Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Syracuse Football
Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh
Friday, October 5, 2012
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Adonis Ameen-Moore, Sophomore Running back
On how it felt to get a touchdown:
“I mean, as far as a running back it’s fun when you can go and score a touchdown. I mean it feels great. I haven’t scored a touchdown since the 12th grade. Just happy about the win so I am happy about that. It felt wonderful and I am just glad Coach Marrone gave me the chance for the return and trusted me to get the first down and get the job done.”
Ryan Nassib, Redshirt Senior Quarterback
On the quick start and slow second half:
“We were ready to go. We had two weeks to prepare for this. We were just ready to go. We were anxious to get out there and start playing. We kept that intensity up the whole game but we might have been too intense and that kind of was a little bit of out down fall.”
On the attitude in the locker room the last couple weeks:
“The character of the guys on the team is really something special. Everyone in the locker room was hungry to come out and play today. Offensively we wish we could of done a little bit better but the defense played like ravish dogs today.”
On the first win over Pitt and the weight lifted off his shoulders:
“I haven’t really thought about that. The only thing I wanted to do was come in today and beat Pitt. That was one of my personal goals this year and I am glad I achieved. It I never really thought of it like that and we’re on to the next one.”
On the development of the goal-line package:
“Well it won the game for us. I mean when it came down to it in the end we brought that goal line package to the field to eat up some clock. It won the game for us. We had a couple weeks to see what we liked and to see what we’re good at so it’s definitely going to be a helpful package for us”
How tonight’s win carries over to Rutgers:
“It’s big. I mean we have tonight’s win. We’re going to enjoy it tonight and then tomorrow. It’s back to business. We know that we’re going to have another test with Rutgers”
On Justin being back at left tackle:
“Having Justin back was great. His leadership and talent – it’s hard to match that. It’s hard to replace that so having him back was great.”
On the team playing too intense:
“It came down to us trying to do too much. We just kind of got over-hyped and didn’t play within ourselves. It’s not really a bad thing. We played hard we played physical.”
On Justin’s Leadership:
“Especially when we’re out on the field, when I’m out getting a play and in between plays, he really gets the o-line going and the back and everyone around the ball so when I do come out with a play the guys are ready to go.”
Brandon Sharpe, Senior Defensive End
On his many tackles and getting in a grove:
“I felt like the whole d-line got into a grove. The coaches did a good job of helping us out on the sideline so we just went out there and played with passion and played our game.”
On their previous losses:
“Those games, they were tough games we played but we came up short. So we just took all the motivation from the losses that we had and put it into this game.”
On seeing strong safety Shamarko Thomas go down:
“I was upset when I saw him down because he try to hit the guy pretty good. That got me fired up after I saw that.”
On performing like Coach Marrone wanted them to:
“Coach Marrone keeps us to high expectations so we came out there and played our hardest. All week, all bye week he just wanted us to be physical and play our game and that what we did today.”
Markus Pierce-Brewster, Junior Defensive End
On preparing and answering challenge against Pittsburgh
“I think we did a great job of that penetration, which is the overall goal, first and foremost. We came off the ball fast. We were physical, used our hands, and overall as a D-line, we stepped up to the challenge.”
On first down defense:
“That’s huge. That goes into our overall team’s scheme of stopping the run. We knew they were going to run on the first play of the game and first possession. That’s what they were looking to do. So we made sure to iterate in this bye week that stopping the run first was important because that’s the go to. We needed to make sure we stopped them on first down because we want to force them in the wrong situations.”
Dyshawn Davis, Sophomore Linebacker
On the fumble returned for a touchdown:
“At practice I know we had a good look of that formation. We knew they were going to send the receiver over across the formation. I dropped back in coverage and I saw the receiver catch it with one hand. Jeremi Wilkes did a good job of stripping it and I saw the ball on the ground. My eyes got big and I knew I had to get in the end zone. I had my teammates in front of me leading the way, all I had to do was follow them and I was in the end zone.”
On the defensive efforts tonight:
“We knew coming into this game that in the Minnesota game we didn’t do a good job of stopping them. We knew on the defense we’d have to stop some runs and at practice we did a good job of getting good looks by the scout team, running the pile and running the plays. We knew before the game it was going to come down to stopping the run. We knew Pitt was going to run the ball and that’s what we got accomplished today. We toughened up. We wanted to play this game aggressive from the door and we did that tonight.”
Brandon Sharpe, Senior Defensive End
On lining up against redshirt sophomore defensive end TJ Clemmings:
“When you see a big guy like that you have to be physical. You have to start the game off physical because he already has the weight on him. I’m outside, so I just have to be physical, have to play hard and have to play fast, every snap. He can’t take the snap away.”
On the team meeting the challenge tonight:
“I can say that were satisfied today because we got a win, but after today, after tomorrow, after we watch the film, we have to go into our next opponent and get ready for them. This is Big East play so you can’t play lightly.”
On his personal performance:
“I like to take it one play at a time, so I didn’t even know how many plays I was making. I was just in the groove of the game. I just felt relaxed. Other guys, I just tried to keep them amped up. They were playing so good also, so I just like to stay level.”
Deon Goggins, Redshirt Senior Defensive Tackle
On the defense leading the way:
“It felt great. It finally felt like we were clicking and like I said earlier this week, we were going out there and during the by week we worked on the little things and it came together.”
On a new defensive strategy:
“Coach Daoust did a great job of working with Coach Shafer and getting us in position and lined up so we wouldn’t have to play that many double teams and combo blocks. We had to make it hard on them and not let them make it harder on us. It worked out pretty fine and we stopped the run game which was the plan.”
Stopping Pitt’s final drive:
“We just focused on one play at a time. We took one play at a time on that drive. We had to get it together and we talked to each other. That’s all it is, we just communicated and we’re close as a team this year. We’re all tight from the offense to the special teams to the third string kicker. We were in each other’s heads and had each other’s back out there and we made it happen.”
On the pressure the defensive line was able to create:
“This season we’ve been lacking with the pressure so that’s what we focus on as a d-line as individuals and together even without the coaches we talked about that among ourselves all weekend. We made it happen tonight and we plan to continue it for the rest of the season.”
On using the pressure that defensive end Brandon Sharpe created:
“This season, we’ve kind of been lacking with the pressure so that’s what we focused on as a d-line, as individuals, and together with the coaches we talked about that amongst ourselves all week. We made it happen tonight.”
Justin Pugh, Senior Offensive Tackle
On winning against Pitt:
“I want to give a shout out to the defense, the fans, everyone who stayed, who believed in us.”
On what did you take away from your time in rehab for today’s game:
“I was just thinking about being the spark plug out there, trying to get the offensive as motivated as best I could. Just trying to give that little extra edge. I know it was a little tough after the first two scores, we wanted to come out and score the way we did that, and I think it kind of threw us off in the end. So the offense needs to play much better. Starting with me, I have to play better too.
On the second half:
“I think after those first two scores, we kind of started being ourselves out there and just to get good enough to get it together, is going to give us confidence going in for next week. I’m just glad to be back out there and get back to practice and correct the things that we need to correct and get better as a team.”
Marcus Sales, Redshirt Senior Wide Receiver
On 100th catch of his career
“It really doesn’t mean anything if we aren’t winning games, so I am just glad that we got the victory.”
Jeremi Wilkes, Junior Free Safety
On the time off:
“It helped a lot. We worked on fixing the little things—on the small minor mistakes, the penalties, filling the gap. We worked on playing hard and playing one play at a time.”
On evolution of his role:
“I just try to help the team out, the best that I can. Whenever the opportunity comes, I try to make the best of it.”
Jay Bromley, Junior Defensive Tackle
On using the bye week:
“Playing on the other side of scrimmage, that was the main thing. Not playing it parallel, playing the back field. We accomplished some of that tonight. The linebackers feel better with their penetration.”
On if that was the best performance as a unit:
“Collectively, yes. I liked are upfront from subs to starters. We definitely combined for great coverage today.”
On defensive end Brandon Sharpe’s play:
“It’s great, it’s what we do. Brandon Sharpe, he got a lot of credit, but it’s a great effort from everybody inside and out.”
Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh
Friday, October 5, 2012
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Adonis Ameen-Moore, Sophomore Running back
On how it felt to get a touchdown:
“I mean, as far as a running back it’s fun when you can go and score a touchdown. I mean it feels great. I haven’t scored a touchdown since the 12th grade. Just happy about the win so I am happy about that. It felt wonderful and I am just glad Coach Marrone gave me the chance for the return and trusted me to get the first down and get the job done.”
Ryan Nassib, Redshirt Senior Quarterback
On the quick start and slow second half:
“We were ready to go. We had two weeks to prepare for this. We were just ready to go. We were anxious to get out there and start playing. We kept that intensity up the whole game but we might have been too intense and that kind of was a little bit of out down fall.”
On the attitude in the locker room the last couple weeks:
“The character of the guys on the team is really something special. Everyone in the locker room was hungry to come out and play today. Offensively we wish we could of done a little bit better but the defense played like ravish dogs today.”
On the first win over Pitt and the weight lifted off his shoulders:
“I haven’t really thought about that. The only thing I wanted to do was come in today and beat Pitt. That was one of my personal goals this year and I am glad I achieved. It I never really thought of it like that and we’re on to the next one.”
On the development of the goal-line package:
“Well it won the game for us. I mean when it came down to it in the end we brought that goal line package to the field to eat up some clock. It won the game for us. We had a couple weeks to see what we liked and to see what we’re good at so it’s definitely going to be a helpful package for us”
How tonight’s win carries over to Rutgers:
“It’s big. I mean we have tonight’s win. We’re going to enjoy it tonight and then tomorrow. It’s back to business. We know that we’re going to have another test with Rutgers”
On Justin being back at left tackle:
“Having Justin back was great. His leadership and talent – it’s hard to match that. It’s hard to replace that so having him back was great.”
On the team playing too intense:
“It came down to us trying to do too much. We just kind of got over-hyped and didn’t play within ourselves. It’s not really a bad thing. We played hard we played physical.”
On Justin’s Leadership:
“Especially when we’re out on the field, when I’m out getting a play and in between plays, he really gets the o-line going and the back and everyone around the ball so when I do come out with a play the guys are ready to go.”
Brandon Sharpe, Senior Defensive End
On his many tackles and getting in a grove:
“I felt like the whole d-line got into a grove. The coaches did a good job of helping us out on the sideline so we just went out there and played with passion and played our game.”
On their previous losses:
“Those games, they were tough games we played but we came up short. So we just took all the motivation from the losses that we had and put it into this game.”
On seeing strong safety Shamarko Thomas go down:
“I was upset when I saw him down because he try to hit the guy pretty good. That got me fired up after I saw that.”
On performing like Coach Marrone wanted them to:
“Coach Marrone keeps us to high expectations so we came out there and played our hardest. All week, all bye week he just wanted us to be physical and play our game and that what we did today.”
Markus Pierce-Brewster, Junior Defensive End
On preparing and answering challenge against Pittsburgh
“I think we did a great job of that penetration, which is the overall goal, first and foremost. We came off the ball fast. We were physical, used our hands, and overall as a D-line, we stepped up to the challenge.”
On first down defense:
“That’s huge. That goes into our overall team’s scheme of stopping the run. We knew they were going to run on the first play of the game and first possession. That’s what they were looking to do. So we made sure to iterate in this bye week that stopping the run first was important because that’s the go to. We needed to make sure we stopped them on first down because we want to force them in the wrong situations.”
Dyshawn Davis, Sophomore Linebacker
On the fumble returned for a touchdown:
“At practice I know we had a good look of that formation. We knew they were going to send the receiver over across the formation. I dropped back in coverage and I saw the receiver catch it with one hand. Jeremi Wilkes did a good job of stripping it and I saw the ball on the ground. My eyes got big and I knew I had to get in the end zone. I had my teammates in front of me leading the way, all I had to do was follow them and I was in the end zone.”
On the defensive efforts tonight:
“We knew coming into this game that in the Minnesota game we didn’t do a good job of stopping them. We knew on the defense we’d have to stop some runs and at practice we did a good job of getting good looks by the scout team, running the pile and running the plays. We knew before the game it was going to come down to stopping the run. We knew Pitt was going to run the ball and that’s what we got accomplished today. We toughened up. We wanted to play this game aggressive from the door and we did that tonight.”
Brandon Sharpe, Senior Defensive End
On lining up against redshirt sophomore defensive end TJ Clemmings:
“When you see a big guy like that you have to be physical. You have to start the game off physical because he already has the weight on him. I’m outside, so I just have to be physical, have to play hard and have to play fast, every snap. He can’t take the snap away.”
On the team meeting the challenge tonight:
“I can say that were satisfied today because we got a win, but after today, after tomorrow, after we watch the film, we have to go into our next opponent and get ready for them. This is Big East play so you can’t play lightly.”
On his personal performance:
“I like to take it one play at a time, so I didn’t even know how many plays I was making. I was just in the groove of the game. I just felt relaxed. Other guys, I just tried to keep them amped up. They were playing so good also, so I just like to stay level.”
Deon Goggins, Redshirt Senior Defensive Tackle
On the defense leading the way:
“It felt great. It finally felt like we were clicking and like I said earlier this week, we were going out there and during the by week we worked on the little things and it came together.”
On a new defensive strategy:
“Coach Daoust did a great job of working with Coach Shafer and getting us in position and lined up so we wouldn’t have to play that many double teams and combo blocks. We had to make it hard on them and not let them make it harder on us. It worked out pretty fine and we stopped the run game which was the plan.”
Stopping Pitt’s final drive:
“We just focused on one play at a time. We took one play at a time on that drive. We had to get it together and we talked to each other. That’s all it is, we just communicated and we’re close as a team this year. We’re all tight from the offense to the special teams to the third string kicker. We were in each other’s heads and had each other’s back out there and we made it happen.”
On the pressure the defensive line was able to create:
“This season we’ve been lacking with the pressure so that’s what we focus on as a d-line as individuals and together even without the coaches we talked about that among ourselves all weekend. We made it happen tonight and we plan to continue it for the rest of the season.”
On using the pressure that defensive end Brandon Sharpe created:
“This season, we’ve kind of been lacking with the pressure so that’s what we focused on as a d-line, as individuals, and together with the coaches we talked about that amongst ourselves all week. We made it happen tonight.”
Justin Pugh, Senior Offensive Tackle
On winning against Pitt:
“I want to give a shout out to the defense, the fans, everyone who stayed, who believed in us.”
On what did you take away from your time in rehab for today’s game:
“I was just thinking about being the spark plug out there, trying to get the offensive as motivated as best I could. Just trying to give that little extra edge. I know it was a little tough after the first two scores, we wanted to come out and score the way we did that, and I think it kind of threw us off in the end. So the offense needs to play much better. Starting with me, I have to play better too.
On the second half:
“I think after those first two scores, we kind of started being ourselves out there and just to get good enough to get it together, is going to give us confidence going in for next week. I’m just glad to be back out there and get back to practice and correct the things that we need to correct and get better as a team.”
Marcus Sales, Redshirt Senior Wide Receiver
On 100th catch of his career
“It really doesn’t mean anything if we aren’t winning games, so I am just glad that we got the victory.”
Jeremi Wilkes, Junior Free Safety
On the time off:
“It helped a lot. We worked on fixing the little things—on the small minor mistakes, the penalties, filling the gap. We worked on playing hard and playing one play at a time.”
On evolution of his role:
“I just try to help the team out, the best that I can. Whenever the opportunity comes, I try to make the best of it.”
Jay Bromley, Junior Defensive Tackle
On using the bye week:
“Playing on the other side of scrimmage, that was the main thing. Not playing it parallel, playing the back field. We accomplished some of that tonight. The linebackers feel better with their penetration.”
On if that was the best performance as a unit:
“Collectively, yes. I liked are upfront from subs to starters. We definitely combined for great coverage today.”
On defensive end Brandon Sharpe’s play:
“It’s great, it’s what we do. Brandon Sharpe, he got a lot of credit, but it’s a great effort from everybody inside and out.”
