Pitt vs. Iowa Postgame Quotes
9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 20, 2008
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PITTSBURGH -
Pitt Head Coach Dave Wannstedt
“The positive from today was the effort that our kids gave, particularly at the end of the game. The mindset I want is for them to feel like we’re a very good football team. But for our players at halftime, the locker room atmosphere was ‘come on, let’s go – we’re winning this game.’”
“The most encouraging part was the end where we had to make some plays. The two series right before the half, our defense stepped up and got two three-and-outs. Then, at the end of the game, the defense stepped up.”
On LeSean McCoy:
“Shady made a touchdown run when we had to have it. It was a slow start for him, but I thought he finished strong.”
“On special teams, Dave Brytus, Conor Lee and our kickoff coverages were much improved.”
“It was a good team win. Now we start to get into the Big East a little bit. Nothing will give us momentum better than a nice win like today. We have to get ready for Syracuse.”
“On the Greg Cross play for a touchdown, it was a nice play that Matt Cavanaugh and our coaches put together. We had both quarterbacks in at the same time. They both had options depending on the defense. On one, Greg was going to motion out and Billy would be the quarterback. On another look, Greg was going to be the quarterback and Billy was going to be the wide receiver. That’s the look that they gave us. Our offensive line did a nice job of blocking on the play.”
“We have about a half dozen plays for Greg, but have never found the opportunity to get him in there.”
“We felt like we were going to have to be aggressive. On a couple of possessions, we were just out of field goal range and felt good about the down and distance.”
“We’re still growing on defense. I thought it was a great job by our coaches and players of executing the plan.”
“I thought Billy (Stull) played well. He made good decisions. You’re not going to complete every pass. I don’t think he was fooled by anything. The one interception, he was under pressure. We tried to open the defense up with reverses. I thought Billy handled all those things really well.”
Pitt Linebacker Scott McKillop
“I think our team got stronger as the game went on. That’s a credit to strength and conditioning coach Buddy Morris. I think in the third and fourth quarter we were the best team.”
“It was a great crowd out there today. In the fourth quarter the crowd really got up and that’s just extra inspiration to the team just knowing the crowd is still there and behind us.”
“I think our younger guys are heading in the right direction. A win like this builds great confidence for our team.”
“Today we grew up a little bit and we had to grow up because we have the Big East coming up and we need to be ready.”
“Dave (Brytus) came through with a big time kick. It was a big-time play. I hope he gets enough credit for the play. I hope he knows how crucial of a play that was.”
Pitt Running Back LeSean McCoy
“At the end we were really excited. It’s good momentum for us. We’re all excited.”
“We’re winning and that’s the biggest thing. You can add all the yards you want but the most important thing is to get the win.”
“We’re a well-conditioned team. We’re a good team. We have some new guys and some young guys but we all have confidence in each other. We needed a touchdown and we drove down and got it done.”
Pitt Defensive Tackle Mick Williams
“We did pretty well today…especially towards the end. We played together and I think conditioning played a big part. We needed this win and we dug down and got it.”
“The secondary did a great job for us out there today. We, as the defensive ends, let them down a little bit at the beginning but they played solid and we picked up our game towards the end.”
Pitt Defensive End Greg Romeus
“All week we were focused against this team. We knew they were going to be a tough, physical team but at the same time we know that we’re a good team.”
“Coach kept pushing us and towards the end we were out there fresh and kept the pressure going.”
Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz
“This was a hard-fought game by both teams. I give credit to Pitt, they just made enough plays in the end to come out ahead. I really thought both teams played well and I’m not all that disappointed in our performance. Our opponent just made more plays at key times than we did.”
“Going with only Jake Christensen in the second-half was more of a gut thing than anything else. I just thought that Jake had more of a feel for what they were coming at us with defensively and what we needed from our quarterback to win the game.”
“Our strategy right now is to rotate our kickers and give each guy an opportunity. The missed field goal in the first half was disappointing, but it was far from what decided the game. We missed way too many missed opportunities to pin it on any one play. We couldn’t convert enough on third down, we squandered good field position a couple times and we let them get a big play when we had the lead. That’s what cost us the game.”
“I thought our defense played very well outside of the first quarter. I think Pitt really made good use of the bye week and came out with a lot of energy, really trying to take the game to us. They really have good speed on offense and it was something that we couldn’t match for the first 15 minutes of the game.”
“Pitt’s got a good offense. We knew about Greg Cross and how we thought they might use him. Both his quarterback draw and the one by Bill Stull were situations where we weren’t fooled, but rather, we just failed to execute some basic fundamentals.”
“I don’t pin those six sacks by Pitt all on our offensive line. That last drive is a desperate situation where everyone knows what you’re trying to do on offense. I thought we also had a lot of problems with the timing in our passing game, which can lead to breakdowns and sacks. That’s something we’re going to have to get corrected for next week.”
“Shonn Greene has played very well for four straight games now. That’s the one thing that’s been consistent so far for us is our ability to run the football. Shonn gives us a chance to win every time he steps on the field.”
Iowa Quarterback Jake Christensen
“Even when we were pinned back at our one yardline at the end of the game, I had confidence that we were going to make the necessary plays. I trust in my teammates and in myself to be able to come together and pull it out, no matter the situation. You can’t ever begin to believe it’s over before the clock runs out.”
“I think a couple of things contributed to our passing game’s struggles. Some of it was timing, sure, but give Pitt a lot of credit too. Their secondary made some really nice plays on passes that easily could have been completed.”
Iowa Defensive Tackle Matt Kroul
“You can’t put more emphasis on one game. Any loss is bad. If you start looking ahead or thinking that one game is more important than another, that’s when you can lose focus. We’ll just try to correct the things we did wrong today and get ready to bounce back next week.”