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Mike Elko Press Conference Quotes: Louisville
10/24/2023 12:29:00 AM | Football
DURHAM – Duke football head coach Mike Elko met with members of the media on Monday afternoon for his weekly press conference.
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No. 20 Duke travels to No. 18 Louisville on Saturday for a top-20 ACC matchup. The game will be broadcast on ESPN with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The contest can also be heard on the Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.
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Mike Elko Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Thank you everybody for coming out. Obviously wrapping up the game Saturday, I thought for three quarters that was a heavyweight showdown for first place in the ACC. I thought we gave as much as we got for sure and went toe-to-toe with them. In the fourth quarter, I thought things got away from us. We had a couple of times throughout the game where I really felt like we could have gained momentum or had a hold of that thing. We just didn't make those plays. They fumbled the ball in the backfield, and we had a couple guys around it and we could have got on it and we didn't. That drive wound up being a touchdown. It gets it back to a 10-7 game and then we get the big pick six and you have a chance to create some momentum in the game and we gave up the kickoff return. They come right back and then we don't make the fourth down in the goal line area. Then we gave up the 96-yard drive and we weren't able to respond on either side of the ball. I told the guys, I'm proud of how we went down there and proud of how we played. I'm proud of how we played for three quarters. But we're in this thing to finish and unfortunately, we didn't finish the way we needed to. I thought we were poor on third down in the fourth quarter in particular and were poor on offense all night. We didn't do a good job in the redzone on either side of the ball - keeping them out of the endzone or finishing drives into the endzone ourselves. I think when you look at those things, those are the reasons why we didn't get it done. We have to regroup. We have to refocus and certainly no one's going to feel sorry for us. We have to get ourselves ready to go out to Louisville and play a really good Louisville team this week, in a game again that means an awful lot.
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"Switching gears to Louisville, Coach [Jeff] Brohm is doing a phenomenal job out there. Watching them on film, they're an extremely well coached group. You start with their offense. It's a really dynamic scheme. They do a lot of different things to get the ball in their playmaker's hands. Really intricate play-action game, lots of different runs schemes. It's a really, really well coached, well put together offense. The quarterback [Jack' Plummer is playing at a really high level. I think [Jawhar] Jordan is one of the more talented running backs in this league, if not the most talented and certainly the most explosive from a speed standpoint in the making people miss standpoint that we've seen to this point. Jamari Thrash on the outside has been extremely productive all year. He has been a mismatch for people and [Kevin] Coleman and [Jimmy] Callaway aren't far behind and so they've got a lot of talented skilled guys. They do a good job. They have an experienced offensive line. It's another talented offense that we're going against.
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"Then defensively, I think they're number two in the league in stopping the run. They're giving up less than 100-yards a game rushing. They're very physical upfront, they've got a really, really sound front. It's another team that will load the box and really make it difficult and challenging for you to run the football. They have really talented playmaking kids in the secondary and so it's a complete football team. They're playing at a really high level and they're coming off of a bye week. They didn't get the result they wanted in their last game, so I'm sure they're going to be hungry to come out and play their best football. We've got a lot on the line, so we're going to be hungry to come out and play our best football and so it should be a great game between two really good football teams."
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(Ref.: On the status of Riley Leonard)
"I think after talking to the doctors and everyone, Riley is going to be day-to-day. It's kind of where we're at with that."
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(Ref.: On what the struggle was for the passing game against Florida State)
"Yeah, we just have to find a better rhythm and it's at every level. It's what I told the guys, obviously when you don't throw the ball well everything starts with the quarterback, and it goes to the receivers, but I think the timing of it is just off. Whether that's we're not getting the routes open, which is certainly happening some, we're not delivering the ball on time and accurately, which is certainly happening some, or we're not protecting well enough and when things are coming open, we're not able to get rid of the ball in a timely manner that we want to. There just seems to be breakdowns at different times at all three of those levels. When that happens, you just have to go back to the basic fundamentals. We've got to protect, we've got to make clean pockets, we've got to get back into rhythm. We've got to separate and get open on the perimeter. I don't think there's a magical answer to it. I think obviously as coaches we are consistently looking for the right situations to put our kids in the best possible positions to be successful. It just really is a rhythm thing. We're just not getting into a great rhythm and there's a lot of different breakdowns that's causing that. Obviously, we're very much aware of the fact that that's something that needs to get better for us to have the success that we want down the stretch."
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(Ref.: On the situation Henry Belin IV stepped into in the fourth quarter)
"I think he goes in and its 4th-and-3 and credit to them, they did a really, really good job of covering that route and forced us to try to run over the top of a defender all the way to the back pylon. Obviously, we had hoped there was a lot of other options prior to that one and they just covered them all. That became just a really difficult play. I thought they just did a good job on that play. Then you go back, and he comes out on the second drive. Unfortunately, we have a miscommunication on the line of scrimmage on the very first play. So, we get behind the chains, and then he takes the delay and now it's 2nd-and-19 in the fourth quarter, in Tallahassee, and that's not where you want to be. That's not where any of our quarterbacks needed to be and certainly not where he needed to be on his first full drive out there. That drive goes over and then from there, it's a two-score game and I think it was unfortunate for Henry to have to play the part of the game that he played more than anything because that part of the game was never going to be our successful part. Like we talked all week about needing to stay within the chains. We needed to stay out of must passing situations and not allowing their front four to tee off. Unfortunately, the part of the game that Henry played the most was all of that. So, I didn't look at Henry and think we struggled because Henry was out there. I think we struggled because we lost control of the game and we had to play a part of the game that was never going to be a recipe for us to have success."
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(Ref.: On if he got any explanation on the fourth down that was stopped due to substitution)
"So, we went out there to try to draw them offsides. We had no intention of running a play. They ran their whole defense off the field, at which point we called a play, and we got to the line to run the play and they didn't let us run it. So don't know why they didn't let us run it."
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(Ref.: On the ability of Jordan Travis to complete a high percentage of passes against the defense)
"They ran a high percentage throw game. There were certainly a lot of screens that were thrown to the tight end. There were a lot of balls thrown to the running backs. I don't know that you necessarily looked at it and saw a lot of downfield uncontested catches. They certainly made some contested catches. If you look at the catch [Johnny] Wilson made in the fourth quarter going across, the one he wound up unfortunately getting injured on, hopefully he's okay, but we're draped all over him and he climbs a ladder and makes a catch. If you look at the catch [Keon] Coleman makes on the third down, we're draped all over him and he makes a catch, so at no point did I ever feel like people were wide open. They just made plays and at times we just didn't. I didn't go back and watch the tape and say we did a poor job in covering. They made some plays and I think that's what really talented players do. That's just the nature of it. Jordan is a great quarterback and I'm not taking anything away from him, but they did throw quite a few -- they got the tight end going a lot and he is a mismatch coverage wise. He was a problem. I felt like that's where the completion is probably 100 percent when throwing the ball to the tight end. So that's kind of what I saw."
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(Ref.: On if it is a pick your poison situation when you cover outside receivers to have a tight end like that)
"It's a little bit of a pick your poison. Mike [Norvell] probably won't appreciate me saying this, but as this thing keeps playing out during the end of the year, he still has some weapons that he can uncoil. We knew about the tight end because of South Carolina and playing against them. I'm not sure they've completely unleashed him like that yet. So, it didn't surprise us, but certainly you go into the game, and you see what [Keon] Coleman is doing and what [Johnny] Wilson's doing and what their skill kids are doing on the outside and that certainly draws a lot of the attention."
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(Ref.: On how the team handled a hostile environment in Tallahassee)
"If you look at it from this perspective, that is the first time this group of kids has played in that atmosphere ever. I think by and large, we handled it really well for three quarters. I think there's probably another level that it has to go to in the fourth quarter. We talked a lot about that this morning. That's really hard to simulate. You know how much it feels frantic when they start making plays in that type of environment. That's something we probably haven't experienced before. It's certainly a lesson we'll learn coming out of it because it won't be the last time, we're going to go right back into that environment again this weekend. That's just kind of the nature of what these kids have built and the hard work that they put in and that's what they've created. They've now created these games and these matchups that are in prime slots and that are on national television, that are drawing huge crowds and that's just a different experience for them to go through on the road."
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(Ref.: On how the older guys in the locker room will help this team rebound from Saturday)
"The one thing I don't question about this group is response. I think whether we go out next week and perform well enough to get the desired result, we'll find that out on Saturday, but we're certainly going to respond the right way. We had a great lift yesterday. We came in this morning with a lot of energy to get working on Louisville and will put together a really good week of practice. Our leaders will play a big role in that. Graham [Barton], Jacob [Monk], DeWayne [Carter] and really, it's a lot of guys. We're wired in a really good way right now in that locker room, because those kids understand that they've got a very small window to represent Duke football and they want to try to take advantage of it as best they can. So, I'm not worried about our response. I'm more worried about, can we stop this Louisville offense and can we make enough plays on our side to win the football game. That'll be the challenge and it won't be whether or not our kids mentally bounce back or put themselves in position to play this week."
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(Ref.: On playing a team coming off a bye week and how that impacts their gameplan)
"The beauty of it is they have time that we don't have. That's what the luxury of coming off of a bye week gives them. They have extra time to look at us and look at them and kind of go through it all. You obviously try to think about how they're thinking about things. That's certainly what goes into your thought process. What they've done, because it's typical bye week stuff. They've had a more thorough breakdown of us, they've looked at everything that we've done. They've self-scouted themselves and so, to the best you can, you try to predict what the results of all that will become. At the end of the day, you just got to be ready to adjust on the fly come Saturday and that's just the nature of this."
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(Ref.: On an update on Myles Jones)
"Yeah, he's day to day. He was out there this morning moving around. It'll probably be a race against the clock to get him ready for Saturday. Unfortunately, he's just got nicked up again at the end of that NC State game and we weren't able to have him available last week."
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#GoDuke
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No. 20 Duke travels to No. 18 Louisville on Saturday for a top-20 ACC matchup. The game will be broadcast on ESPN with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The contest can also be heard on the Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.
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Mike Elko Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Thank you everybody for coming out. Obviously wrapping up the game Saturday, I thought for three quarters that was a heavyweight showdown for first place in the ACC. I thought we gave as much as we got for sure and went toe-to-toe with them. In the fourth quarter, I thought things got away from us. We had a couple of times throughout the game where I really felt like we could have gained momentum or had a hold of that thing. We just didn't make those plays. They fumbled the ball in the backfield, and we had a couple guys around it and we could have got on it and we didn't. That drive wound up being a touchdown. It gets it back to a 10-7 game and then we get the big pick six and you have a chance to create some momentum in the game and we gave up the kickoff return. They come right back and then we don't make the fourth down in the goal line area. Then we gave up the 96-yard drive and we weren't able to respond on either side of the ball. I told the guys, I'm proud of how we went down there and proud of how we played. I'm proud of how we played for three quarters. But we're in this thing to finish and unfortunately, we didn't finish the way we needed to. I thought we were poor on third down in the fourth quarter in particular and were poor on offense all night. We didn't do a good job in the redzone on either side of the ball - keeping them out of the endzone or finishing drives into the endzone ourselves. I think when you look at those things, those are the reasons why we didn't get it done. We have to regroup. We have to refocus and certainly no one's going to feel sorry for us. We have to get ourselves ready to go out to Louisville and play a really good Louisville team this week, in a game again that means an awful lot.
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"Switching gears to Louisville, Coach [Jeff] Brohm is doing a phenomenal job out there. Watching them on film, they're an extremely well coached group. You start with their offense. It's a really dynamic scheme. They do a lot of different things to get the ball in their playmaker's hands. Really intricate play-action game, lots of different runs schemes. It's a really, really well coached, well put together offense. The quarterback [Jack' Plummer is playing at a really high level. I think [Jawhar] Jordan is one of the more talented running backs in this league, if not the most talented and certainly the most explosive from a speed standpoint in the making people miss standpoint that we've seen to this point. Jamari Thrash on the outside has been extremely productive all year. He has been a mismatch for people and [Kevin] Coleman and [Jimmy] Callaway aren't far behind and so they've got a lot of talented skilled guys. They do a good job. They have an experienced offensive line. It's another talented offense that we're going against.
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"Then defensively, I think they're number two in the league in stopping the run. They're giving up less than 100-yards a game rushing. They're very physical upfront, they've got a really, really sound front. It's another team that will load the box and really make it difficult and challenging for you to run the football. They have really talented playmaking kids in the secondary and so it's a complete football team. They're playing at a really high level and they're coming off of a bye week. They didn't get the result they wanted in their last game, so I'm sure they're going to be hungry to come out and play their best football. We've got a lot on the line, so we're going to be hungry to come out and play our best football and so it should be a great game between two really good football teams."
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(Ref.: On the status of Riley Leonard)
"I think after talking to the doctors and everyone, Riley is going to be day-to-day. It's kind of where we're at with that."
Â
(Ref.: On what the struggle was for the passing game against Florida State)
"Yeah, we just have to find a better rhythm and it's at every level. It's what I told the guys, obviously when you don't throw the ball well everything starts with the quarterback, and it goes to the receivers, but I think the timing of it is just off. Whether that's we're not getting the routes open, which is certainly happening some, we're not delivering the ball on time and accurately, which is certainly happening some, or we're not protecting well enough and when things are coming open, we're not able to get rid of the ball in a timely manner that we want to. There just seems to be breakdowns at different times at all three of those levels. When that happens, you just have to go back to the basic fundamentals. We've got to protect, we've got to make clean pockets, we've got to get back into rhythm. We've got to separate and get open on the perimeter. I don't think there's a magical answer to it. I think obviously as coaches we are consistently looking for the right situations to put our kids in the best possible positions to be successful. It just really is a rhythm thing. We're just not getting into a great rhythm and there's a lot of different breakdowns that's causing that. Obviously, we're very much aware of the fact that that's something that needs to get better for us to have the success that we want down the stretch."
Â
(Ref.: On the situation Henry Belin IV stepped into in the fourth quarter)
"I think he goes in and its 4th-and-3 and credit to them, they did a really, really good job of covering that route and forced us to try to run over the top of a defender all the way to the back pylon. Obviously, we had hoped there was a lot of other options prior to that one and they just covered them all. That became just a really difficult play. I thought they just did a good job on that play. Then you go back, and he comes out on the second drive. Unfortunately, we have a miscommunication on the line of scrimmage on the very first play. So, we get behind the chains, and then he takes the delay and now it's 2nd-and-19 in the fourth quarter, in Tallahassee, and that's not where you want to be. That's not where any of our quarterbacks needed to be and certainly not where he needed to be on his first full drive out there. That drive goes over and then from there, it's a two-score game and I think it was unfortunate for Henry to have to play the part of the game that he played more than anything because that part of the game was never going to be our successful part. Like we talked all week about needing to stay within the chains. We needed to stay out of must passing situations and not allowing their front four to tee off. Unfortunately, the part of the game that Henry played the most was all of that. So, I didn't look at Henry and think we struggled because Henry was out there. I think we struggled because we lost control of the game and we had to play a part of the game that was never going to be a recipe for us to have success."
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(Ref.: On if he got any explanation on the fourth down that was stopped due to substitution)
"So, we went out there to try to draw them offsides. We had no intention of running a play. They ran their whole defense off the field, at which point we called a play, and we got to the line to run the play and they didn't let us run it. So don't know why they didn't let us run it."
Â
(Ref.: On the ability of Jordan Travis to complete a high percentage of passes against the defense)
"They ran a high percentage throw game. There were certainly a lot of screens that were thrown to the tight end. There were a lot of balls thrown to the running backs. I don't know that you necessarily looked at it and saw a lot of downfield uncontested catches. They certainly made some contested catches. If you look at the catch [Johnny] Wilson made in the fourth quarter going across, the one he wound up unfortunately getting injured on, hopefully he's okay, but we're draped all over him and he climbs a ladder and makes a catch. If you look at the catch [Keon] Coleman makes on the third down, we're draped all over him and he makes a catch, so at no point did I ever feel like people were wide open. They just made plays and at times we just didn't. I didn't go back and watch the tape and say we did a poor job in covering. They made some plays and I think that's what really talented players do. That's just the nature of it. Jordan is a great quarterback and I'm not taking anything away from him, but they did throw quite a few -- they got the tight end going a lot and he is a mismatch coverage wise. He was a problem. I felt like that's where the completion is probably 100 percent when throwing the ball to the tight end. So that's kind of what I saw."
Â
(Ref.: On if it is a pick your poison situation when you cover outside receivers to have a tight end like that)
"It's a little bit of a pick your poison. Mike [Norvell] probably won't appreciate me saying this, but as this thing keeps playing out during the end of the year, he still has some weapons that he can uncoil. We knew about the tight end because of South Carolina and playing against them. I'm not sure they've completely unleashed him like that yet. So, it didn't surprise us, but certainly you go into the game, and you see what [Keon] Coleman is doing and what [Johnny] Wilson's doing and what their skill kids are doing on the outside and that certainly draws a lot of the attention."
Â
(Ref.: On how the team handled a hostile environment in Tallahassee)
"If you look at it from this perspective, that is the first time this group of kids has played in that atmosphere ever. I think by and large, we handled it really well for three quarters. I think there's probably another level that it has to go to in the fourth quarter. We talked a lot about that this morning. That's really hard to simulate. You know how much it feels frantic when they start making plays in that type of environment. That's something we probably haven't experienced before. It's certainly a lesson we'll learn coming out of it because it won't be the last time, we're going to go right back into that environment again this weekend. That's just kind of the nature of what these kids have built and the hard work that they put in and that's what they've created. They've now created these games and these matchups that are in prime slots and that are on national television, that are drawing huge crowds and that's just a different experience for them to go through on the road."
Â
(Ref.: On how the older guys in the locker room will help this team rebound from Saturday)
"The one thing I don't question about this group is response. I think whether we go out next week and perform well enough to get the desired result, we'll find that out on Saturday, but we're certainly going to respond the right way. We had a great lift yesterday. We came in this morning with a lot of energy to get working on Louisville and will put together a really good week of practice. Our leaders will play a big role in that. Graham [Barton], Jacob [Monk], DeWayne [Carter] and really, it's a lot of guys. We're wired in a really good way right now in that locker room, because those kids understand that they've got a very small window to represent Duke football and they want to try to take advantage of it as best they can. So, I'm not worried about our response. I'm more worried about, can we stop this Louisville offense and can we make enough plays on our side to win the football game. That'll be the challenge and it won't be whether or not our kids mentally bounce back or put themselves in position to play this week."
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(Ref.: On playing a team coming off a bye week and how that impacts their gameplan)
"The beauty of it is they have time that we don't have. That's what the luxury of coming off of a bye week gives them. They have extra time to look at us and look at them and kind of go through it all. You obviously try to think about how they're thinking about things. That's certainly what goes into your thought process. What they've done, because it's typical bye week stuff. They've had a more thorough breakdown of us, they've looked at everything that we've done. They've self-scouted themselves and so, to the best you can, you try to predict what the results of all that will become. At the end of the day, you just got to be ready to adjust on the fly come Saturday and that's just the nature of this."
Â
(Ref.: On an update on Myles Jones)
"Yeah, he's day to day. He was out there this morning moving around. It'll probably be a race against the clock to get him ready for Saturday. Unfortunately, he's just got nicked up again at the end of that NC State game and we weren't able to have him available last week."
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#GoDuke
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Players Mentioned
Darian Mensah Media Availability: Tulane
Tuesday, September 09
Josiah Green Media Availability: Tulane
Tuesday, September 09
Coach Patke Press Conference: Tulane
Monday, September 08
Coach Brewer Press Conference: Tulane
Monday, September 08
