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Football
vs Blue & White Game
Quotes: North Carolina 24, Duke 19
11/27/2010 8:00:00 PM | Football
Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe
On battling to the very end and coming up just short:
“We were fortunate to be in the game or have a chance to be in the game. I wouldn't call it really in the game, but we were fortunate to have an opportunity there at the end anyway. It was somewhat similar to the other ball game with [North Carolina]. We got whipped pretty good and we obviously weren't as prepared as we needed to be. We didn't play near as well as we should play or could play and that's my responsibility. That's frustrating to say the least. I believe we fought to some level I think, but way too many mistakes. A lack of execution in many areas, which I said is my responsibility.”
On the North Carolina secondary and defensive line:
“They're good. They got good players and if we don't execute well and can't run the ball any better than we did it's going to be difficult. We had our chances even rare as it was, but if you can't function on third down in any league you don't have a chance to play offense. And we couldn't stay on the field.”
On taking play to the next level and get over the top in these close games:
“Close doesn't count for anything in my book. That's just a fact. The expectations certainly rise as you stay at a program. I'm expecting performance and a consistent level of performance that I didn't see today. We played a good football team, certainly not a great football team. We made them look at times like a great football team and that was our doing and not theirs.”
On working with the returning players:
“We have some good young talent and good athletes. At this point I'm kind of hesitant to say anything because I don't want them talking about it. I want somebody to show me. I'm tired of talking and I want to see some people who are going to do and do consistently. As I said, my expectations are [high]. Maybe they are way beyond what they should be, but that's where I am. Again, I don't want to hear a spoken word about what anyone is going to do, I want to see it.”
Duke Quarterback Sean Renfree
On the loss vs. Carolina:
“It was very frustrating to say the least. We just played this one for our seniors, those guys really played hard. I wish it could have ended better for those guys.”
On the end of game scramble:
“That's difficult. You gotta go at least 70 yards and we had to score and with that amount of time it gets really tough.”
Reflecting on the year:
“There are a lot of takeaways throughout the season, especially late. I learned some tough stuff early in the season and I'm just going to keep learning and learning. Unfortunately our record wasn't as good as we would like it to. There were some growing pains that we didn't want to face but I think it will help us grow next year.”
On decision making:
“It's been my goal the last few games to minimize my mistakes, especially turnovers. I think it's helped our team a great deal when I'm smarter with the football. It's something I'm going to carry into the offseason and throughout my career.”
On working on the offseason:
“It starts tomorrow and we're gonna go to work. It starts in the weight room, getting bigger, stronger, faster. It's gonna be a grind until the next camp.”
Duke Safety Matt Daniels
On the closeness of the game:
“You can always guarantee it's going to be a close game when you go against a rival like UNC. It's a lot of emotion and a lot of intensity going into the game, and a lot of preparation. We came out, we gave it our all like we always do, but you know, close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes.”
On the defense:
“That was a really key factor in the game, really dealing with third down conversions were. I'm not sure what their third down conversions were, but I'm pretty sure they converted on almost every third down they had. Those are the times where we really have to get them off the field and we weren't able to do that.”
On UNC Quarterback T.J. Yates:
“[T.J.] Yates has made great improvements since last year. Last year, they really didn't want to put the game in his hands, and just handed the ball off for most of the entire game. And you can really see the progress he has made since last year in terms of being a passer and being able to take over a game. “
On being moved within the D:
“It's always fun to just get down there in the trenches and bang with the linemen a little bit, helping out as much in the run as well as the pass. I'm sure in the offseason we're going to work out a couple of kinks and I'm sure the defense is only going to grow from here.”
Duke Center Bryan Morgan
On the team:
“It's been a great run with these guys. I love 'em to death, they're my brothers, they're my family.”
On what he'll take away from playing at Duke:
“A lot of great advice from the coaches. They're older guys full of wisdom. You'll never get any better camaraderie than from your football team.”
On the growth of the team:
“We've come to a point now that we know we can compete with anybody. We're not a team that just gives it up. We're a team that knows how to fight adversary. That's huge, that's great to go into the offseason with.”
On passing wisdom to the younger players:
“Don't settle for average. Don't settle for anything less than you think you deserve. Just strive for that goal and when you reach that goal, strive for something better than that. Don't ever stop.”
North Carolina Head Coach Butch Davis
On his general take on North Carolina's 24-19 win:
“I told the players in preparation for this ballgame that to win this game, it was going to take a total team effort…that there wasn't going to be any one particular phase that was going to be able to dominate the course of the ballgame, and that we were going to get challenged defensively from a very good passing attack…that we were going to get challenged from their defensive standpoint from a good front seven and a special teams unit that has gotten onside kicks and has done a lot of surprises. They've really done things to other opponents, and we had to get very, very prepared. I told the players in the locker room that it took all three phases to win the game tonight, and that it's never easy when you play.”
On the performance of the offense which totaled 519 total yards:
“I thought the offense with over 500 yards, they were pretty much in control of the game. We moved the ball very well, especially in the second third quarter, scoring some touchdowns. Again, one of the things that's been an issue, you hate getting down there inside the five-yard line and having to settle for field goals. But you know, we scored enough obviously to win the game.”
On the defense, which held Duke to 275 total yards:
“Defensively, we came up with some interceptions. We always talk defense, that you've got to make the game one-dimensional. Holding them to 12 yards rushing made it a little bit easier to kind of focus on the passing game…rushing the passer, making sure you're in coverages, and forcing good reroutes. We had for the first time some turnovers, which certainly makes a difference in the way you play. It certainly took everybody to win the game, and I'm very proud of this football team.”
On converting a number of long third downs:
“Ryan Taylor came up with a huge big play on a third down down the middle. [Quarterback T.J. Yates] did a great job. They expanded on the wide receivers on the outside, tried to take the outside guys and Ryan just outran the middle linebacker. Dwight made some big plays, and his 11 catches a lot of times bailed us out. Like I said, it was a good, solid performance. I don't know what T.J.'s stats were, but a lot of the things that he does that helps our offense, they just don't put them on the stat sheets: the things he checks to, gets us in and out of things and helping with the protection.”
On the performance of his offensive line:
“I thought our offensive line really rallied after last week. I thought that they came back; we ran for over 250 yards, protected the QB really well, moved the pocket some which certainly helped TJ. We got production out of every single group. Tight ends, wide receivers and the running backs did a nice job. On the whole, it was a pretty good offensive performance.”
On his team's performance this season:
“This football team, in all the 37 years that I've been coaching, this is going to be one of the proudest group of guys that I've ever been around, the way that they've answered the bell every single week. In food times, bad times, tough times, there is a huge amount of strength and character in that locker room. There are some great kids that refuse to surrender, refuse to use any excuses. They just went out and competed every single week, and I'm very, very proud of this group.”
On battling to the very end and coming up just short:
“We were fortunate to be in the game or have a chance to be in the game. I wouldn't call it really in the game, but we were fortunate to have an opportunity there at the end anyway. It was somewhat similar to the other ball game with [North Carolina]. We got whipped pretty good and we obviously weren't as prepared as we needed to be. We didn't play near as well as we should play or could play and that's my responsibility. That's frustrating to say the least. I believe we fought to some level I think, but way too many mistakes. A lack of execution in many areas, which I said is my responsibility.”
On the North Carolina secondary and defensive line:
“They're good. They got good players and if we don't execute well and can't run the ball any better than we did it's going to be difficult. We had our chances even rare as it was, but if you can't function on third down in any league you don't have a chance to play offense. And we couldn't stay on the field.”
On taking play to the next level and get over the top in these close games:
“Close doesn't count for anything in my book. That's just a fact. The expectations certainly rise as you stay at a program. I'm expecting performance and a consistent level of performance that I didn't see today. We played a good football team, certainly not a great football team. We made them look at times like a great football team and that was our doing and not theirs.”
On working with the returning players:
“We have some good young talent and good athletes. At this point I'm kind of hesitant to say anything because I don't want them talking about it. I want somebody to show me. I'm tired of talking and I want to see some people who are going to do and do consistently. As I said, my expectations are [high]. Maybe they are way beyond what they should be, but that's where I am. Again, I don't want to hear a spoken word about what anyone is going to do, I want to see it.”
Duke Quarterback Sean Renfree
On the loss vs. Carolina:
“It was very frustrating to say the least. We just played this one for our seniors, those guys really played hard. I wish it could have ended better for those guys.”
On the end of game scramble:
“That's difficult. You gotta go at least 70 yards and we had to score and with that amount of time it gets really tough.”
Reflecting on the year:
“There are a lot of takeaways throughout the season, especially late. I learned some tough stuff early in the season and I'm just going to keep learning and learning. Unfortunately our record wasn't as good as we would like it to. There were some growing pains that we didn't want to face but I think it will help us grow next year.”
On decision making:
“It's been my goal the last few games to minimize my mistakes, especially turnovers. I think it's helped our team a great deal when I'm smarter with the football. It's something I'm going to carry into the offseason and throughout my career.”
On working on the offseason:
“It starts tomorrow and we're gonna go to work. It starts in the weight room, getting bigger, stronger, faster. It's gonna be a grind until the next camp.”
Duke Safety Matt Daniels
On the closeness of the game:
“You can always guarantee it's going to be a close game when you go against a rival like UNC. It's a lot of emotion and a lot of intensity going into the game, and a lot of preparation. We came out, we gave it our all like we always do, but you know, close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes.”
On the defense:
“That was a really key factor in the game, really dealing with third down conversions were. I'm not sure what their third down conversions were, but I'm pretty sure they converted on almost every third down they had. Those are the times where we really have to get them off the field and we weren't able to do that.”
On UNC Quarterback T.J. Yates:
“[T.J.] Yates has made great improvements since last year. Last year, they really didn't want to put the game in his hands, and just handed the ball off for most of the entire game. And you can really see the progress he has made since last year in terms of being a passer and being able to take over a game. “
On being moved within the D:
“It's always fun to just get down there in the trenches and bang with the linemen a little bit, helping out as much in the run as well as the pass. I'm sure in the offseason we're going to work out a couple of kinks and I'm sure the defense is only going to grow from here.”
Duke Center Bryan Morgan
On the team:
“It's been a great run with these guys. I love 'em to death, they're my brothers, they're my family.”
On what he'll take away from playing at Duke:
“A lot of great advice from the coaches. They're older guys full of wisdom. You'll never get any better camaraderie than from your football team.”
On the growth of the team:
“We've come to a point now that we know we can compete with anybody. We're not a team that just gives it up. We're a team that knows how to fight adversary. That's huge, that's great to go into the offseason with.”
On passing wisdom to the younger players:
“Don't settle for average. Don't settle for anything less than you think you deserve. Just strive for that goal and when you reach that goal, strive for something better than that. Don't ever stop.”
North Carolina Head Coach Butch Davis
On his general take on North Carolina's 24-19 win:
“I told the players in preparation for this ballgame that to win this game, it was going to take a total team effort…that there wasn't going to be any one particular phase that was going to be able to dominate the course of the ballgame, and that we were going to get challenged defensively from a very good passing attack…that we were going to get challenged from their defensive standpoint from a good front seven and a special teams unit that has gotten onside kicks and has done a lot of surprises. They've really done things to other opponents, and we had to get very, very prepared. I told the players in the locker room that it took all three phases to win the game tonight, and that it's never easy when you play.”
On the performance of the offense which totaled 519 total yards:
“I thought the offense with over 500 yards, they were pretty much in control of the game. We moved the ball very well, especially in the second third quarter, scoring some touchdowns. Again, one of the things that's been an issue, you hate getting down there inside the five-yard line and having to settle for field goals. But you know, we scored enough obviously to win the game.”
On the defense, which held Duke to 275 total yards:
“Defensively, we came up with some interceptions. We always talk defense, that you've got to make the game one-dimensional. Holding them to 12 yards rushing made it a little bit easier to kind of focus on the passing game…rushing the passer, making sure you're in coverages, and forcing good reroutes. We had for the first time some turnovers, which certainly makes a difference in the way you play. It certainly took everybody to win the game, and I'm very proud of this football team.”
On converting a number of long third downs:
“Ryan Taylor came up with a huge big play on a third down down the middle. [Quarterback T.J. Yates] did a great job. They expanded on the wide receivers on the outside, tried to take the outside guys and Ryan just outran the middle linebacker. Dwight made some big plays, and his 11 catches a lot of times bailed us out. Like I said, it was a good, solid performance. I don't know what T.J.'s stats were, but a lot of the things that he does that helps our offense, they just don't put them on the stat sheets: the things he checks to, gets us in and out of things and helping with the protection.”
On the performance of his offensive line:
“I thought our offensive line really rallied after last week. I thought that they came back; we ran for over 250 yards, protected the QB really well, moved the pocket some which certainly helped TJ. We got production out of every single group. Tight ends, wide receivers and the running backs did a nice job. On the whole, it was a pretty good offensive performance.”
On his team's performance this season:
“This football team, in all the 37 years that I've been coaching, this is going to be one of the proudest group of guys that I've ever been around, the way that they've answered the bell every single week. In food times, bad times, tough times, there is a huge amount of strength and character in that locker room. There are some great kids that refuse to surrender, refuse to use any excuses. They just went out and competed every single week, and I'm very, very proud of this group.”
Players Mentioned
Coach Diaz Media Availability: Spring Practice Preview
Tuesday, March 17
Through the Sewer: Episode 1 - Championship Pedigree
Monday, March 16
NFL Combine: Brian Parker II
Saturday, February 28
NFL Combine: Chandler Rivers
Thursday, February 26
