Video:
Transcript:
(Opening statement)
“I’m really proud of our football team, I thought that they hung in there. When you lose, it’s not real fun and they’ve been able to practice hard, work hard to improve. It didn’t look good early on, as everyone saw, [down] 14-0, getting ready to go down 21-0, tremendous fourth down stop when neither side is playing well. And then we take the ball and run it for a 90-plus yard touchdown and from there we had momentum. And I think it’s just a credit to our guys.
Just when you think things are looking as bleak as they can, our guys hung in there. We talk about it all the time, we work on it all the time, it’s just hard to do. So, you’ve got to give our guys a ton of credit for playing hard, for finishing the game, for sticking together, for believing in themselves and their teammates – it’s not easy to do. This is a competitive sport, competitive teams and then you’ve got to come ready to play and every little thing matters.
I thought we had a great week of practice. Did we adjust things up? Yes, we did. I think when things aren’t going the way you want, you’ve got to tweak some things, that’s my responsibility to do whatever I can to help us improve. Definitely this week, the goal was to get with the defense and help them, assist them as much as I can, help them put a plan together that we understand and we know, that is simple, but yet has enough ability to get aggressive and to strike and allow our guys to play, but also not give up big plays. So, I spent a whole lot of time doing that. Our defensive coaches did a great job with it, put it on paper. We had Coach (Mark) Ivey, Coach (Steve) Ellis and Coach (Mike) Cassity upstairs working together to do the best job they could and I thought they did a great job. On offense, I wasn’t as involved, Brian [Brohm] and the offensive staff took it and ran with it. I thought they did a great job, worked really hard, of course I was in there some and assisted as much as I can, I’ll always do that, but it was theirs and they took it and ran with it and I’m really proud of them. Things didn’t look good early on, so they just kept staying together, had a great attitude, so you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. So great job coaching by our offensive and defensive staff and a great job by our players today, I’m really proud of them.”
(How much did the back-to-back fourth down stop and 97-yard touchdown plays help swing the momentum and lead to the win?)
“Well, it’s all about momentum, and it was. I’m not blind. I saw the first quarter, it wasn’t going our way. I thought we were passive on defense, not aggressive enough. We knew the calls, but we just, we have to be a little more aggressive, because we were getting knocked back, they were getting yards. Offensively, we moved a little bit, but got stalled when we needed to get yards, and maybe not quite as aggressive as well. So, when we got the fourth down stop, tremendous play by our guys, and then, you can execute the one run for 90 plus yards for a touchdown. Then from there, I think our guys said, you know what, we can do this. Let’s amp it up a little bit, the aggressiveness on both sides.
Even though we didn’t pass the ball a lot, we were able to find areas to run the ball to get yards. Early on, I thought we were a little stagnant in the middle, needed to get off tackle a little bit and have a little bit of misdirection here and there, some things to get on the perimeter and take a couple shots. I thought all that paid off, and we executed really well, so, great job by our coaches and players.
(How much better is the offense when Isaac (Brown) plays well?)
“Well, we’ve got weapons. I applaud Lincoln (Kienholz) and our receivers. They want the ball, they want a bunch of catches and today, man, we kind of had the running game going a little bit, and it was kind of popping in there, and the offensive line felt it. They felt good. I think after we hit the big run, it was like, okay, let’s continue to do this and run the ball at them and make them defend that. So, our offense line couldn’t have been happier in the locker room after a game like that. To run for 400 yards in ACC play is more than difficult, it’s very difficult. Obviously, we have great running backs, but the offensive line, tight ends, receivers, quarterback, all did a tremendous job of running the ball, being physical, taking care of the ball, and making big plays.”
Running Back Isaac Brown
(On how comfortable he was feeling tonight)
“It started from practice, just taking more reps because Keyjuan Brown was out. So, just taking more reps and it pays off in the game.”
(On what it felt like to have an “Isaac Brown game”)
“I would just say staying patient. In the beginning of the season, I had lost my family member, and it was kind of hurting me. So, I just put that to the side and started playing ball.”
(On what the defense making the stop before the first touchdown/ the mindset was going into the first touchdown drive/ what he saw during his 97-yard rushing touchdown)
“Hats off to Kaleb (Beasley), that was the first thought. Coach Brohm told me, ‘I just need to go out there and score and put the game away,’ so, that’s what I did.”
Running Back Marquise Davis
(On if he’s been a part of a running game that’s been as productive as tonight) “I’ve been a part of something similar, but it’s different everywhere you go. The line for sure brings a different aspect to the game as far as how they block and how they set us up to prevail.”
(On how being behind before helps the team know they can make plays to get back in the game)
“The emphasis from Coach Brohm was to not look at the scoreboard and just do what you need to do. Clearly, it was 0-14, but we still played like it was 0-0.”
Linebacker Stanquan Clark
(On what caused the momentum to shift on defense)
“It was a conversation between the players. When they scored those touchdowns, we all came together, and we said, ‘We can’t let this keep happening, we have to fight through this.’ Even though we were down 14-0, we knew we had to keep pushing through it and try to win this game.”
(On the defense giving up a lot of big plays and penalties entering tonight’s game/how important it is to have a game where you make the stops and don’t get penalized)
“It’s very important to not have penalties. From the previous games, the penalties have hurt us a lot, so we just had to clean that up a team and do better as a group.”
Safety Kaleb Beasley
(On the fourth down stop)
“It definitely built momentum, for sure. I think it was fourth and two, we were in a man concept. I just spun down from the post, was playing man and I saw he just stopped and they threw the ball, I thought ‘There’s no way they’re going to throw the ball, I’m right here.’ And he threw it, I got the tackle, got him down. (Then) Isaac went down, scored a big touchdown; flipped the momentum. Definitely was a big play, for sure.”
(On the motivation for the defensive pressure after the slow start)
“I feel that we were really mentally tough, we just came together after they scored that second one. We said, ‘We can’t let this happen anymore.’ So, we all got on the same page, we started to send a little bit of pressure, and on the back end, we were staying in coverage, ended up working out well.”
Florida State Coach Mike Norvell
(Opening Statement)
“Extremely poor performance by us. We started the game well, came out, and jumped up to a 14-0 lead, had the opportunity down at the three-yard line and were not able to score. Too many missed opportunities tonight, very next play, they score a 97-yard touchdown. Obviously was a huge sequence in part of that game, and we did not handle that well enough. In the second quarter on, I thought there were too many times we were pressing and we didn’t show the detail, the discipline, and mental toughness that’s necessary on the road. It starts with me. Obviously, our guys were not prepared for those moments like they needed to be, but we all need to take ownership of it – coaches, players, everybody involved.
We had plenty of opportunities, and we have to capitalize on those. When you play a team that has explosive players, you have to do your job. You have to make sure you are aligned right, you’re executing with discipline and detail, and at the end of the day, if you do that, then you give yourself a chance, and if you don’t, then explosive plays and missed opportunities are going to show up, and that’s what we saw for three quarters. Extremely disappointed for this team, for the work that I watched and what I believe in their potential and what we can do. Tonight, for three quarters, that was not put on display.
Ultimately, it still comes down to work, honing the issues, correcting the issues, and then going and putting it on display for three and a half hours, and we did not do that. Obviously got a huge game next week, a rivalry game against a very talented team, but we have to get tonight fixed. That was incredibly disappointing, and give Louisville credit, they did a good job in all parts of what they did for three quarters: coaching, playing. They got the job done. We got to own the result, fix it, and go get better and be ready to go next Saturday.”
Isaac Brown and Marquise Davis:
Stanquan Clark and Kaleb Beasley:
