Head Coach Doug Marrone Post-game Quotes (vs. West Virginia, Oct. 21, 2011)
Syracuse Football
Syracuse vs. West Virginia
October 21, 2011
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement
“We had a very good victory tonight. It really means a lot. We don’t really talk about it that much when we talk about the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy and what it means to not only our football team but for all the lettermen. It’s interesting: last night, when I put on the Time Warner station and they had the awards on. (Syracuse football letterwinner) John Cherundolo was speaking (at the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner), and he was talking about when we came here and two All-Americans spoke with him and Ben Schwartzwalder was the coach and what he meant to a lot of people.
“It means a lot to us because he was such a great coach, a great person, such a great citizen of this country and we are so proud to be able to keep that here.
“We’re sitting here at 5-2, and we have a long way to go. Let’s not confuse this issue. I want everybody to realize that we wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of our Chancellor Nancy Cantor and our Athletics Director Daryl Gross. Their support for not only myself, but for this program, has been outstanding. We’ve been able to stay the course, never give up, and keep building. I’m proud of the kids, I’m proud of the assistant coaches, I’m proud of the administration. We’re just fighting and I’m trying to do my best.
“The story probably isn’t here. Even with me, I don’t know how many answers I can give you. We made plays, the kids executed. They played extremely hard. They always have. We made plays at the right time and we kept them (West Virginia) off balance. They’re a very good football team and we won a game. The story lies within those players.”
On the team’s performance in all three phases of the game:
“I think we were much closer to get those three phases. (Senior wide receiver) Dorian (Graham) was able to take back the kickoff on special teams. We’ll go back and look at it, and I’m sure there are a lot of things that we need to improve on as we go forward in this season, but it’s always easier to do that after a win. We really haven’t accomplished anything besides winning a football game against a very good opponent. We need to make sure that we celebrate that tonight and that we move forward as we get ready for our upcoming opponent, because my mind is going to relax with my family and wake up first thing tomorrow morning and start watching the film.”
On the team’s performance on third down:
“I think the offensive line and the backs and everyone were involved. One of the things that you’ll miss is that we ran the ball early in the game, and they had a quarter-coverage safety, and the safety came down and then Jarrod West came down there and made a great block. Those are the things that you miss about the running game, but (senior running back) Antwon’s (Bailey) been running very hard. We had all the backs involved in the game plan and they ran hard. The offensive line did a nice job, and that opened up some plays where we were able to go vertically down the field.”
Was there any specific message that you told the offense after West Virginia opened the third quarter with a touchdown?
“Our thing with the players is to go out there and have fun. We talk about the kid. We’ve all played sports here, and as a kid in the backyard you visualize yourself making a play. I used to visualize myself being at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, or playing basketball. I always thought of myself being a running back, but then when I became an offensive lineman I envisioned myself making a block. We visualize ourselves having success in this type of environment, and that’s what we want to do here at Syracuse.
“When you do that, you have to be careful about how you approach that with the team and manage that. But, basically, we told the players to go out there and have fun. That’s what we told them.”
On how the defense was able to get to West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith:
“Having (senior defensive end) Chandler Jones and (senior strong safety) Olando Fisher back, when you have them back and you can sub in some more players you keep people fresher. Overall, I think everyone up front did a nice job. I think at one time we had 11 or 12 hits on the quarterback, which was important for us. I said it at the beginning of the week Geno Smith is a great quarterback. This offense that we played against is outstanding. We’re talking about an offense that was ranked in the top 10.
“We said it during the week. We just had to do a good job of keeping the quarterback off balance, and we did a good job with that for most of the game. We did give up some big plays, but everyone knew what the game plan was. You have to keep him off balance and keep mixing it up. Coach Shafer and the defensive staff did a nice job and credit to the players for executing and really doing a good job.”
Was the game plan to mix the play calls of runs and passes?
“We talked about balance quite a bit and what we have to do to be successful. The one thing we were able to do tonight was keep things manageable. I think when we can keep things manageable, then you have a chance to be successful.”
On the play of the tight ends tonight:
“We thought that there were some things formationally that we could do, and have (senior tight end Nick) Provo have a big game in the red zone and be able to do some things on play action. So going into the game, we did feel that way.
“Some people don’t realize this. The play gets called, and you’re hoping that they play certain coverage, they play that coverage and then you need the players to go out there and make a play. That’s what we were able to do.”
On the team’s performance on third down late in the game:
“I think we started off the year not doing well on third down, but in the last three weeks we’ve done a nice job. It goes back to manageable situations.”
On tonight’s attendance:
“I think the fans were a big part of helping us win. It matters. It matters to these kids. These kids care about this community. This University cares about the community. It’s great to have people out there, and we feel that the core values of this program reflect not only the University, but also the community. Credit to those fans. They helped us win this game, and a game ball goes to them, as well.”
On the depth of this team:
“I think that the players trust each other. We talked about that last night. Whoever goes into the game, we have a lot of trust in each other. We were focused and we were able to execute. At the end of the day, that’s what we did. We executed. Those players went in and played well, and we ended up winning a football game against a very good football team.”
Syracuse vs. West Virginia
October 21, 2011
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement
“We had a very good victory tonight. It really means a lot. We don’t really talk about it that much when we talk about the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy and what it means to not only our football team but for all the lettermen. It’s interesting: last night, when I put on the Time Warner station and they had the awards on. (Syracuse football letterwinner) John Cherundolo was speaking (at the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner), and he was talking about when we came here and two All-Americans spoke with him and Ben Schwartzwalder was the coach and what he meant to a lot of people.
“It means a lot to us because he was such a great coach, a great person, such a great citizen of this country and we are so proud to be able to keep that here.
“We’re sitting here at 5-2, and we have a long way to go. Let’s not confuse this issue. I want everybody to realize that we wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of our Chancellor Nancy Cantor and our Athletics Director Daryl Gross. Their support for not only myself, but for this program, has been outstanding. We’ve been able to stay the course, never give up, and keep building. I’m proud of the kids, I’m proud of the assistant coaches, I’m proud of the administration. We’re just fighting and I’m trying to do my best.
“The story probably isn’t here. Even with me, I don’t know how many answers I can give you. We made plays, the kids executed. They played extremely hard. They always have. We made plays at the right time and we kept them (West Virginia) off balance. They’re a very good football team and we won a game. The story lies within those players.”
On the team’s performance in all three phases of the game:
“I think we were much closer to get those three phases. (Senior wide receiver) Dorian (Graham) was able to take back the kickoff on special teams. We’ll go back and look at it, and I’m sure there are a lot of things that we need to improve on as we go forward in this season, but it’s always easier to do that after a win. We really haven’t accomplished anything besides winning a football game against a very good opponent. We need to make sure that we celebrate that tonight and that we move forward as we get ready for our upcoming opponent, because my mind is going to relax with my family and wake up first thing tomorrow morning and start watching the film.”
On the team’s performance on third down:
“I think the offensive line and the backs and everyone were involved. One of the things that you’ll miss is that we ran the ball early in the game, and they had a quarter-coverage safety, and the safety came down and then Jarrod West came down there and made a great block. Those are the things that you miss about the running game, but (senior running back) Antwon’s (Bailey) been running very hard. We had all the backs involved in the game plan and they ran hard. The offensive line did a nice job, and that opened up some plays where we were able to go vertically down the field.”
Was there any specific message that you told the offense after West Virginia opened the third quarter with a touchdown?
“Our thing with the players is to go out there and have fun. We talk about the kid. We’ve all played sports here, and as a kid in the backyard you visualize yourself making a play. I used to visualize myself being at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, or playing basketball. I always thought of myself being a running back, but then when I became an offensive lineman I envisioned myself making a block. We visualize ourselves having success in this type of environment, and that’s what we want to do here at Syracuse.
“When you do that, you have to be careful about how you approach that with the team and manage that. But, basically, we told the players to go out there and have fun. That’s what we told them.”
On how the defense was able to get to West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith:
“Having (senior defensive end) Chandler Jones and (senior strong safety) Olando Fisher back, when you have them back and you can sub in some more players you keep people fresher. Overall, I think everyone up front did a nice job. I think at one time we had 11 or 12 hits on the quarterback, which was important for us. I said it at the beginning of the week Geno Smith is a great quarterback. This offense that we played against is outstanding. We’re talking about an offense that was ranked in the top 10.
“We said it during the week. We just had to do a good job of keeping the quarterback off balance, and we did a good job with that for most of the game. We did give up some big plays, but everyone knew what the game plan was. You have to keep him off balance and keep mixing it up. Coach Shafer and the defensive staff did a nice job and credit to the players for executing and really doing a good job.”
Was the game plan to mix the play calls of runs and passes?
“We talked about balance quite a bit and what we have to do to be successful. The one thing we were able to do tonight was keep things manageable. I think when we can keep things manageable, then you have a chance to be successful.”
On the play of the tight ends tonight:
“We thought that there were some things formationally that we could do, and have (senior tight end Nick) Provo have a big game in the red zone and be able to do some things on play action. So going into the game, we did feel that way.
“Some people don’t realize this. The play gets called, and you’re hoping that they play certain coverage, they play that coverage and then you need the players to go out there and make a play. That’s what we were able to do.”
On the team’s performance on third down late in the game:
“I think we started off the year not doing well on third down, but in the last three weeks we’ve done a nice job. It goes back to manageable situations.”
On tonight’s attendance:
“I think the fans were a big part of helping us win. It matters. It matters to these kids. These kids care about this community. This University cares about the community. It’s great to have people out there, and we feel that the core values of this program reflect not only the University, but also the community. Credit to those fans. They helped us win this game, and a game ball goes to them, as well.”
On the depth of this team:
“I think that the players trust each other. We talked about that last night. Whoever goes into the game, we have a lot of trust in each other. We were focused and we were able to execute. At the end of the day, that’s what we did. We executed. Those players went in and played well, and we ended up winning a football game against a very good football team.”
