Pitt vs. Connecticut Postgame Quotes
9/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 22, 2007
Recap | Box Score | Notes
PITTSBURGH -
Pitt vs. UConn
September 22, 2007
Pitt Head Coach Dave Wannstedt
I take responsibility for that disappointing day. We had fans come out and it was disappointing that we did not muster up a more effective attack. We have to be accountable and it starts with me.
We have to go into games and not lose them on offense and try to muster up enough points to win. With six turnovers, we're lucky the score wasn't 60.
We've got to find a way to run the ball better. It's as simple as that. When you are playing a freshman quarterback, you can't turn it over.
Our defense got on their heels a little bit and gave up the first score. But, as a team - and I use that term very, very strongly - what do we have to do to win the game as a team?
I thought we had good practices. I thought we had a plan we could execute. Obviously, we couldn't, and that's my fault. Now, we have to go back and figure out what we can do.
On offense, we're back to the drawing board. We've taken a couple of steps backward. We haven't made the progress that we need to make. We've got to be better than that, and I believe we are.
We turn it over and when you don't come up with any turnovers, you can't win.
Pitt Linebacker Scott McKillop
We have to be able to get off the field on third down opportunities. We had them in a couple of 3rd-and-long situations and we weren't able to capitalize and make plays. We paid for it.
In a game like this, turnovers were important. It's one of the things the coaches were stressing before today--we have to be able to create turnovers.
I think everyone right now is a little shell-shocked. We're a little surprised but I think everyone will come in tomorrow and realize what we did wrong and how we can correct that and move on and look forward to Virginia.
One of the keys that Coach Wannstedt has always stressed is trust. We have to trust that our offense is going to go out and play well. We have faith in them that they're going to turn things around.
Pitt Offensive Lineman Mike McGlynn
We take every loss hard. We as seniors need to do a better job. We all need to get a lot better--I need to get a lot better.
You can't turn the ball over and take penalties and expect to win a game. We made similar mistakes to last week and you can't do that. It's unacceptable.
For us to have success, especially with young quarterbacks, we must establish the run. We have three seniors on the offensive line so it starts with us and we need to do a lot better.
Pat (Bostick) came in and played as hard as he could. Hopefully he'll learn from his experience today and carry that over to next week.
Pitt Tight End Nate Byham
I have all the respect and faith in our quarterbacks. It's extremely hard to come in as a freshman and run an offense for a Division-I school.
This game is over and our coaches will start preparing for Virginia and at this point, that's all we can do right now.
I feel confident in our offense. Tonight was tough when we scored and then they (Connecticut) came right down and scored. It sort of took the wind out of our sails. It's frustrating.
We need to be consistent in all three phases. Right now we're sort of jumping around. Everyone needs to be consistent and play as a team.
Pitt Tight End Darrell Strong
We have to execute better. I think we prepared all week but penalties killed us tonight. We played well in the second half but we still didn't execute well enough.
We have a lot of playmakers on offense. It's hard to get everyone the ball.
Connecticut Head Coach Randy Edsall
It was a great team win. When you can go on the road in the Big East and win, it says a lot about where you are. I thought that after the way we played last week we were very conscious in practice and there was great focus about what we needed to do. It showed in that we delivered what is probably the best first half of football since I've been here.
Tyler Lorenzen was huge today. We had some drops, especially later in the game that may make his numbers not look as good as they should, but he played overall an excellent game. He's still holding on to the ball a little longer than he should at points, but that's something that we can work on and correct. I really liked the way he led the offense after Pitt had scored to make the game 10-7. For him to be able to answer that score shows what kind of player he is.
I wouldn't say it's necessarily the four receiver set alone that's such an advantage for Tyler, but the fact that he has four playmakers on the field that he's comfortable delivering the ball too. He has all the confidence that if he makes a good throw they'll be able to catch it.
The defensive players took it upon themselves to get better after last week, and you could see the difference out there tonight. As I always say, any changes, any improvements have to come from the players. It's my program, but it's their team and the season is what they want to make of it. They have to decide what they want this team to be.
I thought our offensive line was excellent in the first half. We were as consistent as I would have liked in the second half, but I think some of that was also Tyler holding on to the ball too long. Give Pitt's defense credit, too. They're a fast, aggressive unit that's shut down a lot of teams so far this season.
Connecticut Quarterback Tyler Lorenzen
When I went out for the drive after Pitt scored to cut it to 10-7, I just wanted to make sure that we got some momentum back on our side. We were able to put it in the end zone, which I think was ultimately the turning point in the game, and shows you how this team responds to adversity.
It feels great to be 4-0 right now and undefeated in the Big East. You don't want to get too caught up in your success though. It's the best record we can have, but we can certainly be better as a team.
Connecticut Defensive Tackle Dan Davis
All week we focused on stopping the run better. We didn't do a very good job against Temple, but we came in here, ready to be physical and to play them tough. Our goal was to try to make them beat us with the pass. Once we had some success against their running game and they had to take it to the air, we knew the game was over.
There were no nerves for anyone on defense coming in. We were so fired up you would have thought it was our home opener. We were able to bring that emotion into the game, too. Our goal was to get four turnovers, and we ended up getting six.
Connecticut Linebacker Danny Lansanah
I'm not in a position to declare anything a statement game. We're not worried at all what other people think. We're just going to out on the field and let our play speak for itself.