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Quotes: Georgia Tech 38, Duke 31
11/19/2011 4:04:00 PM | Football
Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe
On the resilience of his team late in the game:
“I think when you invest as much as we invest in each other and our program, our program is about relationships. It's about respecting each other, and what we teach them as a part of that respect is to always giving everything you have – every ounce of your energy, every part of your body. And I did tell them after the ballgame, just a handful of teams that I've had the feeling after a game that I had for this one today. And it is with the utmost respect we send those seniors off out of Wallace Wade. But this team, this 2011 team, has had more adversity, over the last two years more close calls, more injuries to deal with, and they don't complain. I thought it was a gallant effort. We don't have moral victories – it's not that at all. We feel frustrated. We feel pain. But you can have those things and still feel respect. I think that we all respect each other's commitment level to this program.”
On the performance of the defense against Georgia Tech's offensive unit:
“I thought they did fine. We had defensive ends that were freshmen that have never played against it. We had four guys in both lines of scrimmage – two on offense, two on defense – that were starting their first games of their careers today. We just hadn't seen it. It was the youngest defensive team we've had available to play. You have [August Campbell] who's not really played against it. He's never been a linebacker against it. And then we had David Helton, Jamal [Wallace], Dezmond Johnson, and then you had two veterans. And remember Sydney Sarmiento's all of a sophomore. And you had Charlie Hatcher. So it was good. The part that I knew we couldn't give up were the big passes – something like 51, 46, 39, 31 – those are big chunks of yards. We held them at times against the option and the fullback. It is tough when you haven't seen it before, but we'll grow. We've got a good system against it. We have our own playbook against it. I thought Ross [Cockrell] took care of his business pretty well. He played it before. Tony [Foster] really is a brand-new starter with Johnny Williams being hurt, and he got stung a couple of times. [Campbell] got stung on a vertical. We're there, but we just didn't make the play.”
On what he sees in his team that has kept them in close games:
“I think number one, anybody listening out there, that if you can come to games here, you will find something far different than you read in the paper or that you even see on television. You have to be here in person to realize how close we are, what these young men are doing. We have a lot of talent on this team, and we're full-force. We're a pretty talented football team. We're recruiting real well right now. We've got an excellent staff that is committed to this program, and they're still committed to it and they're good recruiters. We're going to bring good players in here, and the worm will turn. I wish I could predict when it turns … It's not that simple. We know where we've come from, we know who we are. We're also in a very good league. Wins don't come easy for anyone. I told our seniors the legacy they've left is just what you said – resiliency, perseverance, bringing it not just every game, every practice. A big part of this is the preparation. You couldn't play like that if you didn't prepare. They prepared every day. So that legacy goes on to these younger players, and I challenge those younger players. The deal is not keep it the same, but improve it and make that next step to winning football games. We're really not very far away. It could be a lot of fun, we just have to get it just one step over the hump.”
On preparing for North Carolina next week:
“From a physical standpoint, in my opinion, North Carolina is the most talented football team in the ACC – both sides of the ball, everywhere you look, both lines of scrimmage. Their offensive front, their defensive front is better than anyone else in the ACC. I've watched them on tape already. They've got big receivers, they've got backs, their quarterbacks play excellent, secondary, linebackers. I know who a lot of those kids are. They're outstanding, so the big key goes back to this – the will to win's going to be there. You've heard that time and time again, but you've got to maintain the will to prepare. We've got to heal some people, hopefully get some people back and be as good as we can be next Saturday in Chapel Hill.”
Duke Tight End Cooper Helfet
On Duke's continuous fight:
“It is the code our program lives by. It is what Coach Cut brought in when he came here. I wasn't here when he came, but it is the mentality I came into. We are going to come in here every day no matter what happens. We are going to work hard, so that is what we do. We keep working hard. If things don't go our way, we still work hard. That is how we get stuff done. Unfortunately, it hasn't gone our way.”
On what it is like to play with Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon:
“It's great. Those guys are great players. They do a lot for this program and our offense.”
On playing North Carolina next week:
“It could right a lot of wrongs this season if we go down there and play them hard. We've had a couple of close battles these last years, but it is time to play them hard and fight.”
Duke Nose Guard Charlie Hatcher
On if he got the fumble:
“Yes, I did get that fumble. It was a big pile up, and I was able to squeeze it under my chest and hold it there. I guess it could have gone either way, but me being so big and on top of it, I think that's all the referees saw.”
On Georgia Tech's offense:
“It's a tough offense to stop especially if you let them make plays. Being one of the defensive tackles, we came wanting to stop the dives, and they were able to get some big yards on dives on occasion, and we can't let that happen. Then there were some pass plays and some outside running plays. You have to stop those big plays from happening by holding them to under three yards. We were able to do that on a lot of drives, but not every one of them, so it kind of hurt us.”
On Duke's fight:
“That is one thing that Coach Cut tried to instill in us, and it is really starting to develop since he has gotten here, bringing it every day in practice and workouts. We expect to see it in the game. He has done a really good job in practice, and it has carried over.”
Duke Wide Receiver Donovan Varner
On how he felt overall about today's game:
“It was kind of up and down. I thought we could have pulled off the victory. It has been that type of season for us where we shoot ourselves in the foot, a play here and a play there that we don't quite make. It has been that type of season, but we live to see another day.”
On Clarkston Hines being at the game:
“He is a great guy. I was glad to have him here. He congratulated me. It meant the world to me because he was a great player and a legend. It just means so much to me to have that record.”
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
Opening Statement:
“Well it wasn't always pretty. We had I don't know how many penalties. The most we totaled was two the rest of the year and seven-for-59 doesn't seem right … some really tough penalties, big penalties in the game. But we fought and found a way. Both sides were having a tough time stopping the other side and we turned it over twice and missed a scoring opportunity in the second half and let them hang around. It's win number eight. I'm glad to get it and now we focus on next week, which I know is a big game for everybody involved.”
On Jemea Thomas' interception:
“It was a great play, made especially after they called him on the other one, to just walk up there and challenge the guy, get in his face and then make a nice play.”
On Tyler Melton:
“The one on third down there in that last drive before we fumbled the ball actually was a huge and was a great catch.”
On the penalties:
“Yeah I was frustrated. You know when we come out and throw play action pass they were cross keying the slot. And so we told the guy, and the back side slot was getting right by him and they grabbed him around the waist and they don't call it. Then they try to tell me the guy they threw it to didn't get held. Well Duke pulled the other guy. That was frustrating a little bit. The late hit penalties on the quarterback, you don't really know until you see the tape. It's a bit frustrating. I'm not saying they weren't correct. I'm just saying it's frustrating. Two weeks in a row, we've had guys back third-and-15, third-and-18 and we do something completely stupid to get them a first down.”
On the resilience of his team late in the game:
“I think when you invest as much as we invest in each other and our program, our program is about relationships. It's about respecting each other, and what we teach them as a part of that respect is to always giving everything you have – every ounce of your energy, every part of your body. And I did tell them after the ballgame, just a handful of teams that I've had the feeling after a game that I had for this one today. And it is with the utmost respect we send those seniors off out of Wallace Wade. But this team, this 2011 team, has had more adversity, over the last two years more close calls, more injuries to deal with, and they don't complain. I thought it was a gallant effort. We don't have moral victories – it's not that at all. We feel frustrated. We feel pain. But you can have those things and still feel respect. I think that we all respect each other's commitment level to this program.”
On the performance of the defense against Georgia Tech's offensive unit:
“I thought they did fine. We had defensive ends that were freshmen that have never played against it. We had four guys in both lines of scrimmage – two on offense, two on defense – that were starting their first games of their careers today. We just hadn't seen it. It was the youngest defensive team we've had available to play. You have [August Campbell] who's not really played against it. He's never been a linebacker against it. And then we had David Helton, Jamal [Wallace], Dezmond Johnson, and then you had two veterans. And remember Sydney Sarmiento's all of a sophomore. And you had Charlie Hatcher. So it was good. The part that I knew we couldn't give up were the big passes – something like 51, 46, 39, 31 – those are big chunks of yards. We held them at times against the option and the fullback. It is tough when you haven't seen it before, but we'll grow. We've got a good system against it. We have our own playbook against it. I thought Ross [Cockrell] took care of his business pretty well. He played it before. Tony [Foster] really is a brand-new starter with Johnny Williams being hurt, and he got stung a couple of times. [Campbell] got stung on a vertical. We're there, but we just didn't make the play.”
On what he sees in his team that has kept them in close games:
“I think number one, anybody listening out there, that if you can come to games here, you will find something far different than you read in the paper or that you even see on television. You have to be here in person to realize how close we are, what these young men are doing. We have a lot of talent on this team, and we're full-force. We're a pretty talented football team. We're recruiting real well right now. We've got an excellent staff that is committed to this program, and they're still committed to it and they're good recruiters. We're going to bring good players in here, and the worm will turn. I wish I could predict when it turns … It's not that simple. We know where we've come from, we know who we are. We're also in a very good league. Wins don't come easy for anyone. I told our seniors the legacy they've left is just what you said – resiliency, perseverance, bringing it not just every game, every practice. A big part of this is the preparation. You couldn't play like that if you didn't prepare. They prepared every day. So that legacy goes on to these younger players, and I challenge those younger players. The deal is not keep it the same, but improve it and make that next step to winning football games. We're really not very far away. It could be a lot of fun, we just have to get it just one step over the hump.”
On preparing for North Carolina next week:
“From a physical standpoint, in my opinion, North Carolina is the most talented football team in the ACC – both sides of the ball, everywhere you look, both lines of scrimmage. Their offensive front, their defensive front is better than anyone else in the ACC. I've watched them on tape already. They've got big receivers, they've got backs, their quarterbacks play excellent, secondary, linebackers. I know who a lot of those kids are. They're outstanding, so the big key goes back to this – the will to win's going to be there. You've heard that time and time again, but you've got to maintain the will to prepare. We've got to heal some people, hopefully get some people back and be as good as we can be next Saturday in Chapel Hill.”
Duke Tight End Cooper Helfet
On Duke's continuous fight:
“It is the code our program lives by. It is what Coach Cut brought in when he came here. I wasn't here when he came, but it is the mentality I came into. We are going to come in here every day no matter what happens. We are going to work hard, so that is what we do. We keep working hard. If things don't go our way, we still work hard. That is how we get stuff done. Unfortunately, it hasn't gone our way.”
On what it is like to play with Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon:
“It's great. Those guys are great players. They do a lot for this program and our offense.”
On playing North Carolina next week:
“It could right a lot of wrongs this season if we go down there and play them hard. We've had a couple of close battles these last years, but it is time to play them hard and fight.”
Duke Nose Guard Charlie Hatcher
On if he got the fumble:
“Yes, I did get that fumble. It was a big pile up, and I was able to squeeze it under my chest and hold it there. I guess it could have gone either way, but me being so big and on top of it, I think that's all the referees saw.”
On Georgia Tech's offense:
“It's a tough offense to stop especially if you let them make plays. Being one of the defensive tackles, we came wanting to stop the dives, and they were able to get some big yards on dives on occasion, and we can't let that happen. Then there were some pass plays and some outside running plays. You have to stop those big plays from happening by holding them to under three yards. We were able to do that on a lot of drives, but not every one of them, so it kind of hurt us.”
On Duke's fight:
“That is one thing that Coach Cut tried to instill in us, and it is really starting to develop since he has gotten here, bringing it every day in practice and workouts. We expect to see it in the game. He has done a really good job in practice, and it has carried over.”
Duke Wide Receiver Donovan Varner
On how he felt overall about today's game:
“It was kind of up and down. I thought we could have pulled off the victory. It has been that type of season for us where we shoot ourselves in the foot, a play here and a play there that we don't quite make. It has been that type of season, but we live to see another day.”
On Clarkston Hines being at the game:
“He is a great guy. I was glad to have him here. He congratulated me. It meant the world to me because he was a great player and a legend. It just means so much to me to have that record.”
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
Opening Statement:
“Well it wasn't always pretty. We had I don't know how many penalties. The most we totaled was two the rest of the year and seven-for-59 doesn't seem right … some really tough penalties, big penalties in the game. But we fought and found a way. Both sides were having a tough time stopping the other side and we turned it over twice and missed a scoring opportunity in the second half and let them hang around. It's win number eight. I'm glad to get it and now we focus on next week, which I know is a big game for everybody involved.”
On Jemea Thomas' interception:
“It was a great play, made especially after they called him on the other one, to just walk up there and challenge the guy, get in his face and then make a nice play.”
On Tyler Melton:
“The one on third down there in that last drive before we fumbled the ball actually was a huge and was a great catch.”
On the penalties:
“Yeah I was frustrated. You know when we come out and throw play action pass they were cross keying the slot. And so we told the guy, and the back side slot was getting right by him and they grabbed him around the waist and they don't call it. Then they try to tell me the guy they threw it to didn't get held. Well Duke pulled the other guy. That was frustrating a little bit. The late hit penalties on the quarterback, you don't really know until you see the tape. It's a bit frustrating. I'm not saying they weren't correct. I'm just saying it's frustrating. Two weeks in a row, we've had guys back third-and-15, third-and-18 and we do something completely stupid to get them a first down.”
Players Mentioned
LB
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NG
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TE
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DE
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DT
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B
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WR
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B
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