Syracuse Post-Game Quotes
Paul Pasqualoni Quotes
On defending Dan Orlovsky:
“You do what you feel you have to do. Danny (Orlovsky) is a tough guy to pressure because he reads things so well. We ran some man coverage against him and it didn’t seem as effective as we’d like it to have been. We made a decision to try and mix it up, be patient, not give up anything easy, and not give him any quick stuff. After we made it a two possession game, I thought we were playing as much against the clock as we were against Danny Orlovsky.”
“We gave up a lot of yards but it was all underneath stuff. There weren’t many deep balls and at one point you start playing against the clock and nothing else. If you want to throw it underneath at that point, it’s a two, three possession game then the clock becomes the factor.”
On the big plays of the game:
“At the beginning of the second half, Tony Jenkins made a great play. Anthony (Smith) made a great catch but Tony read the screen and he’s the one that tipped the ball. It bounced off of somebody and then Anthony ended up with it and made the play. Their first possession, we got the ball and didn’t do much with it. We talked about that at halftime. That was a major focus of our discussion. We’re very happy that it worked out for us. It couldn’t have worked out better.”
On the play before the half:
“I think it did a lot for us. Perry (Patterson) did a very nice job of managing it. He had two plays called so he didn’t waste the clock. He knew exactly what the next play was going to be. He pumped it to buy himself some more time. Andre (Fontenette) was able to get behind the defense and it got tipped. Typically when there’s a wide receiver in the end zone that ball gets tipped, there’s a pretty good chance that the wide receiver is going to get it. All the white jerseys were in front of Andre and he was the last one. There was nobody between him and the end line and he made the catch. We’re just lucky that somehow he got behind the defense.”
On the importance of this win:
“The nice part is we are 2-1 in the league. Every week is a big game. All the Big East games are big and one doesn’t count more than the next. We played against a great quarterback. In the years I’ve been coaching we’ve played against a lot of great quarterbacks. You’ve got to give Danny Orlovsky a lot of credit. He ranks up there, to me, with all the really good quarterbacks in I-A football now and those we’ve played against. He’s the difference and keeps them in the game. It’s a great win for us. We’ve got Pittsburgh coming in. Fortunately now, we’ve got another home game next week, which is terrific and now we’re just going to enjoy this one and get ready to play Pitt.”
On starting Breyone Evans:
“Breyone Evans got the start because Greg Hanoian’s finger is really messed up and Breyone is an excellent athlete from Bristol, Connecticut. He was heavily recruited and we feel that Breyone has the chance to the kind of fullback we’d like to have here. He showed a little of his balance, his toughness and his running ability today.”
On Anthony Smith playing corner:
“We moved Anthony (Smith) to corner and the next guy with the most experienced defensive back is O’Neil Scott. So Scotty went in to play safety and that made Anthony play corner. Anthony has excellent cover skills and he could be a corner. It’s tough on him to do in one week but all things considered I think Anthony did well.”
On SU’s defensive and offensive line play:
“James (Wyche) is a fierce competitor. He rushes the passer well. Ryan LaCasse rushes well. I thought the defensive line played really well today. The offensive line played well. We played well up front that made a big difference in the game.”
Sophomore quarterback Perry Patterson
On the touchdown pass at the end of the first half:
“Give all the credit to Font (senior wide receiver, Andre Fontenette). I just threw it up there. It was a big emotional lift. UConn came out firing, and we just had to keep up with their scoring. It was a big spark. Everyone was happy that we came up with the Hail Mary and it was Font’s first (touchdown) catch so we were happy for him. Our heads were high and we were really confident.”
On the team’s confidence:
“Coach P keeps us focused. He always talks about persistence and persevering in life even though people are going to take shots at you. It shows this team’s character when we bounce back, and Coach P is a big part of us being able to do that.”
On UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky:
“He’s a true player. He’s going to the league. I really like the way he played today and how their offense runs off of him. He’s a great leader.”
On the importance of this game:
“Winning this game is big. Playing the teams we’ve played has really gotten us prepared for playing games like this. Now we’re 2-1 in the BIG EAST, and we’re going to keep on preparing so we can come out against Pittsburgh and get a big win.”
Senior center Matt Tarullo
On the play of the team:
“Things went the right way today, and things are going to go right for the next couple of weeks because we are going to put ourselves in a position for them to go the right way. We played a hard game, and UConn played a hard game, but we’re excited because we know what kind of potential we have and we showed it today.”
On the play of the defensive line:
“The defensive line handled the game upfront and they gave us the ball and we handled the game upfront. On both sides of the ball we did a great job and that makes me excited to go up against Pittsburgh. Pitt’s a team that we have had a rivalry with for a while and I’m glad we can go into this game with a win.”
Junior Cornerback Anthony Smith
On starting at cornerback:
“It was the first time I’d played there since my sophomore year in high school so it was a big transition I had to make, but I worked hard throughout the week and it paid off.”
On how the defensive line helped the secondary:
“They had a great game today. It was their best game all year. They got pressure on the quarterback and forced him out of the pocket which allowed us to chase him down a little bit.”
Senior wide receiver Andre Fontenette
On catching a touchdown at the end of the first half:
“As my role has progressed this year I’ve been a third down receiver and I feel it’s my role to move the chains and give the team a spark. That’s what I was trying to do going into halftime.”
On how his touchdown catch helped the team:
“It was exciting, but we had to realize that we still had a whole half to play. We came out pretty solid on offense after that.”
On senior running back Walter Reyes:
“It’s always important to get Walter going because he’s our best player. If we can get him going and get some momentum, everyone else will follow his energy. After the first drive we really thought we could move the ball.”
Senior Safety Troy Swittenburg
On the play of the team:
“It’s a team sport. The better the offense does the more it helps the defense, and the better the defense does, the more it helps the offense. We are all one unit and when we come together as a unit we play well and everyone benefits. “
Junior wide receiver Steve Gregory
On the touchdown catch at the end of the first half:
“It was amazing. I almost didn’t believe he (senior wide receiver Andre Fontenette) caught it at first. The ball just got back-handed and tipped up, and I didn’t even think about catching it because I was watching him catch it.”
On how the touchdown at the end of the half did for the team:
“Going into halftime like that, for us to get that touchdown, is big. It gives you something that lifts you up and gets you ready to come out fired up.”
Sophomore punter Brendan Carney
On his kicking today:
“I felt pretty good. I had a good week kicking field goals. The miss was tough because I kicked it really well. Coming off the foot it looked like it was good, but then it sailed right.”
Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Tony Jenkins:
On how he tipped the interception:
“I saw the screen and then I saw the running back and the ball was kind of high and he tipped it. Right when he was going for the ball he hit me, so I tipped it back up and that’s when Anthony (Smith, sophomore cornerback) came in and caught it.”
Redshirt freshman fullback Breyonne Evans:
On how he felt about starting:
“I was anxious, but I just wanted to get out there, help the team out, and play well. I’m just proud we got a win today.”
Senior safety Diamond Ferri
On the defense forcing turnovers:
“It’s just a lot of hard work and dedication. Turnovers win games and everyone went out there and played very hard. The defensive line did a good job, the linebackers were key, and the safeties did really well.”
Senior defensive end Jullian Pollard
On putting pressure on the Connecticut quarterback:
“It was great by us. Coach Reid got after us all week to step up and do the job we needed.”
On forcing five Connecticut turnovers:
“Anytime we can give the ball to the offense it’s a positive thing, and that’s our goal every game.”
