David Cutcliffe Press Conference Quotes: Wake Forest

DURHAM – Duke football head coach David Cutcliffe met with members of the media on Monday afternoon for his weekly press conference.

The Blue Devils travel to Wake Forest on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network with Wes Durham, Roddy Jones and Taylor Davis on the call. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or GoDuke.com

David Cutcliffe Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Good morning. Obviously, the open date came at a good time for us. Our players and coaches have taken advantage of that. The work's been better than good, been really good. We got a lot of determined people. There's nobody turning away from the work or running away from results, you own them. We talked about that immediately after the last game, but you also own how you respond at practice. Everybody is held accountable – coach, player and everybody involved in the program. That's how you continue to fight and move forward. We have a big assignment this week in Wake Forest, an undefeated team. They've played some close games, but that tells you they can win in the fourth quarter. They've blown some people out. An offense and a quarterback that's playing as good, if not better, than anybody else in the country. I've got them ranked higher than what they are in the polls because I've watched them on film for a while. They're a heck of a team. They don't beat themselves. So, we're going to have to take care of the football and find a way to score enough points and find a way to get off the field on defense and play really well in the kicking game. There's no magic formula to this. It's going out and playing as well as we can play."

(Ref.: On how to limit penalties and mistakes in the game)
"Sure I mean, it's important to them. I don't think there's any magic reason. They're not an undisciplined group of people, it's not that. I think when you start pressing too much, there's two things that occur. You get a little desperate playing, which can cause some of those things, and then you also lose focus. So, we've got to get back just to believing in the process and what we're doing and playing the kind of football that we've played for years around here. And it's again, it's not magic. You've got to carry into the game with some confidence and focus. Do I think that we get a little pressed and a little panicked at times? I think that's occurred. That's called natural human response to a lot of things, and you've got to work to get beyond that. So, I've met with a bunch of them individually. I've met with them is groups and then I've met with them as a team and addressed these things. Not with anger in my tone and not with anger in my heart because this team was great to be around in January when they came back. They were great to be around in February. We gave them off days during the week, you know where they spent their Saturday mornings with us? In morning runs and in agility drills, and they loved it. I'm reminding them of that. I asked them all, I said where were you January 16 of 2021? None of them could remember. I said that was a conditioning test on a Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m., just believe in your process."

(Ref.: On going back to the basics and what basics to go back to)
"Well, there's a lot of basics involved in football. Contact is one of them. Trying to win the contact battles that you face in football is about as basic and primary as it can get. It starts not just on the line of scrimmage, but a tackler versus a ball carrier tackling them on the spot. A blocker finishing a block, pad leverage. All of those things are more basic than schematic things. So, you do have to. The term we all use or fundamentals. We've worked really hard at reinvesting in the fundamentals of the game, and you hope that that pays off. It's got to become a habit; you've got to do it over and over and over again. I think that can pay dividends for us."

(Ref.: On what Wake Forest being undefeated adds to this game)
"We've only had the Sunday practice of game week so far this week, but they're very aware and that should be more motivation. Like you're saying, that should create a lot of energy. It's a huge challenge, but with huge challenges come huge opportunities. Wake is not going to give you anything. What it means that you're going to have to go get it done. I hope that's the impact it has on our team, don't sit back and wait on anybody to give you anything. You have to go get the job done."

(Ref.: On where he has Wake Forest ranked in his ballot)
"No, I don't reveal where I rank because somebody else gets mad. You all will get to see that in the last one of the year. I have them ranked in the top 10. I will tell you that."

(Ref.: On how to limit the Wake Forest quarterback's production)
"That's a good question. Keep him off the field for one, and Army did that and still, so that one didn't work. But the biggest part of it is that you have to make things as hard as you can for a player like that. They've got a good combination of protecting him. They do a great job of throwing to spots. He's really accurate. You just got to compete at a whole entire different level. You got to mix up the looks. You've got to change. You can't just let him know where you are all the time. He's not just a gifted quarterback physically, he's a gifted quarterback mentally. So, he gets the job done. About the only thing you can hope for is when they get 10 in one game that maybe they went way over the quota, two-week quota. It's a really challenging thing."

(Ref.: On how to face Wake Forest's fast-paced offense)
"Well, we play against an offense that goes fast every practice. We're both about the same speed and the same circumstance, and the speed wasn't what got Army, it was the explosive plays. You just can't give up that many big, long plays and expect to be successful against anybody. Wake Forest has done a great job of specializing in that type of environment, and they've got a good running game to go with that. But the explosive passes are where they killed Army, they didn't need much time. We'll be ready with the tempo part of it because we do it every single day. It's just that we've struggled at times stopping explosive plays, and that's where our emphasis has got to be."

(Ref.: On how he balanced refreshing and instruction in the open week)
"We only practiced three days, so there's some rest involved in that. We gave them Sunday and Monday off from the field. We practiced Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We left for recruiting on Thursday evening, and so they had Friday and Saturday off. So that helps refresh them all. They're eager to get better. So, during those three days, we were very fundamental in our approach with contact. We don't do it as long as what we would do in a game week so you're minimizing the number of minutes. But, the quality of the practice and the priorities has to be pad leverage, good against good and competing at a high level. We can't assume when you're in the midst of a three-game losing streak that you cannot compete at practice, you have to. We've stayed healthy. Nothing new occurred. They were eager. When they're eager like they are, generally you stay healthy. So, the hitting was crisp. We really worked on all three phases in that regard, the physical fundamentals of playing your position. That is an override to any schematic thing you're doing. It's still the best way to be successful – to be a really sound fundamental football team. That's going to involve contact and that's going to involve angles and running and pursuit on defense and extra effort on offense. That's how we prioritized the open date, and I think we got better from it. We weren't trying to scheme Wake Forest or anyone else, we stayed focused on what our base is and what we have to do to be successful within that base."

(Ref.: On Charlie Ham returning to starting kicker)
"Charlie is back starting at kicker. Like I said, it's been a long, tough, tough year for him, emotionally, personally, a lot of things happening in his personal life. He's in good spirits and ready to go."

(Ref.: On Mataeo Durant benefitting from rest on the open week)
"If you ask Mataeo, he gives more contact than he takes. That's one thing I learned early in this game that I tried to advise that, particularly guys that have the ball in their hand. I took the approach to that if I hit you harder than you're going to hit me, it's going to hurt you more. I promise you. That's the mentality that guy has running the football. We didn't get him beat up, didn't hit him, but he worked all three days and feels good and looks quick and energized. He is a fierce competitor. He wants to win and they all do, but he's in a good spot right now."

(Ref.: On the internal competition for playing time during the open week)
"Yeah, I think we're still there. We've played a lot of people on both sides of the ball because they've earned the opportunity. We are still looking at some of our younger people, and I think that's an ongoing circumstance, particularly if you're not winning games. Part of the process is personnel. So, you don't just look at a scheme, you're looking at the personnel you have in two ways. One, do we have the right people out there? Two, are we doing the right things with the ones we have on the field? It's funny. I get all these phone calls and all these requests to do things during open date, and I'm busier during the open date than I am during a normal week. We have a routine for a game week. I don't know if my eyes look like it, but I haven't slept much. A lot of those things to look at and to calculate and pay attention to. You just got to keep churning it and finding a way. As my friend Ross Cockrell said, run to it, not from it. If you're going to run to it, you face everything that you're looking at full speed ahead. You don't turn your eyes. You fix your eye on exactly what you're trying to accomplish, and we're not going to back down from that."

(Ref.: On any takeaways from the Army offense against Wake Forest)
"Well, you all know that Army is different than the rest of us. Wake Forest had one week to prepare for an option offense. They basically use two different fronts in that game and Army did a lot of look, check, runs and had a lot of big plays themselves. So not a lot we can take from that game. One of the things you can't do is start changing what you're doing every time something is not going well. Again, I'd rather go back to the fundamental parts of it than start sitting there drawing up plays you think are going to work, because that's not really how it works. You start trying to become something you're not, you're going to find your way into trouble."

(Ref.: On the Wake Forest wide receivers play)
"Well, they do a great job of contested catches. They did it against Army. They've done it every game. They're strong. They're long-limbed guys. Just aggressive with their hands and probably catch the ball as well as anybody. They've got speed and quickness on top of it. I think what's happened with those receivers, you could see the longer you play with a guy like Sam Hartman, you get better. There's a belief that the ball is going to be where I can make a play on it, and that's how they've been really successful."

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David Cutcliffe Press Conference Quotes: Wake Forest

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Mataeo Durant

Charlie Ham

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David Cutcliffe Press Conference Quotes: Wake Forest

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