South Florida Postgame Quotes (Oct. 3, 2009)
South Florida Quotes
Syracuse vs. South Florida
October 3, 2009
Carrier Dome - Syracuse, N.Y.
University of South Florida Head Coach Jim Leavitt
Opening Statement:
“I’ve been here a number of times after a win, but that was tough. Doug’s (Marrone) has his team playing really hard. This is the toughest win we’ve ever had here. I just thought they did an outstanding job. I thought their offensive coaches did a great job. I thought their defense played well and their special teams. I just think that we played nearly as well. We had seven turnovers and that’s huge. The way the game was going at the beginning, I didn’t know who was going to turn the ball over more. Coming out of here with the win is really huge for us.”
On the big pass on the first play of the second half:
“It was real big and got us some really needed momentum because we had the kickoff return and they stopped us at the 15-yard line. We hit the big pass and that was big. We made so many mistakes today, but I don’t want to take away from Syracuse because they deserve the credit for a lot of it. We have to protect the ball. We fumbled right before halftime and you just can’t do that. Then we had fourth-and-two and we didn’t hit a wide open receiver off the play action. But B.J. (Daniels) is going to learn and he’s going to grow. You can’t imagine how difficult it was for him to come in here today, after the game he had last week with all the pressure, and face a group that defended him well. He kept his head about him and finished the game out and that is pretty impressive.”
On being happy with today’s win:
“I am. I knew it was going to be a 60-minute ballgame. It’s impossible to win the game that we won in Tallahassee, in the state of Florida, and come back and be on an emotional high like we were in that game. It’s impossible. You just have to hope that the talent and the fight will be enough to carry through. It is just that difficult. We got going at halftime and I was a little animated, but the players got themselves going. It comes down to the players and what they want to do because Syracuse had a lot of momentum at halftime. “
On forcing seven turnovers today:
“It is an incredible number and we needed all of them for us to win that game. They were big.”
Junior defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul
On the interceptions:
"I saw it and grabbed it. I had to reach it a little, but I got it. I had the ball in my hands so I started running."
On his reaction to the interception:
"I was waiting and surprised. When I caught it I just started running."
On Syracuse's seven turnovers:
"That's great. We go into a game and want to get three turnovers or better. When we had all of the turnovers, we thought, 'We have to stop this.'"
Senior defensive end George Selvie
On the team's outlook:
"Right now we are just focusing on taking one game at a time. We can't look into the future. We got ranked really high early in the season. It's not that way anymore. We have to prove ourselves this time. That's what everyone is looking for."
On not being ranked:
"We don't mind that we are not ranked. It doesn't matter where you are. At the end of the season, its how you finish."
On the upcoming Cincinnati game:
"Cincinnati is looking pretty good. We are both undefeated going into this game. Our defense is playing really well. Both of us have a bye week, so we can watch some teams lose and hopefully go up in the rankings. This game should be a really good game."
On B.J. Daniels:
"B.J.'s a great quarterback. He's young, but he goes out and plays like the big man he is. He can run the ball and make the long passes. He makes great plays and you want that in a quarterback."
Redshirt freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels
On the play at the beginning of the second half:
"We wanted to come out and stop them right from the get go. Carlton (Mitchell) came open deep and it made for a long touchdown."
On the turnovers:
"I don't know what it was. It was like a high school game for the first five minutes."
On keeping composure and not making mistakes:
"My high school football coach said to focus on not making mistakes."
On junior running back Mike Ford and how he ran the ball:
"He did good. Mike's back. He's a fiery guy and he helps out a lot."
On fourth-and-one and confidence from Coach Leavitt:
"It gives us a lot of confidence. We have to go out there and convert."
Senior safety Nate Allen
On why this team is different:
"We know in order to win the BIG EAST, we need to be focused on every game. "
On the lesson learned from last year:
"We started off strong like you said and we got to the middle of the season where we started playing BIG EAST games and we just slumped. To be great you can't do that. To be great you need to have a great season."
On not being ranked:
"That's neither here nor there. We just know we need to stay focused. If we do end up being ranked, we can't think about it. We have to stay focused. In the past we have gotten ranked and it has got to us."
On having a week off:
"It helps a lot because you have extra time to work on things, like film studying. It is going to be helpful. We get to rest a little bit, too."
On Mike Williams:
"He is a great player. He runs great routes. He is probably BIG EAST player of the week or something."
On Greg Paulus:
"He is a great quarterback. I was surprised we could get that many turnovers on him."
