University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Georgia Tech
October 19, 2014 | Football
Carolina 48, Georgia Tech 43
UNC Head Coach Larry Fedora
Opening statement:
"That was a heck of a game. A heck of a game. That's a much different locker room than it has been over the last few weeks. I'm proud of our guys. Again, throughout that game, it didn't matter if something bad happened or good happened, they really did a nice job staying level-headed and kept playing. We knew it was going to be a 60-minute game. We didn't know all the things that were going to happen, but I can tell you, when adversity hit throughout the game, nobody flinched. They just kept playing and believing in each other, so I'm proud of them."
On Marquise Williams' poise in the last drive:
"I said as he was going out, '3:07, three minutes.' He said, 'We do this every week. It's no big deal,' and he's right. We work two-minute (drills) every week and we've been doing that since the first day that we got here. He's comfortable with it. If you look at our guys in a two-minute situation, they're not helter-skelter because we go at that pace all the time, so it's very calm for them actually.
"Throughout the game he did a really nice job of checking the ball down. He didn't push the ball into any coverages that he shouldn't have. He checked it down when he should. He did a heck of a job tonight. Really. The way he ran the ball, as always, and the way he threw it."
On the production of the running backs:
"Again you're talking two weeks in a row that we've had our starting five back up front with some reps under their belt. So I think they are doing a better job. With Marquise being able to run, that's going to open up some things for the running backs also. But those kids ran hard tonight. They did a nice job as a unit, as the three of them."
On T.J. Logan:
"He stepped up. He really did. It wasn't as much about, 'Let me try to make you miss,' as it was 'I'm going to try and punish you when you tackle me.' And that was nice to see that mentality out of him."
On the significance of the game:
"It was huge. It was huge. We needed this more than anything right now. You guys know what we've been doing and what we've been going through. I told you their guts were ripped out last week the way they played because they played hard and had a chance to win the game against the No. 5 team in the country at that time. They needed this. Because they haven't waivered in the way they practice, their attitudes - they've kept believing. That's not easy to do. That's not easy to do when the coaches keep preaching the same thing over and over and over. And everyone on the outside is saying, 'Nah, you ought to be doing this,' or 'You ought to be doing that,' or 'You ought to be playing this guy or that guy,' and all they do is stay focused and kept believing in what we've been preaching and what we're teaching. Hopefully that's why we won the game today."
WR Ryan Switzer
On the win:
"It was one we needed. Big Coastal (Division) win against a really good Georgia Tech team. I think they had one loss coming in. The offense did our thing tonight, we finally showed up like we're capable of. It was a team effort. Special teams played well, defense played well. That's a tough offense to stop, looking from the sidelines you don't know who has the ball so I can only imagine being out there. All three phases bailed each other out at times and we'll get a W when we continue to do that."
On the last drive:
"We didn't want it any other way to be honest with you. When they scored and I saw we had three minutes and three timeouts. Coach Fedora pulled the skill position guys in and said this is just a regular drive for us. We were patient. Quise (QB Marquise Williams) did a great job of leading us down the field. Guys made some plays. Khris Francis, his number was called tonight, did a great job. We didn't want to settle for three, we wanted to get the ball in the end zone, leave no doubt and that's what we did."
On his two TD catches:
"The first one, it was a deep ball to me, it was a post corner post. I made a play on the ball and was fortunate enough to outrun the safety. The second one, I was the the check down in that situation and Quise had a scramble drill and found it to me. I was able to make a move and get in the end zone... It was nice to get in the box tonight. I'm more comfortable now."
QB Marquise Williams
On his mindset during the final drive:
"That's where the best quarterbacks perform, under pressure, down, nobody expects you to be, and I felt like we had three timeouts, 3:07 left, just move the ball down, don't force anything, check the ball down. As you saw I checked the ball down maybe three or four times. I knew I had to move it down, move around, just keep moving the chains. I knew we just needed three to win, and we found a way to just keep executing on offensive side of the football."
On his offensive line:
"Those guys are unbelievable. It's been shaky all year. A lot of people talking how we couldn't get a running game and we couldn't get this going and those guys were feeling bad about themselves. Now you see the offensive line is unbelievable. My hat goes to them every Saturday, even during the week they put in extra work. Even on Sundays, after we finish practice, you see some guys just out there blocking and pass protection stuff. I'm so grateful to have those guys. If it wasn't for those guys I wouldn't be able to do what I do out there."
On his comfort level on the field:
"The first series I was too excited so I wasn't comfortable yet. I just had to calm myself, and tell myself lets get it going. We can't keep giving Georgia Tech the football because they'll take their time on possessions. It felt great to be back there. Those offensive linemen played unbelievable, gave me a lot of time to pass the football and it was great back there."
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
On the onside kick:
"We had a chance to get the onside kick. We practiced that, and it was actually pretty good. We had a chance to get it, but we just didn't get it. We just didn't make the play."
On getting hurt on tackles:
"We missed a lot of tackles. They missed a lot of tackles, too."
On rest of the season:
"You're still 5-2, so you can still have a good season. But we're going to have to play better. Just like I told the guys after the game, we can win the rest of our games or we can lose the rest of our games. That's why you play. It's hard to win football games. It's not easy. It's hard to win."
Looking back at the game:
"When you look at the tape, it's probably never as good or as bad as it seems. I'm sure when we look at it, we'll find all kinds of things that we screwed up that we can do better."
"We had chances to get off the field defensively. We had chances to make plays. Like their last touchdown - not the last one, but the one before it - we got them on 3rd and 8, they made a nice play, but we can't make a play."
"When we were blitzing, we would get to the quarterback late. All you got to do is knock the ball out."
"The very first third down they had on the last drive to win the game, 3rd and 7, the tight end catches the ball. We got a guy right there - just make a play, knock it out."
