Syracuse vs. West Virginia
October 6, 2007
Syracuse, NY
Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Jameel McClain
On Coach Robinson saying he wanted the team to feel this:
“Honestly I am sick of all of this. I am sick of all the missed tackles. I am sick of the score. I am sick of losing. So to sum it up I am sick”
“My teammates, even with the score down, we played the ball. That’s all you can ask of any man, keep going.”
On the position he played today:
“That was the plan to get me more at linebacker to get me more looks. I like doing anything that would help my team. It doesn’t matter what position it is.”
Mike Williams
On the early turnover:
“It’s always hard when you get out early, turnover early, it’s like hey here we go again. It really was a big set back.”
On how offense can help:
“I think if we get in the game early, help our team, let everybody know we are here. It would be a different game, but it wasn’t like that.”
On why the team lost:
“Honestly, we have to watch film and look at it and see what happens. It was great defense, honestly.”
“That loss is out of my head. We lost.”
Max Suter
On whether West Virginia took advantage of Syracuse’s inexperienced players:
“They took advantage of a lot of things and they just knew what to do against us and it worked. They did everything they could against us. They stopped a lot of things and a lot of things they did really well and it hurt us.”
On whether the Louisville game was an aberration:
“We played great against Louisville and if we start playing like we did against Louisville we’ll start winning games and right now we’re just not playing like that.”
Jake Flaherty
On how he felt going up against West Virginia:
“I love the opportunity to be out there and play with those guys. They have a good offense and they are well coached and they have good players, bottom line.”
On the new approach on defense with the two linebackers:
“They try to get you in the face and with bringing Max (Suter) in he is very fast, and he’s a good athlete. They try to isolate one-on-one type deals. They have him in there to make plays for us as well as Jameel. Jameel (McClain) is a good football player. You can put him in a lot of spots. He’ll do a good job for you.”
Vincenzo Giruzzi
On the SU Defensive changes:
“I was playing an end, because he wanted to utilize my speed this week. At the same time, we only had one linebacker on the field, so we had a lot of defensive backs; we had a lot of speed. So for me to be involved, coach Robinson felt like I could play some end. This week we practiced it, but it will be a week-by-week thing – every week is different.”
On the talent of WVU players:
“A lot of times we played their scheme really well. There were just a lot of fumbles and things you can’t control. They have great athletes, obviously, Heisman trophy candidates, but a lot of times we contained them real well. We were hitting them real well too. I just think at crucial times in the game there were fumbles and turnovers.”
Rice Moss
On SU receivers:
“We can’t talk about ourselves individually, because it takes the whole group and the whole team to complete a play. The line has to block, the quarterback has to throw and the running back has to run. We have to block and keep the running game going.”
On the first half:
“The turnovers; the two interceptions we had hurt us a lot. They returned the interception for a TD. We just have to control the ball – keep the ball in our possession – and good things will happen.”
On his dropped pass:
“I thought I caught it; I don’t know what happened. I’ll just come out and make it next time.”
On what’s hindering progress:
“Mistakes. Turnovers. We have to be disciplined enough to just come out and do our thing and everything will be fine.”
Taj Smith
On what’s gone wrong the last two weeks:
“We’re not executing our plays right, we’re not keeping our focus. The protections, the routes, a lot of thing aren’t going right. I can’t really tell you what it is, I really don’t know.”
Andrew Robinson
On what went wrong for Syracuse:
“Our defense did a good job limiting their big plays. Their offense is based around their superstars and their ability to run the ball 60 yards for a touchdown at any given moment. They did a great job limiting those guys to just pecking away. They did their job and the offense didn’t execute like we were supposed to.”
On ball security issues:
“The exchange problem, the first time today, was just a matter of, both of us were soaking wet from the humidity, then we got that under control, and we didn’t have any more center/quarterback exchange problems, but I did have that fumble on the run and that was just lack of ball security, I tired to split the two defenders, and the ball popped out when he got an arm on it, and that’s just unacceptable.”
On dropped balls:
“There’s going to be some drops in the game and all I can do is just bounce back and keep firing the ball down the field to those guys. I have the utmost confidence in all of them that they’re going to bounce back when they make a bad play and then they’ll break one loose one time, which is what Mike Williams did a couple plays later.
“(Dropped balls) are a part of football, just like my ball security problems are part of football. They have to learn from their mistakes; I have to learn from my mistakes. That’s the only way we can get better.”
On running the ball:
“The running game was pretty effective early on in the game and we got things going. We had some issues in the passing game that kind of hurt us.”
On getting ready for Rutgers:
“The only thing we can be is excited and ready to play next week. We have to come out strong, come out firing against Rutgers. They’re obviously a good team, one of the better teams in the BIG EAST. We have experience playing good teams in the BIG EAST: West Virginia, Louisville.”
Mike Holmes
On his chance to take the kickoff returns:
“I knew the day was going to come when they were going to stop kicking to Max (Suter). I had the opportunity to show what I could do. I got the ball and just did what I do. Max has been doing a great job this year returning the ball and giving the offense good field position, so I guess they just figured that they’ll kick it to me.”
On the defense late in the game:
“That’s what I liked to see today. The fact that we lost bad, but I didn’t see anybody quit, so I was happy to see that.”
On the players’ desire to turn the season around:
“Everybody wants to see this going in a positive direction, but there are still good things going on. We just got to go along for the ride.”
On prepping for Rutgers:
“Every week is going to be a good opportunity for us to dig out of this hole and I think we can do it.”
On almost breaking for two touchdowns:
“I came pretty close. I probably could have cut back across the field, but it was pretty close.”