Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes (vs. Connecticut)
Syracuse Football
Syracuse vs. Connecticut
Friday, October 19, 2012
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Ritchy Desir, Sophomore, Strong Safety
On the long return:
“The coaches had me practicing all week so I just went out there and told myself I had to get the job done.”
On his confidence:
“I have plenty of confidence in myself and my teammates have confidence in me to take a chance at returning.”
Zack Chibane, Senior, Offensive Guard
On the support of the fans for a Friday night game:
“When we get some fans out here we have an electric environment and we feed off that. The fans really came up big in a lot of third down situations.”
On extending the winning streak:
“The way I think about it, I’m just a simple guy. If you go out there and you execute and you don’t turn the ball over and defense, offense and special teams play well, then you’re going to win games. I think we will be able to build off this game and we will win if we play well.”
On the “unexpected” win:
“I don’t think anything is unexpected because we can get blown out if we turn the ball over a lot and make a lot of mistakes like penalties and those types of things. On the other side of the coin, we can blow any team out if we’re firing as any other team in the BIG EAST can because there’s a lot of talent in this conference.”
Beckett Wales, Junior, Tight End
On exploiting the Connecticut defense:
“We have a great offensive coordinator in Coach Hackett. We put a lot of things together from practice. We thought we could feed off of that and do what we do best, just throw the ball and run the ball.”
On how big of a game it was for himself:
“For me it was a big game. I was able to help the team a lot which is great. Coach Hackett once again going back and calling the plays, he’s been great. Ryan (Nassib) made some great plays. He was good and he made some big plays for us.”
On whether this game will give the offense confidence moving forward:
“Yes, it gives us a lot of confidence and we really needed that win. It puts us in a good position to focus on what we need to do. We are 2-1 in the BIG EAST now, so it will give us some momentum going into the rest of the season.”
Shamarko Thomas, Senior, Strong Safety
On how the team got ready for tonight’s game:
“We used a lot of motivation. We knew what we had to work on. We knew that if we had no turnovers or mistakes we would have a good game and we showed it today.”
On shutting out Connecticut in the second half:
“That’s what we do this for. We go out there and dominate and that’s what we did today, dominate.”
On if Syracuse is destined for greatness:
“Definitely, but you have to take one game at a time. We’re destined for greatness, but we are going to take one game at a time. We work on the small things. Yes we made mistakes today and, even though we got the win, we still have to work on things.”
Ross Krautman, Junior, Kicker
On special teams up’s and down’s:
“It felt great to have a big win. Being in the Dome and winning a BIG EAST game is a huge win and that’s all that matters. Together offense, defense and special teams all worked well together and came out with a win.”
On having only a few attempts this year:
“It felt good just to focus on the next kick, no matter how far it is out and no matter how many attempts I got. Forget about the losses in the past and just move on.”
Justin Pugh, Senior, Outside Tackle
On how physical Connecticut was:
“Coach definitely challenged us. He wanted to make sure we did our job and played physical. If we eliminate the mistakes and don’t hurt ourselves I think we are a pretty good team.”
Ryan Nassib, Redshirt Senior, Quarterback
On turning it around today and balancing out the offense:
“It feels good, we really accomplished everything we set out for this game and we executed on all three facets.”
On the importance of (receiver) Alec Lemon:
“He’s big and he can play on the inside and the outside. He is a very versatile player. UConn had pretty good corners and did a good job of shutting down the outside corners. We had Alec work the inside and he did a great job doing it.”
Dyshawn Davis, Sophomore Linebacker
On the forced fumble and the defensive mentality:
“That is the kind of mentality that this defense has. We want to come out every game and fight and fight until the clock says zero. Every guy there that puts on a red jersey at practice has same mentality. We are disciplined, we’re all mentally tough and we all have each other’s backs, we are all brothers. That’s the mentality that we have. We just fight against anybody when we play and we are looking forward to going to South Florida and give them a good game.”
On the defense’s improvement:
“One thing we talk about is effort. We talk about running to the ball and all the guys on defense giving effort. As long as you give good effort on every play, everything will kind of take care of itself and that’s when you create turnovers and you create big hits, when you start to drive and make big plays. Every play you have to give great effort with all 11 guys running to the ball and that’s something we do great is run to the ball. This year we’ve been doing a pretty good job of stopping the run. That all comes from great effort and having a tough defense and working harder every day.”
Durell Eskridge, Sophomore, Free Safety
On hitting the ball or the Connecticut quarterback:
“I tried to do both at the same time. It happened to work, sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s just getting the sack and that’s it and sometimes it’s just getting the football, so I try to do both and it was a great outcome.”
On the two hits on the Connecticut quarterback and defense:
“I think it did more than juice the defense up, it had them going crazy. It had us knowing what we are capable of doing and we wanted to do that all night, all four quarters.”
Siriki Diabate, Senior, Linebacker
On the message after Rutgers loss:
“We had a good message, we just had to get back to work. We knew what we had to work on and that’s what we were focusing on the whole week - how to create more turnovers and help the offense. We worked on that all week and we knew we were close and we just had to go out there and perform.”
On the effort in this game and previous games:
“I think the effort is there in every single game we play. It’s just that sometimes we get into a bad position and we miss something. I think this week we overcame the negative opportunities and took advantage of the opportunities we had.”
On your mission to the team after the win for next weekend:
“It’s the same mission, keep working out and getting out there and working hard. Just get ready for the next opponent.”
Scott Shafer, Defensive Coordinator
On causing a Connecticut fumble on the blitz:
“We had a good tendency on trying to bring pressure to the weak side and the one Durell (Eskridge) ran we hadn’t run since quite a while back last year so I was hoping that we could catch them on that. It was a nice blitz by Durell and it was a big play. It was a great play.”
On (UConn running back) Lyle McCombs picking up blocks:
“They took him out on some of the pass protections, he’s got an injured wrist or hand, so it was kind of two fold. I thought they would have a tight end in the back field and then a different person so I didn’t think the screen play was going to be big to McCombs, which I was concerned about. When I saw he wasn’t in I felt comfortable blitzing protection and knowing that they were going to be in a three-man route.”
On getting the lead in the second half and make (UConn quarterback) Chandler Whitmer try to beat SU:
“We got the young kids in and they kept throwing and so we called a couple pressures and thought it would be a good opportunity to learn off the video tape for the young kids.”
Nathaniel Hackett, Offensive Coordinator
On today’s balanced offense:
“When our guys just understand what their job is and do their job, they’re just really good. I think that’s what it really was. We’ve always gone in wanting to have a balanced attack. The guys really committed to it and executed the game plan almost to perfection. It was awesome! All the passes, all the runs, and the little nuances we had. I thought that they did a great job and I think that we helped ourselves stay fresh. I think we’ve been going so fast, getting so many reps – we’ve kept the same guys out there a little too long. So I think to get different guys out there – two tight ends, four wide-outs, three wide-outs – I think that made our guys be able to take a breath. Playing with the four running backs, I think all four of them had some carries and I think that helped them, too. So the more fresh we can keep them, the more different things we can show, the better we will be.”
On today’s game:
“It was execution. I mean they just did what they were supposed to do. They ran the right routes. The ball was put in the right spot and they caught the ball. As simple as that sounds, it’s hard to do. I think that’s really what we’ve been pushing this past week that we’re killing ourselves. Nobody’s coming out and dominating us, nobody’s beat us every game this season, and it’s been on us. The turnovers have been on us. Ryan (Nassib), we preached to him all week, take what they can give you, go through your progression. The play I was most proud of Ryan was, without a doubt, on the last drive and we called a play to go deep and it’s the same coverage we’ve seen numerous times and he’s always trying to force it in there and get a play. I believe it was third and 12, he dumps it down to Alec (Lemon), we get six yards and we’re in field goal range. That to me was him, he just dropped back and just read his progression and just dumped it down. That to me was probably one of the most critical plays and he was just taking what they gave him and if he continues to do that, he’s going to be much better in the final last couple games.”
On receiver Alec Lemon:
“Alec (Lemon), for the kind of game he had last week, doing what he did all through practice, he was challenged right out of the gate. What he did for this team and for himself was wonderful to see. He bounced back with vengeance. I appreciated that from him and he never lost any confidence or anything like that and he came back even hungrier. It was great to see him do that.”
Syracuse vs. Connecticut
Friday, October 19, 2012
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Ritchy Desir, Sophomore, Strong Safety
On the long return:
“The coaches had me practicing all week so I just went out there and told myself I had to get the job done.”
On his confidence:
“I have plenty of confidence in myself and my teammates have confidence in me to take a chance at returning.”
Zack Chibane, Senior, Offensive Guard
On the support of the fans for a Friday night game:
“When we get some fans out here we have an electric environment and we feed off that. The fans really came up big in a lot of third down situations.”
On extending the winning streak:
“The way I think about it, I’m just a simple guy. If you go out there and you execute and you don’t turn the ball over and defense, offense and special teams play well, then you’re going to win games. I think we will be able to build off this game and we will win if we play well.”
On the “unexpected” win:
“I don’t think anything is unexpected because we can get blown out if we turn the ball over a lot and make a lot of mistakes like penalties and those types of things. On the other side of the coin, we can blow any team out if we’re firing as any other team in the BIG EAST can because there’s a lot of talent in this conference.”
Beckett Wales, Junior, Tight End
On exploiting the Connecticut defense:
“We have a great offensive coordinator in Coach Hackett. We put a lot of things together from practice. We thought we could feed off of that and do what we do best, just throw the ball and run the ball.”
On how big of a game it was for himself:
“For me it was a big game. I was able to help the team a lot which is great. Coach Hackett once again going back and calling the plays, he’s been great. Ryan (Nassib) made some great plays. He was good and he made some big plays for us.”
On whether this game will give the offense confidence moving forward:
“Yes, it gives us a lot of confidence and we really needed that win. It puts us in a good position to focus on what we need to do. We are 2-1 in the BIG EAST now, so it will give us some momentum going into the rest of the season.”
Shamarko Thomas, Senior, Strong Safety
On how the team got ready for tonight’s game:
“We used a lot of motivation. We knew what we had to work on. We knew that if we had no turnovers or mistakes we would have a good game and we showed it today.”
On shutting out Connecticut in the second half:
“That’s what we do this for. We go out there and dominate and that’s what we did today, dominate.”
On if Syracuse is destined for greatness:
“Definitely, but you have to take one game at a time. We’re destined for greatness, but we are going to take one game at a time. We work on the small things. Yes we made mistakes today and, even though we got the win, we still have to work on things.”
Ross Krautman, Junior, Kicker
On special teams up’s and down’s:
“It felt great to have a big win. Being in the Dome and winning a BIG EAST game is a huge win and that’s all that matters. Together offense, defense and special teams all worked well together and came out with a win.”
On having only a few attempts this year:
“It felt good just to focus on the next kick, no matter how far it is out and no matter how many attempts I got. Forget about the losses in the past and just move on.”
Justin Pugh, Senior, Outside Tackle
On how physical Connecticut was:
“Coach definitely challenged us. He wanted to make sure we did our job and played physical. If we eliminate the mistakes and don’t hurt ourselves I think we are a pretty good team.”
Ryan Nassib, Redshirt Senior, Quarterback
On turning it around today and balancing out the offense:
“It feels good, we really accomplished everything we set out for this game and we executed on all three facets.”
On the importance of (receiver) Alec Lemon:
“He’s big and he can play on the inside and the outside. He is a very versatile player. UConn had pretty good corners and did a good job of shutting down the outside corners. We had Alec work the inside and he did a great job doing it.”
Dyshawn Davis, Sophomore Linebacker
On the forced fumble and the defensive mentality:
“That is the kind of mentality that this defense has. We want to come out every game and fight and fight until the clock says zero. Every guy there that puts on a red jersey at practice has same mentality. We are disciplined, we’re all mentally tough and we all have each other’s backs, we are all brothers. That’s the mentality that we have. We just fight against anybody when we play and we are looking forward to going to South Florida and give them a good game.”
On the defense’s improvement:
“One thing we talk about is effort. We talk about running to the ball and all the guys on defense giving effort. As long as you give good effort on every play, everything will kind of take care of itself and that’s when you create turnovers and you create big hits, when you start to drive and make big plays. Every play you have to give great effort with all 11 guys running to the ball and that’s something we do great is run to the ball. This year we’ve been doing a pretty good job of stopping the run. That all comes from great effort and having a tough defense and working harder every day.”
Durell Eskridge, Sophomore, Free Safety
On hitting the ball or the Connecticut quarterback:
“I tried to do both at the same time. It happened to work, sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s just getting the sack and that’s it and sometimes it’s just getting the football, so I try to do both and it was a great outcome.”
On the two hits on the Connecticut quarterback and defense:
“I think it did more than juice the defense up, it had them going crazy. It had us knowing what we are capable of doing and we wanted to do that all night, all four quarters.”
Siriki Diabate, Senior, Linebacker
On the message after Rutgers loss:
“We had a good message, we just had to get back to work. We knew what we had to work on and that’s what we were focusing on the whole week - how to create more turnovers and help the offense. We worked on that all week and we knew we were close and we just had to go out there and perform.”
On the effort in this game and previous games:
“I think the effort is there in every single game we play. It’s just that sometimes we get into a bad position and we miss something. I think this week we overcame the negative opportunities and took advantage of the opportunities we had.”
On your mission to the team after the win for next weekend:
“It’s the same mission, keep working out and getting out there and working hard. Just get ready for the next opponent.”
Scott Shafer, Defensive Coordinator
On causing a Connecticut fumble on the blitz:
“We had a good tendency on trying to bring pressure to the weak side and the one Durell (Eskridge) ran we hadn’t run since quite a while back last year so I was hoping that we could catch them on that. It was a nice blitz by Durell and it was a big play. It was a great play.”
On (UConn running back) Lyle McCombs picking up blocks:
“They took him out on some of the pass protections, he’s got an injured wrist or hand, so it was kind of two fold. I thought they would have a tight end in the back field and then a different person so I didn’t think the screen play was going to be big to McCombs, which I was concerned about. When I saw he wasn’t in I felt comfortable blitzing protection and knowing that they were going to be in a three-man route.”
On getting the lead in the second half and make (UConn quarterback) Chandler Whitmer try to beat SU:
“We got the young kids in and they kept throwing and so we called a couple pressures and thought it would be a good opportunity to learn off the video tape for the young kids.”
Nathaniel Hackett, Offensive Coordinator
On today’s balanced offense:
“When our guys just understand what their job is and do their job, they’re just really good. I think that’s what it really was. We’ve always gone in wanting to have a balanced attack. The guys really committed to it and executed the game plan almost to perfection. It was awesome! All the passes, all the runs, and the little nuances we had. I thought that they did a great job and I think that we helped ourselves stay fresh. I think we’ve been going so fast, getting so many reps – we’ve kept the same guys out there a little too long. So I think to get different guys out there – two tight ends, four wide-outs, three wide-outs – I think that made our guys be able to take a breath. Playing with the four running backs, I think all four of them had some carries and I think that helped them, too. So the more fresh we can keep them, the more different things we can show, the better we will be.”
On today’s game:
“It was execution. I mean they just did what they were supposed to do. They ran the right routes. The ball was put in the right spot and they caught the ball. As simple as that sounds, it’s hard to do. I think that’s really what we’ve been pushing this past week that we’re killing ourselves. Nobody’s coming out and dominating us, nobody’s beat us every game this season, and it’s been on us. The turnovers have been on us. Ryan (Nassib), we preached to him all week, take what they can give you, go through your progression. The play I was most proud of Ryan was, without a doubt, on the last drive and we called a play to go deep and it’s the same coverage we’ve seen numerous times and he’s always trying to force it in there and get a play. I believe it was third and 12, he dumps it down to Alec (Lemon), we get six yards and we’re in field goal range. That to me was him, he just dropped back and just read his progression and just dumped it down. That to me was probably one of the most critical plays and he was just taking what they gave him and if he continues to do that, he’s going to be much better in the final last couple games.”
On receiver Alec Lemon:
“Alec (Lemon), for the kind of game he had last week, doing what he did all through practice, he was challenged right out of the gate. What he did for this team and for himself was wonderful to see. He bounced back with vengeance. I appreciated that from him and he never lost any confidence or anything like that and he came back even hungrier. It was great to see him do that.”
