Quotes: Duke 10, Vanderbilt 7

Duke Coach David Cutcliffe

Opening Statement:
"The thing that pleases me the most is the thing that disturbs me the most and that's the mistakes. We did a lot of things that could have cost us the game. The pleasing thing is that it didn't. Our team never quit believing. The energy in the fourth quarter was that we were not going to be denied. Chris Rwabukamba did a tremendous job of competing and we knew he would. There's a guy that's continued to get better and I'm really pleased. I think it was interesting, that I've never seen a group of players happier for an individual, a young man, than when he made that great play. I'm really happy for Mike McIntyre, a native, who got to do this with his father, George McIntyre, one of the finest people and one of the finest coaches that ever coached football. He's certainly not a good man, but a great man. His dad is ill and was here to see him play and our team was really proud to present Mike and George McIntyre with game balls. He got to see his son and the defense put on quite a display today."

On the defensive gameplan:
"We had a good matchup up front and we had some good ways to pressure. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. They are a really good perimeter team and if you can't pressure their quarterback, you're going to have a difficult time defending them. We didn't want their skilled players to get the ball in space. Most of the day they didn't, so we kept them contained. If they don't hit the post, it was about an 80 yard play, then they have about 200 yards of total offense."

On winning against an SEC team:
"It's significant any time the SEC and ACC play. Our players talked about that a lot. It was my first time on this side of the ledger. I noticed before and after the game our players talked about that a lot. We have great respect for the Southeastern Conference. People know that I coached in it for a long time, but these kids measure it as playing against the best. This Vanderbilt team is a really good football team and I think everyone realizes that. We are not a bad football team. We are a 4-3 football team and should be better than that right now, but we have some more football to play."

On the preparation and turnovers:
"You just can't make that many mistakes. Football is a sport of reputation and drilling. We'll be all right. We'll learn from our mistakes. It's not time to panic. It's not time to make any big deal about it. We have a system we believe in strongly about how we practice and what we do and we won't alter that approach."

On the momentum from the win:
"You have to understand where Duke is. It's always significant to win. I think it carries over into Sunday when they practice. I think it is significance for us, getting us ready for Wake Forest, but there's no guarantees. What I want us to do is focus on getting better. We will enjoy this tonight, but we will be all about Wake Forest tomorrow."

Thaddeus Lewis

On not being able to score more than one touchdown
"There was breakdown in protection at times and I didn't take care of the ball like I should of. Obviously as a quarterback, I didn't want to force anything late in the game where I thought their defense could intercept it. I need to look at the film from this game so I know what I need to correct before our next game."

Your coach said that after the Miami game last week that something was missing in the team's attitude. What did you guys do to correct that?
"The seniors met with whole team and they asked us to help them finish their season with a bang. Against Miami we felt like we left something out their end of the field. Senior Michael Tauiliili challenged us this week to play hard for four quarters and we felt like we responded to that this week against Vanderbilt. If we make a mistake, one of our teammates is their to bring our head's up."

On beating an SEC team
"It feels great to beat a team like Vanderbilt. I don't think I have ever beaten an SEC team in my career at Duke. You hear a lot of people say which conference is better and we wanted to represent our conference and our university today. The SEC and ACC is like a small rivalry because team's that play in the ACC think their conference is better than the SEC, and the same goes for teams that play in the SEC."

On winning on the road
"We came together after the Georgia Tech game and said there are no more excuses to lose on the road. We knew what the crowd atmosphere was going to be and we knew what we had to do to take the crowd out of the game. I thought our team showed a lot of character today and we were able to get a win over a good team in Vanderbilt."

On how the defense kept the offense in the game.
"The defense played great all four quarters today. They kept our offense in the game when we weren't scoring points. They played bend but don't break defense."

Chris Rwabukamba

On getting the interception at the end of the fourth quarter
"We were in a cover 2 nickel package and my responsibility was the deep half of the field. I just timed my jump and was able to grab the ball at the highest point to secure the interception. The coaches always tell the defensive backs to go get the ball at the highest point and I was able to make a play. Our DB's coach does drills in practice that simulate that type of play and luckily I was able to make the play for our defense.

"We always emphasize that finishing a game and playing four quarters will give you a chance to win and our coaches put us in good position to win today and the players responded by making big plays."

When did you come into the game?
"Leon Wright got hurt so my name was called and I just tried to do the best I could to help our team get a road win."

On being ready to step in and fill a starters role when someone gets hurt.
"You just have to be ready at all times because you never know when your number is going to get called to go in there. You are always just one minor injury away from being out there in big situations."

Tony Jackson

How was the touchdown play set-up
"I was the primary receiver and when the safety came up to stop the run I just ran my wheel route up the sideline. I ran a crisp route and Thaddeus threw me a great ball to catch me in stride for the touchdown. The coaches are always telling us that running backs and receivers have to make plays in order for our team to win and I was happy I could help out. We're always making big plays in practice but we knew that didn't mean anything until we carried that over to games."

On driving the ball down the field and only coming away with 10 points
"Vanderbilt's defense showed us some blitzes and looks that we haven't seen this year. They caught us off guard a couple of times and came up with some big stops of their own. Our offense has to do a better job of capitalizing on good field position. Luckily our defense only allowed seven points."