Wake Forest Head Coach Quotes
Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe
On if you the game totally turned when quarterback Tanner Price got hurt:
“I do not know. He is certainly important to our football team. The team is concerned about him and hopefully he is okay. Not only him getting hurt on that play, but we had a nice completion and a penalty. That was not good to get a holding penalty at that point in the game.”
On how the team dominated the game for three quarters:
“I thought we had a good plan and stuck to the plan pretty well. We had a couple of really untimely penalties down the stretch. I have to give credit to Syracuse. They are a good football team. They did a good job. Their quarterback played his best football down the stretch. I’m really disappointed we did not take advantage of a lot of opportunities in the first half. And defensively, a couple of plays were huge in the second half. But I have to give a lot of credit to the Syracuse kids. I thought they played really hard and did a nice job down the stretch.”
On electing to go on defense first in overtime and not offense:
“I thought that right at the end when we blocked the field goal that our kids were pretty pumped up. Our defense was a little pumped up. I think in overtime you always want to go defense so you know what the offense needs to do coming out.”
On how tough the job is now:
“Last year, we played five teams that finished in the final Top 25 rankings. We played nine bowl teams. Syracuse is a bowl team from last year. We have played really, really good people. Unfortunately tonight, we played a team that was too good for us to make as many mistakes we made and win. We had too many penalties and a turnover that hurt us late. They had a big run up the sideline late and scored points just like that. I thought our kicking game had issues tonight too.”
On how important confidence is to this team:
“I think our biggest deal is learning how to defend. That really has not a lot to do with confidence. It has a lot to do with making plays. We had two or three opportunities in the fourth quarter to make plays and did not do it. Offensively, the same thing. When you get down the stretch, especially on the road at a tough place to play, someone has to make a play. We were in position to make some good plays late and did not make them. You just have to learn to finish. I do not think confidence is as much as just being able to find a way for someone to step up and make a play late. “
On if you the game totally turned when quarterback Tanner Price got hurt:
“I do not know. He is certainly important to our football team. The team is concerned about him and hopefully he is okay. Not only him getting hurt on that play, but we had a nice completion and a penalty. That was not good to get a holding penalty at that point in the game.”
On how the team dominated the game for three quarters:
“I thought we had a good plan and stuck to the plan pretty well. We had a couple of really untimely penalties down the stretch. I have to give credit to Syracuse. They are a good football team. They did a good job. Their quarterback played his best football down the stretch. I’m really disappointed we did not take advantage of a lot of opportunities in the first half. And defensively, a couple of plays were huge in the second half. But I have to give a lot of credit to the Syracuse kids. I thought they played really hard and did a nice job down the stretch.”
On electing to go on defense first in overtime and not offense:
“I thought that right at the end when we blocked the field goal that our kids were pretty pumped up. Our defense was a little pumped up. I think in overtime you always want to go defense so you know what the offense needs to do coming out.”
On how tough the job is now:
“Last year, we played five teams that finished in the final Top 25 rankings. We played nine bowl teams. Syracuse is a bowl team from last year. We have played really, really good people. Unfortunately tonight, we played a team that was too good for us to make as many mistakes we made and win. We had too many penalties and a turnover that hurt us late. They had a big run up the sideline late and scored points just like that. I thought our kicking game had issues tonight too.”
On how important confidence is to this team:
“I think our biggest deal is learning how to defend. That really has not a lot to do with confidence. It has a lot to do with making plays. We had two or three opportunities in the fourth quarter to make plays and did not do it. Offensively, the same thing. When you get down the stretch, especially on the road at a tough place to play, someone has to make a play. We were in position to make some good plays late and did not make them. You just have to learn to finish. I do not think confidence is as much as just being able to find a way for someone to step up and make a play late. “
