that type of loss?) “I couldn't really answer that I'm not sure, that was our whole this week was to forget about the Clemson game and move past it. So um I don't know I couldn't really answer that confidently.”
(Tell us what was going wrong there in the first half, that turn over in the first possession couldn't really get the running game going either) “Yea I just think we started slow we talked about – what a great week of practice that's the thing. That's what's frustrating. I mean our whole goal this week was to start fast again, the same as last week and we just didn't execute the plan.”
(Was there a difference between Louisville and Clemson?) “They're both really good football teams, but so are we. They both have their own things that they're really good at. Like I said I have respect for both their teams.”
(Was today's loss easier than last week at Clemson?) “I don't know. I don't think any loss is easy. But there is nothing we can do at this point, we just have to move on. Our goals to go a bowl game so we got to get it done.”
