West Virginia Quotes
SU Football vs. West Virginia
Post-Game Visiting Quotes
October 10, 2009
West Virginia Head Coach Bill Stewart
“I’m very very pleased at how fast we started. Last year, we had a problem with early games. We had a problem at West Virginia football with setting our alarm, hitting the snooze button, and not coming out of the gate. I’m very pleased with what was accomplished today at this noon game. This reminded me of the UConn game last year up there. We had a noon game and had to set our clocks, not hit the snooze button and play. I’m proud.
“Eight different West Virginia receivers touched the ball in the first half. There is a method to my madness. Those that don’t play football probably don’t understand that. I’m going to continue to spread the wealth and I’m going to continue to throw the ball deep.
“I’m very pleased for our defense. There were numerous three and outs. We talked about getting off the field and we got off the field. I’m pleased with that. I told you we had to contain the playmakers. I thought we did a nice job with that, at the end, how do you stop Mike Williams? You don’t. You just try to keep the minimal number of plays in the playmakers hands. That’s what we tried to do and I’m pleased our defense did that.
“We played hard, physical, and tough Mountaineer football. To come up and keep that trophy for the eighth year, I was very impressed. ”
On Jarrett Brown hitting eight different receivers in the first half:
“He was 22-of-30 for passing. He took a couple sacks there because two guys missed a play there. He really managed the tempo and the clock, spreading the wealth. We have a new offensive motto that is spread the wealth. That is what we tried to do today.”
On Brown’s performance between last year’s game with SU and this year’s:
“Last year, the kid just bit his lip, never said a word, and two people were booed out of Mountaineer stadium. One was Jarrett Brown, shamefully. That is the difference. Last year, the kid couldn’t pick his arm up and we couldn’t tell that. If I coached defense, I know what I would have done. I would have blitzed him every down. I was so pleased though, with how he took that ball and spread the wealth today.”
On the effect of the take away on SU’s first drive:
“We set a tempo. We tried to work all week on ball security. I ran them hard on Sunday. I was not a very nice man on Sunday night. I ran them hard. I made them go through gauntlets and tomahawks. I made them hit and pound each other. What we’re trying to do, is what every coach in this country is trying to do, that is minimize turnovers. On the other side of that, we had to work on maximizing and making turnovers.”
On how clean today’s game was fundamentally:
“Yes, it was, particularly the first half. I’ve been talking to them about closing the deal. We’ve got to close the deal.”
Junior Defensive Back Brandon Hogan
On winning the BIG EAST opener:
“It is a big accomplishment. Syracuse is a tough team and they gave us their all.”
On limiting Mike Williams in the first half:
“He is a great player. We didn’t want him to thrash our defense so we had a plan for him where we would bump and run him, keep someone on top of him. It worked at first but he caught a couple balls in the second half.”
On the early turnover:
“That was big to get out on defense, get a turnover and get our offense close to the endzone. That was big for us.”
On getting three-and-outs defensively:
“Our coach had a talk with us before the game and told us we need to step it up on third down. He really motivated us and got us going.”
Junior defensive back Sidney Glover
On the defense:
“Our defense did alright, we got ahead early. There might have been a series or two when we didn’t go as hard as we could have, but overall we played well. There were probably some missed assignments, but overall we played hard and played well.”
On the importance of the first turnover:
“That first series, they were driving and had us on our heels a little bit. This game had a lot to do with field position, even though it didn’t seem like it was close, field position was important so that interception was big for us. They had the momentum and it swung our way with that interception.”
On shutting down Mike Williams in the first half:
“It was big, he is the key to their offense, he is the guy that makes them go. We tried to shut him down in the first half and containing him was big. That helped us to slow down their momentum and that is what we were looking to do today.”
Redshirt freshman running back Ryan Clarke
On getting the win in the BIG EAST opener:
“This was round one, we had to come out strong and set the tone for the rest of the BIG EAST, show them what we’re about.”
On the defense:
“They did very well, they made critical stops and held Syracuse to six points for the majority of the game. Overall they played well.”
On his two touchdowns:
“It felt great, but still when Noel (Devine) has those big runs, I want him to get that glory. Our offense did a lot of work and I’m just trying to do my job by punching it in.”
Redshirt Senior Quarterback Jarrett Brown
On his performance:
“What I took from the past four games I was able to bring into this game. I focused on taking care of the ball and reading the defense.”
On the comparison to last year’s game:
“We threw the ball downfield a couple times which we couldn’t do last year. Syracuse stacked the box but we were able to keep them honest this game.”
On his pass to tight end Will Johnson down the sideline:
“That is a great job of (Johnson) selling the run and getting open. We practice that throw all day. There is no defense for a perfect pass and I think he did a great job.”
