Boston College Athletics
Wake Forest Postgame Quotes
November 26, 2016 | Football
Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening statement…
"We got shut out in the first half and we didn't make any plays. I thought our guys battled back in the third quarter there and made some big plays - touchdown pass to Cam (Serigne), touchdown to Cortez (Lewis). I really thought we had gained control of the game back. Then we had the lead, we punted it to them. They had the long run, they hit the skinny post for a touchdown. We drive right back down the field, and that was my call on the trick play. We thought we had something, and we had Bachman wide open right down the middle of the field, and we just didn't get the ball off, and obviously the penalty - and that falls on me. In retrospect, we should have just run the offense and kept moving the football. It shouldn't come down to one play or one kick. There were a lot of opportunities to make plays earlier in the game that we didn't make. We're disappointed, but we're getting another month together and we find out where we're playing in a week."
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On the team's effort...
"We've played hard all year. There's not one game that our guys didn't show up and play hard and play with great effort. There's no doubt in my mind we'll get them back."
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On whether the loss lessens the year's accomplishments...
"We won three games last year, we got six this year and we're going to a bowl. That's our body of work. I wish we wouldn't have lost to Army, I wish we wouldn't have lost to BC, I wish we wouldn't have lost to Louisville and Clemson. We're improved, we're better, we doubled our wins and we're going to a bowl. Do I wish we would've won eight games or nine games? Of course I do. To say it detracts from what we accomplished, I don't agree with that."
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On the differences between the defense and offense...
"Our defense has played great. They're not going to be perfect. Their other two scores were on short fields, off turnovers. To say you're going to play a football game and not one time is the other team going to drive and score, that's not a fair expectation of the defense. To me, the bigger story is just, again, we start so slow on offense. We get shut out in the first half, we just didn't make plays. I thought we gave our receivers opportunities to make plays in the first half on deep balls and they didn't make them, and in the second half they did. They've got to make those plays consistently. You guys have seen it. Against the elite defenses in this conference - Clemson, these guys, Louisville - we struggle. We still don't have a lot of favorable matchups on the perimeter and that's clearly where we've got to get better."
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Wake Forest Players
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Junior quarterback John Wolford
On game performance…
"It's obviously tough. It's kind of a tale of two halves. First half we couldn't generate any points, and we turned the ball over. It was rough. The second half we were consistently moving the ball."
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On missed opportunity on trick play…
"Alex Bachman was going to have a touchdown. It was a deep-post route, and I was rolling out as fast as I could but couldn't get the ball there."
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Redshirt junior tight end Cam Serigne
On feelings after game…
"This one hurts. It's one of those games when you look back on it it's going to sting a little bit. We just have to let it make us stronger. We'll take 24 hours to mourn over it and then get ready for our bowl game."
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On moving forward…
"You have to be mentally tough. Things are going to happen, and it's not all going to be sunshine and roses. This one is a jab at us, and we just have to come back stronger. We need to be mentally tough and get ready for our bowl game."
Â
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Josh Banks
On missed opportunities…
"People get open, and we just have to stop the down eventually. We just have to keep playing."
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On comparisons to Boston College…
"They kind of remind us of ourselves. They're very physical. There is good defense on both sides. It was a pretty toe-to-toe match. The better team today won, and we just have to go back to the basics."
Opening statement…
"We got shut out in the first half and we didn't make any plays. I thought our guys battled back in the third quarter there and made some big plays - touchdown pass to Cam (Serigne), touchdown to Cortez (Lewis). I really thought we had gained control of the game back. Then we had the lead, we punted it to them. They had the long run, they hit the skinny post for a touchdown. We drive right back down the field, and that was my call on the trick play. We thought we had something, and we had Bachman wide open right down the middle of the field, and we just didn't get the ball off, and obviously the penalty - and that falls on me. In retrospect, we should have just run the offense and kept moving the football. It shouldn't come down to one play or one kick. There were a lot of opportunities to make plays earlier in the game that we didn't make. We're disappointed, but we're getting another month together and we find out where we're playing in a week."
Â
On the team's effort...
"We've played hard all year. There's not one game that our guys didn't show up and play hard and play with great effort. There's no doubt in my mind we'll get them back."
Â
On whether the loss lessens the year's accomplishments...
"We won three games last year, we got six this year and we're going to a bowl. That's our body of work. I wish we wouldn't have lost to Army, I wish we wouldn't have lost to BC, I wish we wouldn't have lost to Louisville and Clemson. We're improved, we're better, we doubled our wins and we're going to a bowl. Do I wish we would've won eight games or nine games? Of course I do. To say it detracts from what we accomplished, I don't agree with that."
Â
On the differences between the defense and offense...
"Our defense has played great. They're not going to be perfect. Their other two scores were on short fields, off turnovers. To say you're going to play a football game and not one time is the other team going to drive and score, that's not a fair expectation of the defense. To me, the bigger story is just, again, we start so slow on offense. We get shut out in the first half, we just didn't make plays. I thought we gave our receivers opportunities to make plays in the first half on deep balls and they didn't make them, and in the second half they did. They've got to make those plays consistently. You guys have seen it. Against the elite defenses in this conference - Clemson, these guys, Louisville - we struggle. We still don't have a lot of favorable matchups on the perimeter and that's clearly where we've got to get better."
Â
Wake Forest Players
Â
Junior quarterback John Wolford
On game performance…
"It's obviously tough. It's kind of a tale of two halves. First half we couldn't generate any points, and we turned the ball over. It was rough. The second half we were consistently moving the ball."
Â
On missed opportunity on trick play…
"Alex Bachman was going to have a touchdown. It was a deep-post route, and I was rolling out as fast as I could but couldn't get the ball there."
Â
Redshirt junior tight end Cam Serigne
On feelings after game…
"This one hurts. It's one of those games when you look back on it it's going to sting a little bit. We just have to let it make us stronger. We'll take 24 hours to mourn over it and then get ready for our bowl game."
Â
On moving forward…
"You have to be mentally tough. Things are going to happen, and it's not all going to be sunshine and roses. This one is a jab at us, and we just have to come back stronger. We need to be mentally tough and get ready for our bowl game."
Â
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Josh Banks
On missed opportunities…
"People get open, and we just have to stop the down eventually. We just have to keep playing."
Â
On comparisons to Boston College…
"They kind of remind us of ourselves. They're very physical. There is good defense on both sides. It was a pretty toe-to-toe match. The better team today won, and we just have to go back to the basics."
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