University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Head Coaches And UNC Players
November 25, 2016 | Football
Opening Statement
“Tough loss today. Bottom line is that we didn't make enough of the ordinary plays that we usually make to win a football game. We just didn't get it done. Both sides of the ball, there were a lot of ordinary plays that we make every day that we just didn't make today. You can't put yourself behind the eight ball that way and continue to make those mistakes throughout the day and think you're going to overcome them.”
On the wildcat formation
“The one on third down was a play we had prepared for on third-and-short and we turned a guy loose on the backside and he made the play. Fourth down was a play that we had worked on all week, and it was going to be a play we were going to use on a fourth down situation on short yardage and we didn't execute it.”
On the seniors
“I hate it for these seniors. I hate it for this football team but especially for these seniors because of what they mean to this program and what they've done for the culture at Carolina. I can't say enough about what these guys have done. If you remember back when they were coming out of high school, it was pretty dark around this place. But they believed and came in here and built something. It was tough today, to fight back, get back into it, and then to come up short…we had opportunities to do it, we just didn't get it done.”
On the onside kick
“Bottom line is we didn't hit a good ball. You can't block before the ball goes 10 yards. Well, the guys that are blocking, they can't set their own weight and watch to see if the ball is going to go 10 yards. They've just got to go and trust that the ball is going to get there on time, and it just didn't happen. It was there, it couldn't have been in a better situation for us…. We knew that we were going to get the momentum coming out for the second half. We felt good about it, it was there, again it was just a simple ordinary thing that we didn't execute.”
On the scuffle at midfield in the first half
“I didn't even see what caused the whole thing. I don't really know what happened. But we've got to have more composure than that. I thought that whatever happened, can't happen. We just have to be smarter than that and we have to play smart.
On this team's legacy
“Nobody wants to lose that game today. Forever for these seniors, every time they think about this game it's going to hurt them. That's just the way life is, it's going to hurt them, they'll live with it, they'll become stronger because of it, they'll do the things that they're supposed to do. They know that the only way you get anything in life is earn it. I'm confident that they understand that and that's just part of life. They have changed the culture here at Carolina, they have. Does it taint their legacy? No. I hate it for them because I hate them to have this feeling for the rest of their life, but that's just the way life is.
NC State Coach Dave Doeren
On going to a third straight bowl game:
“To me, it's not about [the bowl game]. It's about these players and these coaches hanging together amidst a lot of heartbreaking days, negativity and doubt. We didn't. The guys just kept fighting with each other and for each other and they know where our program is headed. That's what this is about. This has nothing to do with the bowl game. I'm glad they get to go to a bowl game, but today was about mastering ourselves, finding a way to win and doing it against our rival.”
On embracing players at the end of the game:
“It's incredible. Until you've been in the arena and fought and laid your life on the line the way these guys do and these coaches do amidst all the b.s. that's out there, you have no idea what that feels like. It's tremendous to see the support that these players have had for each and every one of us as coaches and for each other. Proud of them.”
On Matt Dayes' contribution:
“Matt didn't practice all week. He was hurt, but he stood out there and learned the game plan on his feet. We had four guys on offense that couldn't practice this week thanks to a short week, and they showed up and played hard and found a way to win. Matt's a warrior. He knows our offense inside and out, and he showed it today. He's tough.”
On executing and finishing the way NC State wanted to:
“It's the same thing we've done every game. We've been able to run the ball, we've created space for our tailback and we made the most of it. I thought we were really pushing them around in the first quarter. As the game went on, they started putting more and more people in there, but I thought we were the most physical team early, for sure.”
On performance of defense:
“Other than a couple third and three miles, I don't know what happened on that. Those kids are playing hard. They are playing tough. They are playing together. That is what we have talked about all year, 'HTT: hard, tough, together.' We believe in that, our players do and our strength coaches do. Those kids take a lot of pride. They had an off-season of being told how bad their defense was. That meant a lot, so they worked their butts off to go out there and make a name for themselves this year. They aren't the best in the country on defense, but we are a heck of a lot better. We are tough to run a football on. We are stingy. We are physical. We got to make a few more plays on third down.”
On approach coming into the game (against Carolina):
“They are a great football team. We knew they wouldn't quit. We knew it would be a four-quarter game. They are a great first quarter team if you look and see how many points they have scored in the first quarter. We thought if we could win the first quarter and just be physical after that, then we would have a good chance to win and that is what we did.”
On improvement over Doeren's tenure:
“It makes you feel the worth of all of your work. I am not going to go into details of what it was like when I first got here, but it's a lot different now. We have a lot of players that have developed and gotten bigger, stronger and faster. We are playing every game, except Louisville, for four quarters, going toe-to-toe with every team. We haven't won enough of them, I agree, but we are so much more competitive than we have ever been. All it is is making one or two more plays, that is the progress and today we made them. That is what happens when you build, it takes time.”
UNC Player Quotes
Sophomore QB Mitch Trubisky
On the team's momentum swings
“Penalties are definitely momentum killers. I just tried to rally the troops, tell them to forget about it the next play, but those are critical mistakes that do hold us back sometimes. We just try to overcome them when they do happen. We tried our best.”
On the team's play overall
“I thought the offensive line did a great job today, but credit to their defensive line for causing some trouble up front. They did a good job keeping us on our heels. We just didn't make the plays as a team that we usually make. It takes all 11 guys. It's not just one or two guys making plays. It takes all 11 guys to move the ball down the field and score.”
On the late comeback
“A loss is a loss to me. It doesn't matter how it is.”
Junior DT Nazair Jones
On his message to the seniors
“I apologized. I gave it everything I had, but it wasn't enough to win the game. My whole thing was doing everything I could do to help those guys win their last game. I was just telling them I'm sorry because we didn't get the job done.”
On pre-game expectations
“We saw the whole thing coming. Coach Chizik told us when the plays were coming, how they were going to do it and everything, and we still failed to execute. That's on us.”
Senior WR Ryan Switzer
On whether he was surprised with the Wolfpack's play
“I don't know if surprised is the right word. They should have beat Clemson and Florida State. They had a lot of games that they should have won. We knew they were a talented team coming in. So I don't know if surprised is the right word. Just hurt.”
On the emotions following his last home game
“It's tough. Regardless of how you play individually, you want to win and want to go out on the right note. I don't regret anything. I have played my heart out, and I know the guys in the locker room did the same. We did that together these past four years. I think I can look back and be proud of what I have done. I can be proud of giving Carolina football everything I had.”
On the fourth quarter touchdowns
“That's the thing about these guys. They never quit, and the attitudes never quit. When Bug [Howard] scored, people started to sense that, and I was expecting to go out there with six minutes on the clock and put a score on the board. We just got behind the chains and couldn't connect.”
Senior CB M.J. Stewart
On the Wolfpack's trick plays
“We practiced all of that. We just didn't execute. We went over all those trick plays in practice and just didn't make the plays. It was a lack of execution. We knew in the first 20 plays they were going to try a trick play. Those were the tendencies we talked about all week, and every player just didn't have their eyes on their man.”
Junior RB Elijah Hood
On the seniors' last home game
“Obviously this was a big game for them and a tough loss. That's their last game at home, and taking that loss is definitely not what you want to happen. We have one last chance to go out there and redeem ourselves. Hopefully we can go out there and get that win.”
On using losses as motivation
“It should definitely be a lot of motivation and fuel in the offseason, losing to both of our in-state rivals, I've never had that happen to me since I've been here, and it's not a good feeling.”
