Syracuse Player Quotes
Syracuse vs. South Florida
November 10, 2007
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Defensive End Jameel McClain
"There's not much to be said. You have to keep on going out there and playing, but it's like I told my teammates, you have to ask yourself what motivates you? Who are you going out there to play for? So, obviously we're all going out there to play for each other and to play this game that we love, so at this point – what can you say, besides that."
On South Florida's execution:
"What is there to say? There's not really much that I can say. They did it. They executed their plays perfectly. Like Coach Robinson said, you play against a team of that caliber, you need luck to fall in your favor, sometimes. Some people don't believe this game is about luck at some points. They executed well and we were out of gaps sometimes, so they took advantage of what they had."
On South Florida's caliber:
"I think they're a good team. At one point they were ranked number two. You don’t get there by mistake. They came out there and they executed, especially in the second half."
Offensive guard Carroll Madison
"All those guys are fighting out there. The scoring may not reflect that, but the guys are busting their [tails off] and that's all I can ask for."
On the struggles of the running game coming back out and him moving to offensive tackle:
"Selvie's a good player. They are probably one of the best defensive teams I've played against during my career here. He's a [heck] of a player and I do what I can do and just tried to help the team wherever I can help them."
On seeing the same issues of protection and being unable to run the ball:
"It's frustrating. I don't know what else we can do other than keep working. I feel like it's not lack of effort, you just have to do something."
"It's frustrating. I don't know what else we can do other than keep working. I feel like it's not lack of effort, you just have to do something."
Linebacker Mike Mele
"It was fun playing, but obviously we had a tough loss, which is terrible. But we just have to keep working hard."
On the toughness of South Florida's offense:
"They spread you out. They have a ton of different formations. The quarterback can run, so that's an extra guy you have to worry about. They're a great team. Our coach did a great job preparing us, it's just a tough game."
"They spread you out. They have a ton of different formations. The quarterback can run, so that's an extra guy you have to worry about. They're a great team. Our coach did a great job preparing us, it's just a tough game."
On South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe:
"He's a great athlete and a great competitor. He's slippery. He just makes plays. Tough loss."
On the frustration level of the team:
"We just have to keep working hard. That's all we know how to do. Just work hard and that's all I can say."
Linebacker Jake Flaherty
On the South Florida offense:
“Their style of offense is obviously very potent because they can hurt you in more ways than one. It basically comes down to a guy standing in the gap; gap control defense and I know a couple of times I didn’t get that done. You can’t give them that inch because they are such good athletes and they will take it. They will take more than an inch.”
On what South Florida did to throw off the Syracuse defense:
On the South Florida offense:
“Their style of offense is obviously very potent because they can hurt you in more ways than one. It basically comes down to a guy standing in the gap; gap control defense and I know a couple of times I didn’t get that done. You can’t give them that inch because they are such good athletes and they will take it. They will take more than an inch.”
On what South Florida did to throw off the Syracuse defense:
“I don’t think we were really thrown off. I think it is really just being able to execute. That’s what you need to do and obviously sometimes we didn’t do that.”
On the South Florida quarterback:
“He is a talented kid. He is really like a third half back in there and he can come north and south and put his shoulder down. He is a tough kid; so you’ve got to give him that.”
Quarterback Cameron Dantley
On his play as quarterback:
“There was a breakdown in the second quarter in terms of signals and stuff like that. I need to learn how to relax and I guess that will come as I play more and more. My first time out there I looked a little bit nervous and could have been more relaxed than I was.”
On the South Florida quarterback:
“He is a talented kid. He is really like a third half back in there and he can come north and south and put his shoulder down. He is a tough kid; so you’ve got to give him that.”
Quarterback Cameron Dantley
On his play as quarterback:
“There was a breakdown in the second quarter in terms of signals and stuff like that. I need to learn how to relax and I guess that will come as I play more and more. My first time out there I looked a little bit nervous and could have been more relaxed than I was.”
“I saw open receivers and made the decisions that I needed to make, but I definitely made mistakes. I should have put that ball a little bit outside for Lavar [Lobdell] in the second half. Other than that I thought I got into it a little bit. I tried to compose myself. I got a lot more relaxed and it started coming to me a little bit more. It started feeling more comfortable.”
On the South Florida defense:
“They are really good. We saw on film that they have a lot of quickness early; they are real fast. They have some NFL prospects on their team. [George] Selvie is real quick coming around the end and you could just tell the speed that they had. They were big all the way around on the defensive side of the ball. They were causing problems for us from the beginning. We started to get a little bit of the hang of it but you could just tell they were just different from a lot of the teams that we play.”
On what he felt he did best in the game:
“For me, being out there for the first time, I just thought I did a good job of composing myself and just trying to take it one play at a time.”
“They are really good. We saw on film that they have a lot of quickness early; they are real fast. They have some NFL prospects on their team. [George] Selvie is real quick coming around the end and you could just tell the speed that they had. They were big all the way around on the defensive side of the ball. They were causing problems for us from the beginning. We started to get a little bit of the hang of it but you could just tell they were just different from a lot of the teams that we play.”
On what he felt he did best in the game:
“For me, being out there for the first time, I just thought I did a good job of composing myself and just trying to take it one play at a time.”
