University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Postgame Quotes Pitt vs. Rutgers
10/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 21, 2006
Recap | Box Score | Notes
PITTSBURGH -
Pitt vs. Rutgers
October 21, 2006
Pitt Coach Dave Wannstedt Quotes
"We are disappointed in the loss, but we're more disappointed that we came out and we didn't play well as a team. Penalties and dropped balls are the things that give you no chance to get any field position or get any momentum or do anything positive."
"I thought that Rutgers started the game more physical than us and they were quicker than us. I give them credit. But, I think we came out waiting to see how fast and physical they were."
"We had good practices. We knew what we were getting into. Ray Rice is a very good back and Brian Leonard is a good player."
"I thought we played good defense in the first half, and we got the momentum in the second half and then they busted a long run on us. I'm not sure until I see the film what happened. I don't know if we missed the tackle or got blocked or what happened. We had a chance right there to stop them with the momentum with great coverage and we didn't do it."
"We might have had one or two no-gain plays all night on defense, and we didn't block them on the other side. When you don't control the line of scrimmage on either side, it's tough to win."
"Physically, we didn't hold up like we need to. The biggest sack of the game was a three-man rush."
"So, we regroup and get ready for South Florida."
Pitt Quarterback Tyler Palko:
"This was disappointing. It wasn't how we expected to come out and play in a big game. We didn't play well. We didn't play well."
"We didn't play well enough to win the football game and they did. You can't do anything about it except get back on the horse and come back ready to play."
"The season's not over yet. We have some big games coming up. You have to get back on the horse. You can't pout or sit here and put your head in the sand and make excuses for anything."
"They came out and beat us. We battled back through some adversity but we didn't close the deal."
"We shot ourselves in the foot. We put ourselves in bad field position and we beat ourselves early on. When you do that against a good football team you're not going to win. It's tough."
Pitt Cornerback Darrelle Revis:
"We had great preparation during the week. We've been having great practices the last four or five weeks. It's just that big players make big plays and when the opportunities came he (Ray Rice) took advantage of them with his vision and made the most of them."
Pitt Linebacker H.B. Blades:
"Tonight was difficult all around. Ray Rice is a great back and Leonard's a great back as well. That's what you get when you get into the meat of the Big East schedule. You go against better talent and you just have to bring your `A' game."
"The long play was on us (the defense) and it's frustrating because we had all the momentum at that point and that just switched everything."
"We have to play within the defense and make tackles. Sometimes it was missed assignments and we need to get away from those things and we'll be fine."
"Ray Rice is a great back, don't get me wrong, but putting up over 200 yards (against us) is partly on the defense."
"We can still win 10 games this season and so you can't quit now. This team needs to keep playing and we'll correct what we need to and get ready for South Florida."
Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano
"Ray Rice just continues to play the game the way we love to see it played. He's a really special (running) back."
"Rice's 63-yard run was an answer-the-bell type run."
"[Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko] is a great player - no doubt about it. All we could help to do was contain him, and we didn't even do that every time. The great players are going to be able to make things happen."
"One of the best things about our guys is they learn from their mistakes. Sure, they make mistakes but they don't make the same mistakes twice."
"These guys put in an incredible amount of effort. They work incredibly hard."
"We've made a commitment to recruit speed. If two guys are equal in character and academics, we tend to pick the faster guy." "Efficiency is what we're looking for."
"[Having a 7-0 record] feels good. It puts us in a position to keep moving forward."
