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Football
vs Blue & White Game
Quotes: Georgia Tech 49, Duke 10
11/14/2009 4:00:00 PM | Football
Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe
On the disappointing finish:
"The way it started, it gave you some hope. We had an unusual week of practice, because we couldn't get outside [due to the weather]. I thought we were going to be fresh. We were excited and got off to a good start. I was a little concerned when we got the turnover and had a short field, but we couldn't do anything with it. That is almost a little sign, a little kiss of death. Certainly, when they ran the kickoff back, things got a little difficult. We have to play well in all three phases to win. We played some games that we didn't win that we played well in two phases but not in the other. Today, was probably the first time we have seen Duke in quite some time not play very well in all three phases. When that happens to us, athletically, we are not going to hold up. That is basically what you saw happen out on that field today."
On missed play to Vernon open down the field:
"That was an indication of what I just said. When we had a chance to make play...we had people on the right places on defense. Matt Daniels, another vertical play, was in as good a shape as he could and the guy catches the ball, they made the play. Thad [Lewis] had Conner Vernon, we had been on fire. That is one that is easy for us. Bottom line, it all comes back to me. It is execution. We were not ready to ball, that was evident by the way the game started. We were emotionally ready, we were mentally prepared. We were not able to sustain quality play. How do you get to that? You practice, practice, practice until you sustain quality at everything you do. You recruit, you get bigger and faster where you need to. That is obviously part of what we are faced with, coming into this program. We know that. But, we were good enough to make this a heck of a football game today and try to find a way to win it in the fourth quarter. We didn't do that, and it was disappointing."
On finishing strong with two games left:
"I had a good talk with them in the locker room. I didn't know exactly what to do, what do you say? It does come down to this. It comes down to our program, it comes down to this season. There are a lot of things wrapped up in these two ball games that are extremely important to us. We are going to have to unfortunately evaluate some injuries through the night. There is going to be a lot of information coming my way that is going to adjust our game planning and how we try to win some ball games. Not playing well hurt, but we have been dodging the bullet a bit, from the injury standpoint. It really wasn't as much our defense as it was our offense. It wasn't their wishbone that got us beat up, it was the other way around. Some of them didn't even involve contact. We will evaluate where we are and move forward."
Senior Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis
On play of the Duke offense:
"We didn't execute at the level we needed at to compete with those guys today."
On Georgia Tech's defense:
"Those guys were dropping seven in coverage and played a zone. It was similar to what North Carolina did, so the receivers had to do a great job to get open. We did a great job of taking what they were giving us. In this league, you can't hold the ball long, so I was just trying to take what was there underneath."
On the TD to Re'quan Boyette:
"We had a wheel call there. We knew they were in man to man, and Re'quan {Boyette} went underneath the crossing route. I knew I had to put a little touch on it and give him a chance."
Senior Linebacker Vincent Rey
On Georgia Tech's play:
"They are very good. Offensively they run their scheme was close to perfect, you have to play close to perfect defense. They were very sound. They were able to hit us on some plays. Sometimes we were in bad position, and sometimes they just made good plays. So, hats off to those guys."
On trying to contain big plays and Dwyer's runs:
"He had one big run on us in the first half, which a lot of his yards came from. That was a big play, the type that we can't allow. They did a good job of selling a pass and handing the ball off. They had a good day and played well."
On moving forward, what it takes to win the last two games:
"We feel like we have what it takes. You have to see what you did wrong, correct it and get back on the train and know what to do for the next game. You have to play as fast and as tough as you can for the next game."
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
On the beginning of the game:
“We came out and started out playing good on defense and then missed a tackle to give [Duke] a chance to keep the drive going. And to their credit they went in and scored. And then on the punt we had a bad snap so we threw it back there on the ground and gave them a turnover. We held them to a field goal and after that we settled down and played a little better on offense, but we still had some penalties. I think Duke played hard, you have to give them some credit. They were without some of their players and they played hard. We had a couple of big plays and it kind of got away from them.”
On the play of quarterbacks Josh Nesbitt and Jaybo Shaw:
“We should have had a couple of other big plays. The one that got overturned, I think maybe he was trying to put the ball in his other hand I don't know, I didn't see the replay. He had some big plays and guys made some catches for him and we moved the chains. And I thought Jaybo [Shaw] did a good job when he went in there moving the chains. He scrambled around and hit some things on third down. It was good that a lot of guys got to play.”
On the beginning of the game:
“I don't think we came out with nerves, I think we came out and started the game playing a lot of man three coverage and they had a good plan for it. North Carolina played a lot of man against them and really hurt them. They were checking down to the backs and we were missing tackles. They got the backs out in the flat and then we miss a tackle and then on another play they hit the back on the wheel route. So I think you have to give them some credit. Offensively, I think it just took a little bit to get settled in.”
On the offensive line getting a better push up the middle than previous weeks:
“I don't know about that. It was a different defense. They were doing some things that we were going to try to exploit. They were basically man-to-man out there. The corners were out there on those receivers man-to-man by themselves. We had a huge height advantage so we tried to throw some up deep and take advantage of that. Stephen Hill made a great catch and [Demaryius Thomas] made a great catch.”
On the players being excited about winning the Coastal Division:
“I think they are excited. Those guys have worked really hard and a lot of people have doubted them along the way, especially early. They've just been resilient and they kept playing. Lord knows we can play a lot better and we need to. But I'll give them credit, they find a way to win. For the last few weeks, every game they've found a way to win. It may not be pretty and sometimes we do some dumb things, but bottom line is we find a way to win. So I'm awfully proud of them.”
On the disappointing finish:
"The way it started, it gave you some hope. We had an unusual week of practice, because we couldn't get outside [due to the weather]. I thought we were going to be fresh. We were excited and got off to a good start. I was a little concerned when we got the turnover and had a short field, but we couldn't do anything with it. That is almost a little sign, a little kiss of death. Certainly, when they ran the kickoff back, things got a little difficult. We have to play well in all three phases to win. We played some games that we didn't win that we played well in two phases but not in the other. Today, was probably the first time we have seen Duke in quite some time not play very well in all three phases. When that happens to us, athletically, we are not going to hold up. That is basically what you saw happen out on that field today."
On missed play to Vernon open down the field:
"That was an indication of what I just said. When we had a chance to make play...we had people on the right places on defense. Matt Daniels, another vertical play, was in as good a shape as he could and the guy catches the ball, they made the play. Thad [Lewis] had Conner Vernon, we had been on fire. That is one that is easy for us. Bottom line, it all comes back to me. It is execution. We were not ready to ball, that was evident by the way the game started. We were emotionally ready, we were mentally prepared. We were not able to sustain quality play. How do you get to that? You practice, practice, practice until you sustain quality at everything you do. You recruit, you get bigger and faster where you need to. That is obviously part of what we are faced with, coming into this program. We know that. But, we were good enough to make this a heck of a football game today and try to find a way to win it in the fourth quarter. We didn't do that, and it was disappointing."
On finishing strong with two games left:
"I had a good talk with them in the locker room. I didn't know exactly what to do, what do you say? It does come down to this. It comes down to our program, it comes down to this season. There are a lot of things wrapped up in these two ball games that are extremely important to us. We are going to have to unfortunately evaluate some injuries through the night. There is going to be a lot of information coming my way that is going to adjust our game planning and how we try to win some ball games. Not playing well hurt, but we have been dodging the bullet a bit, from the injury standpoint. It really wasn't as much our defense as it was our offense. It wasn't their wishbone that got us beat up, it was the other way around. Some of them didn't even involve contact. We will evaluate where we are and move forward."
Senior Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis
On play of the Duke offense:
"We didn't execute at the level we needed at to compete with those guys today."
On Georgia Tech's defense:
"Those guys were dropping seven in coverage and played a zone. It was similar to what North Carolina did, so the receivers had to do a great job to get open. We did a great job of taking what they were giving us. In this league, you can't hold the ball long, so I was just trying to take what was there underneath."
On the TD to Re'quan Boyette:
"We had a wheel call there. We knew they were in man to man, and Re'quan {Boyette} went underneath the crossing route. I knew I had to put a little touch on it and give him a chance."
Senior Linebacker Vincent Rey
On Georgia Tech's play:
"They are very good. Offensively they run their scheme was close to perfect, you have to play close to perfect defense. They were very sound. They were able to hit us on some plays. Sometimes we were in bad position, and sometimes they just made good plays. So, hats off to those guys."
On trying to contain big plays and Dwyer's runs:
"He had one big run on us in the first half, which a lot of his yards came from. That was a big play, the type that we can't allow. They did a good job of selling a pass and handing the ball off. They had a good day and played well."
On moving forward, what it takes to win the last two games:
"We feel like we have what it takes. You have to see what you did wrong, correct it and get back on the train and know what to do for the next game. You have to play as fast and as tough as you can for the next game."
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
On the beginning of the game:
“We came out and started out playing good on defense and then missed a tackle to give [Duke] a chance to keep the drive going. And to their credit they went in and scored. And then on the punt we had a bad snap so we threw it back there on the ground and gave them a turnover. We held them to a field goal and after that we settled down and played a little better on offense, but we still had some penalties. I think Duke played hard, you have to give them some credit. They were without some of their players and they played hard. We had a couple of big plays and it kind of got away from them.”
On the play of quarterbacks Josh Nesbitt and Jaybo Shaw:
“We should have had a couple of other big plays. The one that got overturned, I think maybe he was trying to put the ball in his other hand I don't know, I didn't see the replay. He had some big plays and guys made some catches for him and we moved the chains. And I thought Jaybo [Shaw] did a good job when he went in there moving the chains. He scrambled around and hit some things on third down. It was good that a lot of guys got to play.”
On the beginning of the game:
“I don't think we came out with nerves, I think we came out and started the game playing a lot of man three coverage and they had a good plan for it. North Carolina played a lot of man against them and really hurt them. They were checking down to the backs and we were missing tackles. They got the backs out in the flat and then we miss a tackle and then on another play they hit the back on the wheel route. So I think you have to give them some credit. Offensively, I think it just took a little bit to get settled in.”
On the offensive line getting a better push up the middle than previous weeks:
“I don't know about that. It was a different defense. They were doing some things that we were going to try to exploit. They were basically man-to-man out there. The corners were out there on those receivers man-to-man by themselves. We had a huge height advantage so we tried to throw some up deep and take advantage of that. Stephen Hill made a great catch and [Demaryius Thomas] made a great catch.”
On the players being excited about winning the Coastal Division:
“I think they are excited. Those guys have worked really hard and a lot of people have doubted them along the way, especially early. They've just been resilient and they kept playing. Lord knows we can play a lot better and we need to. But I'll give them credit, they find a way to win. For the last few weeks, every game they've found a way to win. It may not be pretty and sometimes we do some dumb things, but bottom line is we find a way to win. So I'm awfully proud of them.”
Players Mentioned
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