jimsumner
10-26-2013, 10:36 PM
Some post-game quotes.
Kelby Brown on his interception. "I got hit pretty hard. I was just glad to have the ball when I got up. That's all that mattered."
On his crack-back block after Garrett Patterson's interception. "That was fun. As soon as I saw that pick, I went and got him and knocked him out."
Ross Martin on his two field-goals. "I'm on a streak now of made field goals. I'm right back in it. I plan to build on the success. It [the wind] was pretty impactful. It was going towards the scoreboard, with a slight crosswind. But I've kicked in the wind before. It all comes down to doing what I do. That's a dream come true, in this kind of environment, on ESPNU. It doesn't get any better than that."
Anthony Boone on when he felt like Duke was going to win. "As soon as I got off the bus."
Dave Harding. "I'm just so excited for this program. This is the reason each one the players on this team came to Duke. We came to Duke when it wasn't the cool thing to do. People didn't understand why we bought in to what Coach Cutcliffe was doing. We've seen progress but this is the first time it's just been undeniable."
True freshman Bryon Fields on the veterans. "It's unbelievable. That's probably the best part about it, seeing those guys, knowing what they went through, so that we could have moments like this."
Fields on the youthful secondary down the stretch. "Freshmen in the secondary, we just have confidence, the coaches have confidence in us, we just try to continue to prove ourselves week in and week out. We were comfortable out there. That's where we were supposed to be and we weren't surprised. Coming in and silencing that crowd was something special."
David Cutcliffe. "Extremely proud is an understatement. I told the players before the game that this wasn't going to be 60 minutes of football,we're going to require you to be mentally tough, this is going to be three and half hours of football, mentally tough the entire time, in between plays, at halftime, in all counts. Virginia Tech is a very physical team and I thought out team matched their physicalness times and at times took the lead in that regard.
"The word 'believe' was used a lot. When you believe in your teammates, you can build something special."
Before the game. "I thought getting on the bus in Durham felt different. I would call it focus. There's no question they were hungry. They were locked in pretty durn good at the hotel. But not tight, like we've been before. There was a confidence."
On losing the big lead last year. "There's no question we learned from that. But we also learned last week at Virginia. Let's go back to what we have to do. The lessons helped a bunch. We did bring up what happened a year ago. They know. Last year we were hoping the game was over [at halftime]. Now, we have to go on and play 30 minutes. This year, I didn't see anyone wanting the game to be over at halftime. The guys were enjoying playing tonight."
On the defensive turnaround. "A lot of hard work and leadership."
On Ross Martin-"Ross is a really smart young man, who is talented. We had some conversations. We wanted to redefine [how he practiced]. we wanted to make every kick [in practice] more important. I'm really proud of Ross. He stayed grounded and I think it's paid off. He's been visibly better at practice. There was a pretty good current up there tonight. I'm just glad it was running right between those uprights."
On Helton and Kelby Brown-"That may have been their finest hour as a tandem. They made lots of plays."
Going for it on fourth down late. "You think about it [punting]. But I just thought it was the wrong play. What kind of message am I sending to my team? We were on the road and we were playing to win."
On David Reeves recovering Devon Edwards' fumbled kickoff. "Thank goodness for David Reeves. A heads-up play by him. Anything can happen. Thank goodness he came up with it. It was huge."
On Boone's struggles. "It was tough. We had a bunch of missed opportunities in the first half. What Anthony has got to do is play smart and that's a concern. It's not always going to go great. Everybody's good when it's easy. But you can't lose the discipline of the position when it's getting tough. You can't start trying to make plays. You have to let it come to you."
Kelby Brown on his interception. "I got hit pretty hard. I was just glad to have the ball when I got up. That's all that mattered."
On his crack-back block after Garrett Patterson's interception. "That was fun. As soon as I saw that pick, I went and got him and knocked him out."
Ross Martin on his two field-goals. "I'm on a streak now of made field goals. I'm right back in it. I plan to build on the success. It [the wind] was pretty impactful. It was going towards the scoreboard, with a slight crosswind. But I've kicked in the wind before. It all comes down to doing what I do. That's a dream come true, in this kind of environment, on ESPNU. It doesn't get any better than that."
Anthony Boone on when he felt like Duke was going to win. "As soon as I got off the bus."
Dave Harding. "I'm just so excited for this program. This is the reason each one the players on this team came to Duke. We came to Duke when it wasn't the cool thing to do. People didn't understand why we bought in to what Coach Cutcliffe was doing. We've seen progress but this is the first time it's just been undeniable."
True freshman Bryon Fields on the veterans. "It's unbelievable. That's probably the best part about it, seeing those guys, knowing what they went through, so that we could have moments like this."
Fields on the youthful secondary down the stretch. "Freshmen in the secondary, we just have confidence, the coaches have confidence in us, we just try to continue to prove ourselves week in and week out. We were comfortable out there. That's where we were supposed to be and we weren't surprised. Coming in and silencing that crowd was something special."
David Cutcliffe. "Extremely proud is an understatement. I told the players before the game that this wasn't going to be 60 minutes of football,we're going to require you to be mentally tough, this is going to be three and half hours of football, mentally tough the entire time, in between plays, at halftime, in all counts. Virginia Tech is a very physical team and I thought out team matched their physicalness times and at times took the lead in that regard.
"The word 'believe' was used a lot. When you believe in your teammates, you can build something special."
Before the game. "I thought getting on the bus in Durham felt different. I would call it focus. There's no question they were hungry. They were locked in pretty durn good at the hotel. But not tight, like we've been before. There was a confidence."
On losing the big lead last year. "There's no question we learned from that. But we also learned last week at Virginia. Let's go back to what we have to do. The lessons helped a bunch. We did bring up what happened a year ago. They know. Last year we were hoping the game was over [at halftime]. Now, we have to go on and play 30 minutes. This year, I didn't see anyone wanting the game to be over at halftime. The guys were enjoying playing tonight."
On the defensive turnaround. "A lot of hard work and leadership."
On Ross Martin-"Ross is a really smart young man, who is talented. We had some conversations. We wanted to redefine [how he practiced]. we wanted to make every kick [in practice] more important. I'm really proud of Ross. He stayed grounded and I think it's paid off. He's been visibly better at practice. There was a pretty good current up there tonight. I'm just glad it was running right between those uprights."
On Helton and Kelby Brown-"That may have been their finest hour as a tandem. They made lots of plays."
Going for it on fourth down late. "You think about it [punting]. But I just thought it was the wrong play. What kind of message am I sending to my team? We were on the road and we were playing to win."
On David Reeves recovering Devon Edwards' fumbled kickoff. "Thank goodness for David Reeves. A heads-up play by him. Anything can happen. Thank goodness he came up with it. It was huge."
On Boone's struggles. "It was tough. We had a bunch of missed opportunities in the first half. What Anthony has got to do is play smart and that's a concern. It's not always going to go great. Everybody's good when it's easy. But you can't lose the discipline of the position when it's getting tough. You can't start trying to make plays. You have to let it come to you."