University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt and Iowa Postgame Quotes
9/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 18, 2011
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Pittsburgh Head Coach Todd Graham
Opening statement
“I just wanted to start by saying how proud I am of our players today. The guys really gave it everything they have. It was really looking like, for the first time, what we wanted it to look like. Guys had a great rhythm going, they were getting after it. It was exciting to watch and it’s the best, by far, that we’ve played and it is just really disheartening to give it away like we did down the stretch.
"And, you’ve got to give Iowa credit, they did a great job. Playing on the road in a great place like this, we talked about it before the game and we talked about it all through the game and when we were three scores up that we’ve got to finish. We can’t let up and play not to lose but you’ve got to give them credit because they’re a really good team, a really good program. They came back. We continued to turn the ball over and had four or five penalties in the second half.
"We had one penalty going into the half, and I believe the one penalty we had in the first half resulted in three points. They were out of field goal range and we had a stupid penalty in the first half that put three points on the board.
"I’m really proud of our players. I’m really proud of how they played the game. We’ve got to do a better job coaching them and getting them prepared for those types of situations. We’re just not mature right now to be able to close it out like we needed to. I’m hurting for them. I’m hurting for those seniors. That one hurt a bunch. I’m really proud of our team and how hard our players played. Close games are won and lost on leadership and it’s my responsibility with those guys and coaching them down the stretch so we can win those games like that.”
A point where the momentum switched
“Well, what happened is the same thing. I’ve never been in a game that I was really confident we would win because they could absolutely not run the football. I thought we did a great job tackling. I thought we did a great job with the plan that we had. I thought we played extremely well in the pass game and then all of a sudden backing up, loosening up. We’re not executing the coverage. We’re letting guys run down the seam with no one on them. We’re making critical errors. It was just kind of reverting back to a lot of critical errors. I can’t even tell you how many errors we had and then they executed too.
"Give them credit. They executed and we stopped being able to get pressure on the quarterback and they got us on our heels. So I would say right around the first score in the fourth quarter is when I felt like we were struggling. Guys were fatigued a little bit and fourth quarter is when I really felt like we lost the momentum.”
On 3rd, 4th and 3 call
“Yea we did. That’s one thing where you always have those situations and that’s my job to make those decisions. Yeah, I told them they had two downs. I told them we were going to take a shot on that third down. I thought that our guy got help up, so we overthrew it. Then we come back on fourth down, should have punted the ball. But, you know, we’re on the road and yeah I felt like we were struggling to stop them. We needed points. We needed to score. We felt like we had a play that was definitely there. It was. We overthrew the ball. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a very good decision there. I thought we needed to be aggressive there because we were struggling to stop them.
"They were moving the ball, throwing it all over us and really just hitting the quick seams and quick passes. They have some good receivers that did a good job of boxing us out and catching the football. I think the main thing is, we just got soft and real complacent which has been exactly how we’ve played the first three games. So obviously we’re not doing a very good job coaching them to get them ready for these games. So we’ve got to finish games because that’s a heartbreaker for our kids.”
Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz
Opening statement
"Obviously just really pleased with the win, happy for our players. I thought their effort was outstanding. Anybody that was at the game or saw the game clearly we had a lot of play with loose ends, just a lot of mishaps that made it really tough on ourselves in a lot of different regards.
"But the big thing is the guys hung in there and they kept fighting, certainly got it done there in the last, whatever it was, 20 minutes. Just really proud of their efforts.
"We clearly have a lot of work to do. It all starts with the effort and not quitting. Our guys did a great job of that. Pittsburgh made it hard on us. Credit to them. They played a good game. They have a good football team. They certainly made it tough on us."
This is a game you won't forget
"I don't think so. I was trying to forget it somewhere there about mid third quarter. Things weren't going very well. Nothing really looked very pretty, maybe outside of Eric Guthrie's punts.
"Just really pleased with the way the guys hung in there. Like Gary just said, I think it's one of the biggest comebacks ever in Iowa history. That will be good medicine for our football team, something we really needed."
What do you do in a comeback?
"Well, needless to say I'm very happy. Whatever happens we're going to push forward and try to get better next week. But with a team with a lot of young guys, I'm going to say we're a young team, we got some good senior players, older players, but we have a lot of moving parts right now, so for us to be able to do that, pull something off like that, especially when it looks pretty bleak, if we allow it to be, it will be a really good thing for us and help our growth."
What button did you push at that point?
"I wish I could tell you. The biggest thing, I just shared with our players, the best thing about it to me, we were kind of self inflicting ourselves, self inflicted wounds in all three areas, then it was really a team win. If you think about the kickoff coverage, Joe Audlehelm coming up with a big play, then Tommy Donatell following up with a really big play. Those kind of things spark a defense, they certainly sparked the crowd. We were struggling. We wanted to throw the ball a little bit today but were struggling in the passing game. Really found our rhythm in the last 20 minutes. That was really good to see."
On the first two and a half quarters, how did Vandenberg look?
"He was fine other than we weren't doing well. When we were doing well, we'd get a negative yardage play, penalty, a holding call, what have you.
"Those second and 20s are really tough to deal with, third and 15s are tough to deal with. I don't know how many we had, how good we were. I know we weren't good on third down in the first part of the game. But James is a pretty composed guy. He's got his wits together at all times. If he doesn't, he doesn't show it. "The other thing I had to remind myself during the course of the game, too, he's still a pretty young guy out on that field. We had Stanzi last year, was a three year player. James is whatever now, four starts. Not only help him but a lot of our younger guys, this is going to be really good."
Regarding the no huddle offense.
"I don't know that we work on it any more than we have in the past. Maybe a little bit more. We spent maybe a little bit more time since I guess even in spring ball.
"But you really don't want to be in that situation where in the third quarter you have to go to it, but we did. Realistically that's where we had to go. And James has a knack. I think he's always had a good knack of operating that, even when he's second team. So that's a part of it, too, just having a little feel for things.
"The execution overall was pretty good. It was great to have some young guys step up and make plays, guys that haven't done a lot in the game. Bullock had a touchdown run, Kevonte Martin Manley making a couple TD grabs. If we're going to have a team that's represented, we're going to have contributions from everybody. That was great to see. Zach Derby making some big plays for us, too, which was outstanding."
You seemed emotional after the game. What about this game brought out those emotions?
"You know, probably because I watch this team every day. You got a feel for where we're at, what our challenges are. You know, I mean, my sister could have been at the game, she might have been watching, come to think of it, she could have been at the game and said, Boy, this team has a lot of work to do right now. And we do. There's every phase.
"So despite all our rough spots, despite our deficiencies right now, our inexperience, whatever it may be, whatever it is, wherever it is, to push through and still get the game, to win the game, have the guys feel good about themselves afterwards, that's something a growing team really needs. You need that.
"Quite frankly, we could use one of those in November, too. I think I read enough about that as well. It's just an important part. You know, just puts a whole different light on things."
A lot of the players talked about James' composure in the huddle. How big is that for him?
"We were just talking a little bit a while ago. He always gives you that appearance. I don't know what's going on, I'm not a mind reader. He typically looks unflappable. You go back to the Ohio State game, that's how he appeared there. The Minnesota game, the next week, which was kind of like this one for a while, there wasn't much going right.
"So that's always his demeanor, that's just how he is. But clearly things weren't going well. But he never came unglued, stayed positive, kept pushing. Then things started moving well for us."
What did you think of the play of Kevonte today?
"I just said a minute ago, it's great to have a lot of young guys step up, be it Kevonte, which was great to see. He wasn't running very well in August. He had a foot injury. He was out there. Certainly didn't look like he was going to be able to help us a lot. That was huge for him. All the receivers I think have been practicing better, which is great.
"Bullock got his first carry, took it right in the end zone. Nice cut he made and a tough run. I take it back, he wasn't in the end zone. But they put the ball inside the 1. I stand corrected. I thought it was a touchdown.
"So it was a good, nice cut by him. And he kept the ball in his arm. That's the biggest worry with a young guy.
"Again, Audlehelm, Donatell on the kick teams, that's what we're going to need if we're going to have a chance to have a good team."
Keenan Davis had a good day.
"I missed that talking on the radio with Gary. Gary talked about him like he's a grizzled veteran. To me, he is just like Vandenberg, hasn't played much. Both have done some really good things, but they're still guys that haven't played much. That's huge. We need those guys. Guys graduate every year in college, we've graduated some pretty good ones the last two years. Somebody has to step up there and get it done.
"I can't say enough about Keenan. I thought he grew a lot last week. I know it was a tough ending for him, but he grew a lot last week. This is another step in the progression and same with James I think."
