Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Syracuse Football
Syracuse vs. Colgate
September 25, 2010
Carrier Dome/Syracuse, N.Y.
Student-Athlete Quotes
Fullback Adam Harris
On the offense:
“We’re an explosive offense. When we put all of the parts together we’re going to be hard to stop. It’s just everyone doing their assignments and being where they are supposed to be.”
On Delone Carter’s touchdowns:
“The line did a great job opening up the hole. Delone is explosive when he gets into that open field, he is going to be hard to catch. He showed great effort getting into the end zone. That’s how I like to think all of our backs are doing whenever they are in that spot. They are going to do whatever they can to score for us.”
On Delone Carter:
“Delone is a great part of this team, a great leader. Probably the best back I’ve ever played with.”
Offensive Lineman Andrew Tiller
On play after halftime:
“We left a lot of points on the ground in the first half. We came out fired up, we were mad at ourselves, so we turned it up a notch. We executed and stopped making foolish mistakes that we made in the first half. And it was shown out there on the field.”
On having a bye before BIG EAST play:
“It feels good going into the BIG EAST being 3-1, having a winning record, but we are right back to work tomorrow. We are just going to prepare like we have been preparing the last four weeks. We are going to go out and execute, go out and play physical football and pray for the best.”
Linebacker Derrell Smith
On starting the season 3-1:
“It feels good. I’ve never been 3-1 at Syracuse. It is definitely something to be proud of. As far as the team, we are definitely in high spirits. Anybody who goes out there and plays football, I have respect for them. The fact that we are 3-1 right now makes me very happy.”
On how the first four games have prepared the team for BIG EAST play:
“We just went out there and saw what we have to take care of and what we need to practice a little more. We did a good job in practice this week. After Washington we made the right adjustments and we were ready.”
On playing South Florida:
“We are definitely going to see what we can do in the BIG EAST. I can’t wait.”
Cornerback Da’Mon Merkerson
On his interception:
“I was really focused on the ball. I am a receiver. I feel like I have decent sideline presence. I was just focused on the ball. I bobbled it a little bit but I got the other foot down.”
On only giving up 7 points:
“We went out there and executed the game plan as well as possible. Colgate is a very disciplined team, a very well coached team. Their running game is one of their strengths and we executed our game plan well enough to do some good things that allowed us to have a good game.”
On Colgate’s running plays:
“As a corner, your thought process is to stay locked in. When you see run after run, sometimes you think they are trying to lull you to sleep. It is definitely a mental focus. You have to stay locked in every quarter. “
On starting the season 3-1 for the first time since 1999:
“It’s a good accomplishment. We feel good about where we are at right now. We go into every game every week expecting to win. We still aim high. It is a great accomplishment to be 3-1 for the first time since I’ve been here.”
On what the team needs to do before BIG EAST play to keep momentum going:
“We need to review these past couple of games. Get better and become more sound. Not do anything really different from what we have been doing. Go in there, game plan, get the bumps and bruises right. Come prepared and ready for South Florida.”
On the play of the defense:
“We stuck to the game plan. I think we are a pretty good defense. When we do what we are coached to do, I think we have good success. We stuck to the game plan and believed that throughout the whole game.”
Wide Receiver Van Chew
On (running back) Antwon Bailey’s touchdown catch and what did he say to him:
“We were in the hotel room talking about how he was going to split the defense, and he just dove into the endzone. I guess he would do anything to take it in. He just asked me how far he dove from and I said the three or four (yard line)’ and I guess he was pretty happy about it
Running Back Antwon Bailey
On his dive into the endzone:
“I had two defenders coming. I was heading toward the end and would do whatever it takes.”
On him and Van talking about how he would score:
“With players like that, you have to have a sense of what’s going to happen when the defense lines up. He was asking me what I was going to do if two players came towards me. I said I wasn’t going to jump… but I ended up jumping.”
On the atmosphere of locker room during halftime when Coach Marrone left the team to talk:
“The leaders took over. We had to change things up. We were winning but it wasn’t going the way we wanted it to be. The leaders took over and we ended up getting things loaded coming out of the tunnel. I wouldn’t say it was angry but not quiet either. It was a little bit of both, getting things going with motivation and character.”
Defensive end Chandler Jones
On being on defense for so long:
“Well we aren’t used to being on defense for nearly that long but we had a good plan with shutting their attack game down and limiting our mistakes.”
On their desire for a shutout:
“Well, we go into the game trying to win. We weren’t trying to shut them out. We just wanted to win that game and get 3-1 going into the BIG EAST.”
On fatigue during the game:
“Well I think from my standpoint, coach Brumbaugh did a good job of rotating us in, we weren’t really fatigued because we rotated the players so much. Personally I didn’t think we were going to be out there that long but we made adjustments when we realized it was going to happen.”
Running Back Delone Carter
On getting that many yards:
“It feels good. It feels like that’s what we should be used to doing and I can’t wait to do it again. I had the opportunity to gain a rhythm and feed off the energy of my teammates around me.”
On what he thought the offensive line did well for today:
“It’s not what they did today, it’s what they did in preparation throughout the week. (Andrew) Tiller and (Ryan) Bartholomew said the line was going to step backed and study and they took their game to the next level. They had to look at what they were doing wrong here and take that into account.”
Quarterback Ryan Nassib
On the atmosphere of locker room during halftime when Coach Marrone left the team to talk:
“Coach Marrone came into the locker room and spoke to the players and really got us going and left us to each other and the leadership on the team really stepped up at halftime and what they said and how they reacted really got to us and got us going into the second half there.”
On the team’s goals before the game and whether or not they were met:
“Well our goal is always to win and today we obviously met that and we definitely have smaller things we still need to work on but we aim to accomplish the goals we set out to do today and we have to get ready for next week and learn from what we did wrong.”
On his running backs:
“I wasn’t surprised (by their performance today) Delone (Carter) and ‘Twon (Bailey) really stepped up and they made some great plays and they did what they do. I just hand them the ball and watch them work.”
Linebacker Marquis Spruill
On how Colgate is different than other teams and if it was frustrating to be on the fiel for so long?
“It was getting frustrating because it was hard for us to compete because they were holding on to the ball for so long. It was getting to the point where some people were getting mad because we want the ‘3 and out.”
On how he has progressed as a player in his first year as a college football player:
“At first I was running around out there going all over the field and now I’m starting to get my technique down a little better, starting to read what people are doing a little bit better. I think I’m starting to do real well.”
On whether or not he was thinking too much on the field in the first three games:
“Coach Conley told me just to play football and that stuck in my mind. I think I have really been and you get caught up in your head and you don’t do everything as fast as you normally do it. So I went out there and just played football today and had a lot of fun doing it.”
