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Mike Elko Press Conference Quotes: Northwestern
9/11/2023 9:59:00 PM | 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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The Blue Devils welcome Northwestern on Saturday for an out-of-conference matchup. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network with kickoff slated 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 guys for coming out. To recap Lafayette, it was a good result. It was a good way for us to handle the quick turnaround. There was a little bit of sluggishness in the first quarter that we fought our way through and at the end of the day when you looked at it, we scored on six out of eight meaningful possessions on offense, and we finished with touchdowns. We were 20-of-20 in the passing game, we had a 100-yard rusher, and we were able to get a lot of guys in there. I thought offensively, we were able to do the things that we wanted to do. Defensively, we didn't have a great first drive. I do think we settled in about midway through the second quarter and were able to cause two turnovers again, which was really important. Getting the two interceptions was really good. I thought we finished the game the way we wanted to finish it. We were able to get some guys in not quite as many on defense as we maybe wanted to because the fourth quarter played itself out from a time of possession standpoint, but all in all, I thought we did the things we needed to do to go out and win the football game. I want to just acknowledge our players of the week. Defensively, our defensive linemen of the game was Wesley Williams. I thought he had a really good night. Our player the game was Aeneas Peebles. I thought he brought some pass rush that was really good. Offensively, our offensive linemen of the game was Scott Elliott. I think he continues to get better every time he goes out there and our player the game was Henry Belin IV. While there was a small sample size, I think for him to go in there and operate the way he did and to account for a touchdown running and throwing. I just thought he did a really, really good job Saturday night and that was great to see. Our special teams player of the game was Cameron Bergeron. There wasn't a ton of stuff that happened on special teams, but Cam led our team in points as we kind of calculate that internally.
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"Turning the page to a really good Northwestern football program. Obviously, a team that's got a tremendous amount of pride and have had some challenging things happen over there this summer, but you know, I'm sure they have rallied and regrouped and certainly finished the game against UTEP the way they wanted to. I think they're starting to hit their stride now. They've been really good on defense, and they bring back two linebackers that we played against last year that are extremely physical. They do a really good job stopping the run and really limit the explosive plays. They've got a really good safety, Coco Azema, who does a really nice job. We played against him last year and I thought he was really talented last year and still think he is. I think he's one of their biggest playmakers on defense. Offensively they turned over a lot. They have a lot of new starters coming back and I think they really got their rhythm about midway through that game last week. I think what you saw from them has been pretty impressive. I think their running back Cam Porter is a really talented player. We played against him last year and thought he was a really effective runner. They've got a whole bunch of tight ends that they cycle through. All of them look like what you would think a Big Ten tight end looks like. They can run block, they can get open, they can catch the football. They have a slot in A.J. Henning, who kind of jumps off the page a little bit in the way he plays outside on the perimeter. It's going to be a really, really talented group. It's going to be a really tough challenge for our guys and we're going to have to prepare. It's nice to get a full week of practice and preparation and then get an opportunity to go out there and kind of play our best football on Saturday."
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(Ref.: On if there are still residual effects to recovery from two games in one week)
"Yeah, I think we'll just have to be smart about it a little bit with how we handle this week. It's still not quite a full week. You don't want to dive back in. We weren't really able to have a high volume practice last week, so if you jump right into high volume practice this week, you run the risk of coming in with heavy legs. We'll kind of do about 80 to 85 percent of what we would normally do on a Tuesday and Wednesday. That should get us enough volume. When we do those things, we don't lose reps. We do a lot of it in walkthrough to kind of balance the amount of reps we get schematically. We just maybe can't do it all physically the way we would want to."
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(Ref.: On the highlights of the defense through two games this season)
"I think we are closing ground well. I think we're eliminating explosive plays well, and I think if you can tackle in open space and eliminate explosives, it's hard sometimes for an offense to drive the length of the field consistently and finish drives. I think we've been able to do that. I still think there's, and I talk to the defense all the time about this, but I think there's a level we can get to that we're not at yet. With just how we execute play in and play out, how we communicate, how we function within the defenses as the offense continues to throw different looks at us and different things at us, which maybe will allow us to control the flow of the game a little bit more consistently. There have been times where I think drives have been put together that maybe we could do a better job with, but I think ultimately, we've been really good."
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(Ref.: On how successful the team has been tackling this season compared to last)
"Yeah, we tackle a lot honestly. We talk to the guys about it all the time, you can't get good at football without playing football, and so we don't put our kids at risk. I tell our guys this sometimes, least dangerous drill you could do in football is a one-on-one open space tackling drill, because it's really hard to get a high-end collision in the drill. If you quick whistle it and you're smart about your aiming point when you tackle, you can do some tackling drills in ways that can be safe. We tried to do a lot of that. If you do goal line period for 20 straight minutes and you just create pile ups and bodies on top of bodies, sometimes that's not the best way to go about it. There are ways I think that you can be really smart about how you practice tackling, and I think we've tried to do that."
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(Ref.: On the ability of Riley Leonard to have an internal clock and avoid sacks this year)
"I think he's improved. I think that's something he's gotten better at. It's something we talk a lot about. Being successful on drives and being efficient in our drives, how much each yard matters, and your percent success of converting a first down, if you can put us in 2nd-and-8 versus 2nd-and-12, that's an enormous difference. 2nd-and-8 is better than 2nd-and-10 and he understands that stuff probably more now. I think that's probably some of that next level stuff that we talk about. There are times where you see a quarterback throw it away to create a 2nd-and-10 and you'll see Riley maybe just kind of drift into a little bit of space and get three yards and 2nd-and-7 is a big difference. It really is and it opens up the playbook a little bit more for you on second down and keeps you in rhythm, so I think he's managing that stuff at a really, really high level.
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(Ref.: On the job Henry Belin IV did on Saturday against Lafayette)
"I think that's one of the things that I've learned over the years is, we respect everybody. We certainly respect every opponent. We never try to disrespect anyone. We're never going to disrespect the game and we're never going to do anything obscene. At the end of the day, our job is to our kids to prepare them to be successful. That's the thing that we've got to take care of. It was really important for us to get Henry out there and allow him to execute the game plan right. That's why we kept Jordan Moore in. That's why we kept Sahmir Hagans in. There is going to come a point in time this year where we're playing a big football game and Henry Belin IV might be the quarterback and he might have to put us on a drive to win a football game. So, it's unfair to him to get into that situation without taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves to go out there and play right. I think as the game wore on into the fourth quarter, I think we took the air out of the ball, and we milked the clock and we just kind of let it wilt away. There was a point in time where even though we were winning, we had to keep playing. We had to keep playing to allow him to play the game and we didn't wait until the game was completely out of hand either. To put him in, we have a lot of confidence in Henry, and we certainly didn't anticipate any drop off in play. We felt like he would go out there and move the offense and we weren't worried at all that he would stall the offense. I think we were able to get out of it what we wanted to."
Â
(Ref.: On if the reserves showed enough to play a bigger role later in the year)
"Yeah, I don't know that deep reserves, but it certainly was great to get Jontavis Robertson out there a little bit more and get him going again. He was battling an ankle issue all through training camp, and it was good to see him run around. We moved Jake Taylor to wide receiver and so we were able to get him a couple reps. He had a nice catch. That was really good to see. We were able to get Peyton Jones a lot of carries and that was really critical for us. I don't know about deep reserve, but certainly some of those guys that are going to be the next guys at some press conference down the road. We're going to be talking about the big role that they played in a critical game. I think getting those guys reps was really important."
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(Ref.: On what stood out about Scott Elliott from the beginning of camp until now)
"I think the first thing is toughness. I think he battled when he got here. He got sick right when he got here and so getting thrusted into Coach [David] Feeley's conditioning mid-summer is not the easiest thing in the world. Getting sick right when you get here and then having to come out of that and get into Coach Feeley's world is not the easiest thing in the world. So, the toughness jumped out and then we saw some movement skills that were really good. We were able to do some position specific work with the guys in the summer now, so we were able to kind of work with him a little bit and see some of that stuff that jumped out right away. Then he just picked things up really quickly. Obviously, we feel like we have some pretty good defensive tacklers and he did a nice job in camp blocking them, so we have a lot of confidence in Scott going out there and playing."
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(Ref.: On the scouting report of Northwestern)
"They're a Big Ten team, so they're big and they're physical. They were able to run the ball really well last week in the second half. They got the running game going a little bit. Defensively, they're given up about 15 points a game. They've been very physical, they're very stout. I think they know the scheme that they're playing very well, and they play it very fast. I think they're a big, big challenge for us."
Â
(Ref.: On if there are areas of the defense that need improving)
"I think our guys would tell you I can get picky on a lot of things. I mean, listen I'm a defensive coordinator who's not overly positive by nature. I can find a lot of things wrong with how we're playing defense, no matter what's going on. Like I said, I think we're tackling well. I think we're covering well. I think there's some areas in the run game that we'd really like to tighten up and play a little bit better. I think our kids would tell you that. I think we have to do a little bit better job on third down getting off the field. I think that's something that we haven't been great at through two games. I'd like to see that get a little bit better. I'm really happy with how hard we're playing. I think that's a staple of who we are and that's continued to show up and something we're really excited about. This group has high expectations of themselves, so I think they know what I say, before I say it now."
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#GoDuke
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The Blue Devils welcome Northwestern on Saturday for an out-of-conference matchup. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network with kickoff slated 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.
Â
Mike Elko Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Thank you guys for coming out. To recap Lafayette, it was a good result. It was a good way for us to handle the quick turnaround. There was a little bit of sluggishness in the first quarter that we fought our way through and at the end of the day when you looked at it, we scored on six out of eight meaningful possessions on offense, and we finished with touchdowns. We were 20-of-20 in the passing game, we had a 100-yard rusher, and we were able to get a lot of guys in there. I thought offensively, we were able to do the things that we wanted to do. Defensively, we didn't have a great first drive. I do think we settled in about midway through the second quarter and were able to cause two turnovers again, which was really important. Getting the two interceptions was really good. I thought we finished the game the way we wanted to finish it. We were able to get some guys in not quite as many on defense as we maybe wanted to because the fourth quarter played itself out from a time of possession standpoint, but all in all, I thought we did the things we needed to do to go out and win the football game. I want to just acknowledge our players of the week. Defensively, our defensive linemen of the game was Wesley Williams. I thought he had a really good night. Our player the game was Aeneas Peebles. I thought he brought some pass rush that was really good. Offensively, our offensive linemen of the game was Scott Elliott. I think he continues to get better every time he goes out there and our player the game was Henry Belin IV. While there was a small sample size, I think for him to go in there and operate the way he did and to account for a touchdown running and throwing. I just thought he did a really, really good job Saturday night and that was great to see. Our special teams player of the game was Cameron Bergeron. There wasn't a ton of stuff that happened on special teams, but Cam led our team in points as we kind of calculate that internally.
Â
"Turning the page to a really good Northwestern football program. Obviously, a team that's got a tremendous amount of pride and have had some challenging things happen over there this summer, but you know, I'm sure they have rallied and regrouped and certainly finished the game against UTEP the way they wanted to. I think they're starting to hit their stride now. They've been really good on defense, and they bring back two linebackers that we played against last year that are extremely physical. They do a really good job stopping the run and really limit the explosive plays. They've got a really good safety, Coco Azema, who does a really nice job. We played against him last year and I thought he was really talented last year and still think he is. I think he's one of their biggest playmakers on defense. Offensively they turned over a lot. They have a lot of new starters coming back and I think they really got their rhythm about midway through that game last week. I think what you saw from them has been pretty impressive. I think their running back Cam Porter is a really talented player. We played against him last year and thought he was a really effective runner. They've got a whole bunch of tight ends that they cycle through. All of them look like what you would think a Big Ten tight end looks like. They can run block, they can get open, they can catch the football. They have a slot in A.J. Henning, who kind of jumps off the page a little bit in the way he plays outside on the perimeter. It's going to be a really, really talented group. It's going to be a really tough challenge for our guys and we're going to have to prepare. It's nice to get a full week of practice and preparation and then get an opportunity to go out there and kind of play our best football on Saturday."
Â
(Ref.: On if there are still residual effects to recovery from two games in one week)
"Yeah, I think we'll just have to be smart about it a little bit with how we handle this week. It's still not quite a full week. You don't want to dive back in. We weren't really able to have a high volume practice last week, so if you jump right into high volume practice this week, you run the risk of coming in with heavy legs. We'll kind of do about 80 to 85 percent of what we would normally do on a Tuesday and Wednesday. That should get us enough volume. When we do those things, we don't lose reps. We do a lot of it in walkthrough to kind of balance the amount of reps we get schematically. We just maybe can't do it all physically the way we would want to."
Â
(Ref.: On the highlights of the defense through two games this season)
"I think we are closing ground well. I think we're eliminating explosive plays well, and I think if you can tackle in open space and eliminate explosives, it's hard sometimes for an offense to drive the length of the field consistently and finish drives. I think we've been able to do that. I still think there's, and I talk to the defense all the time about this, but I think there's a level we can get to that we're not at yet. With just how we execute play in and play out, how we communicate, how we function within the defenses as the offense continues to throw different looks at us and different things at us, which maybe will allow us to control the flow of the game a little bit more consistently. There have been times where I think drives have been put together that maybe we could do a better job with, but I think ultimately, we've been really good."
Â
(Ref.: On how successful the team has been tackling this season compared to last)
"Yeah, we tackle a lot honestly. We talk to the guys about it all the time, you can't get good at football without playing football, and so we don't put our kids at risk. I tell our guys this sometimes, least dangerous drill you could do in football is a one-on-one open space tackling drill, because it's really hard to get a high-end collision in the drill. If you quick whistle it and you're smart about your aiming point when you tackle, you can do some tackling drills in ways that can be safe. We tried to do a lot of that. If you do goal line period for 20 straight minutes and you just create pile ups and bodies on top of bodies, sometimes that's not the best way to go about it. There are ways I think that you can be really smart about how you practice tackling, and I think we've tried to do that."
Â
(Ref.: On the ability of Riley Leonard to have an internal clock and avoid sacks this year)
"I think he's improved. I think that's something he's gotten better at. It's something we talk a lot about. Being successful on drives and being efficient in our drives, how much each yard matters, and your percent success of converting a first down, if you can put us in 2nd-and-8 versus 2nd-and-12, that's an enormous difference. 2nd-and-8 is better than 2nd-and-10 and he understands that stuff probably more now. I think that's probably some of that next level stuff that we talk about. There are times where you see a quarterback throw it away to create a 2nd-and-10 and you'll see Riley maybe just kind of drift into a little bit of space and get three yards and 2nd-and-7 is a big difference. It really is and it opens up the playbook a little bit more for you on second down and keeps you in rhythm, so I think he's managing that stuff at a really, really high level.
Â
(Ref.: On the job Henry Belin IV did on Saturday against Lafayette)
"I think that's one of the things that I've learned over the years is, we respect everybody. We certainly respect every opponent. We never try to disrespect anyone. We're never going to disrespect the game and we're never going to do anything obscene. At the end of the day, our job is to our kids to prepare them to be successful. That's the thing that we've got to take care of. It was really important for us to get Henry out there and allow him to execute the game plan right. That's why we kept Jordan Moore in. That's why we kept Sahmir Hagans in. There is going to come a point in time this year where we're playing a big football game and Henry Belin IV might be the quarterback and he might have to put us on a drive to win a football game. So, it's unfair to him to get into that situation without taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves to go out there and play right. I think as the game wore on into the fourth quarter, I think we took the air out of the ball, and we milked the clock and we just kind of let it wilt away. There was a point in time where even though we were winning, we had to keep playing. We had to keep playing to allow him to play the game and we didn't wait until the game was completely out of hand either. To put him in, we have a lot of confidence in Henry, and we certainly didn't anticipate any drop off in play. We felt like he would go out there and move the offense and we weren't worried at all that he would stall the offense. I think we were able to get out of it what we wanted to."
Â
(Ref.: On if the reserves showed enough to play a bigger role later in the year)
"Yeah, I don't know that deep reserves, but it certainly was great to get Jontavis Robertson out there a little bit more and get him going again. He was battling an ankle issue all through training camp, and it was good to see him run around. We moved Jake Taylor to wide receiver and so we were able to get him a couple reps. He had a nice catch. That was really good to see. We were able to get Peyton Jones a lot of carries and that was really critical for us. I don't know about deep reserve, but certainly some of those guys that are going to be the next guys at some press conference down the road. We're going to be talking about the big role that they played in a critical game. I think getting those guys reps was really important."
Â
(Ref.: On what stood out about Scott Elliott from the beginning of camp until now)
"I think the first thing is toughness. I think he battled when he got here. He got sick right when he got here and so getting thrusted into Coach [David] Feeley's conditioning mid-summer is not the easiest thing in the world. Getting sick right when you get here and then having to come out of that and get into Coach Feeley's world is not the easiest thing in the world. So, the toughness jumped out and then we saw some movement skills that were really good. We were able to do some position specific work with the guys in the summer now, so we were able to kind of work with him a little bit and see some of that stuff that jumped out right away. Then he just picked things up really quickly. Obviously, we feel like we have some pretty good defensive tacklers and he did a nice job in camp blocking them, so we have a lot of confidence in Scott going out there and playing."
Â
(Ref.: On the scouting report of Northwestern)
"They're a Big Ten team, so they're big and they're physical. They were able to run the ball really well last week in the second half. They got the running game going a little bit. Defensively, they're given up about 15 points a game. They've been very physical, they're very stout. I think they know the scheme that they're playing very well, and they play it very fast. I think they're a big, big challenge for us."
Â
(Ref.: On if there are areas of the defense that need improving)
"I think our guys would tell you I can get picky on a lot of things. I mean, listen I'm a defensive coordinator who's not overly positive by nature. I can find a lot of things wrong with how we're playing defense, no matter what's going on. Like I said, I think we're tackling well. I think we're covering well. I think there's some areas in the run game that we'd really like to tighten up and play a little bit better. I think our kids would tell you that. I think we have to do a little bit better job on third down getting off the field. I think that's something that we haven't been great at through two games. I'd like to see that get a little bit better. I'm really happy with how hard we're playing. I think that's a staple of who we are and that's continued to show up and something we're really excited about. This group has high expectations of themselves, so I think they know what I say, before I say it now."
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#GoDuke
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Players Mentioned
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