Coach Shafer Quotes
Syracuse University Football vs. Penn State
August 31, 2013
Head coach Scott Shafer
Opening statement:
“I hate to lose a game but we went into this game with the goal, realistically, to get into the fourth quarter with a chance to win. That was a goal that I didn’t talk about a lot, but I thought it was going to be a fourth quarter game. The way I look at it is there are a lot of things to take from this and as for the positives. Our defense played a tough football game. Those guys forced four turnovers, good third down defense with Penn State converting only one out of 15. I was really pleased with the way Coach Bullough had those kids playing. On offense we had a kid (Drew Allen) start at quarterback that hadn’t played since high school, really, other than getting him in for mop-up duty at Oklahoma. I thought the kid did a good job. I was pleased with Drew for the most part. He threw the ball to nine different receivers today, his numbers weren’t bad. There were a couple of interceptions, one out of desperation there at the end, but I’m pleased with him and he’s a winner. I like the way he competes and we’ll get things cleaned up.”
“I always talk about controlling the controllables. We had a couple of holding plays and on those we need to get our head across and I don’t think they will call them. We had one late hit with Ashton out of frustration and that wasn’t smart so we have to clean those things up but for the most part I liked the way the kids competed but we came up short. We’re looking forward to moving on to a good Northwestern team that’s ranked in the top 25 and they’ll be a great challenge for us.”
On quarterback Drew Allen:
“Drew is a competitor. I knew either way we were going to be in a situation where we played a young quarterback and a kid who hasn’t played in a while. I liked his moxie, I liked his energy and I liked his fight. I liked the way he listened to details on the sideline, things you don’t always see. He made a couple of good throws, took some shots. I liked when he took off with the ball and got a first down. I thought that showed some tough, hardnosed football from a kid that hasn’t played much football in the past few years.”
On not giving up when down by two touchdowns:
“I think our kids are fighters and they are kids who love to play the game. We didn’t have any kids cramping today. We had a lot of kids cramping on the field and none of them were in blue and orange. Hats off to Will Hicks and Nate Peoples and the strength and conditioning program because the kids were prepared in that way. The defense was on the field a bunch and they kept fighting. We got some things to clean up on both sides of the ball but I liked our kids’ fight, their fortitude, and we’ll be just fine.”
On PSU quarterback Christian Hackenberg:
“I thought Hackenberg did a good job. I thought our defense did a nice job, too. They only allowed 55 rushing yards, 272 total so the passing yards we need to get cleaned up. For the most part Hackenberg did a good job and he’ll be a good football player.”
On Coach Shafer’s first experience as a head coach:
“I hate to lose. It makes me sick to lose, but I had a blast. Ever since I was a little guy I wanted to do this. I slept well last night, I wasn’t nervous. I couldn’t wait to go and it was fun. The fight was fun. Looking into the kids eyes when we were down and challenging them and seeing them look at you and say, ‘We’re ready for the challenge, Coach.’ I love that. I love to see kids fight their butt off in tough situations and that will be a life lesson they carry with them forever.”
On choosing quarterback Drew Allen as a starter:
“It was tough. Both Drew and Terrel (Hunt) are great football players and have great pride in being a team player, that’s what I loved about them. I just thought Drew was ready. He has waited a long time for this opportunity, he has prepared himself well. As a staff we went around the room and it was a tough decision because we liked both of those kids. It was about ten days ago when we sat down and talked and decided that was the direction we were going to go.”
On the final offensive series with Syracuse trailing by six:
“I thought we were going to win the damn thing, I really did. I thought we were going to win the doggone game. It was just what we wanted. It was where I thought we were going to be. I didn’t think we were in a position from a confidence standpoint to go out there and blow them out, They are too good of a football team. I knew that they had a supporting cast that was pretty good despite the young quarterback but I thought we were going to win the game.”
“The biggest lesson we learned is to keep fighting the good fight. We always have an opportunity to win a game if we keep fighting. There were times where kids could have hung their heads and they did not hang their heads. That’s what I loved about us last year too. When we were 2-4 we kept fighting and that’s the thing I love about these kids. The biggest thing is to take the positives and learn from the weaknesses and not repeat the mistakes next week.”
August 31, 2013
Head coach Scott Shafer
Opening statement:
“I hate to lose a game but we went into this game with the goal, realistically, to get into the fourth quarter with a chance to win. That was a goal that I didn’t talk about a lot, but I thought it was going to be a fourth quarter game. The way I look at it is there are a lot of things to take from this and as for the positives. Our defense played a tough football game. Those guys forced four turnovers, good third down defense with Penn State converting only one out of 15. I was really pleased with the way Coach Bullough had those kids playing. On offense we had a kid (Drew Allen) start at quarterback that hadn’t played since high school, really, other than getting him in for mop-up duty at Oklahoma. I thought the kid did a good job. I was pleased with Drew for the most part. He threw the ball to nine different receivers today, his numbers weren’t bad. There were a couple of interceptions, one out of desperation there at the end, but I’m pleased with him and he’s a winner. I like the way he competes and we’ll get things cleaned up.”
“I always talk about controlling the controllables. We had a couple of holding plays and on those we need to get our head across and I don’t think they will call them. We had one late hit with Ashton out of frustration and that wasn’t smart so we have to clean those things up but for the most part I liked the way the kids competed but we came up short. We’re looking forward to moving on to a good Northwestern team that’s ranked in the top 25 and they’ll be a great challenge for us.”
On quarterback Drew Allen:
“Drew is a competitor. I knew either way we were going to be in a situation where we played a young quarterback and a kid who hasn’t played in a while. I liked his moxie, I liked his energy and I liked his fight. I liked the way he listened to details on the sideline, things you don’t always see. He made a couple of good throws, took some shots. I liked when he took off with the ball and got a first down. I thought that showed some tough, hardnosed football from a kid that hasn’t played much football in the past few years.”
On not giving up when down by two touchdowns:
“I think our kids are fighters and they are kids who love to play the game. We didn’t have any kids cramping today. We had a lot of kids cramping on the field and none of them were in blue and orange. Hats off to Will Hicks and Nate Peoples and the strength and conditioning program because the kids were prepared in that way. The defense was on the field a bunch and they kept fighting. We got some things to clean up on both sides of the ball but I liked our kids’ fight, their fortitude, and we’ll be just fine.”
On PSU quarterback Christian Hackenberg:
“I thought Hackenberg did a good job. I thought our defense did a nice job, too. They only allowed 55 rushing yards, 272 total so the passing yards we need to get cleaned up. For the most part Hackenberg did a good job and he’ll be a good football player.”
On Coach Shafer’s first experience as a head coach:
“I hate to lose. It makes me sick to lose, but I had a blast. Ever since I was a little guy I wanted to do this. I slept well last night, I wasn’t nervous. I couldn’t wait to go and it was fun. The fight was fun. Looking into the kids eyes when we were down and challenging them and seeing them look at you and say, ‘We’re ready for the challenge, Coach.’ I love that. I love to see kids fight their butt off in tough situations and that will be a life lesson they carry with them forever.”
On choosing quarterback Drew Allen as a starter:
“It was tough. Both Drew and Terrel (Hunt) are great football players and have great pride in being a team player, that’s what I loved about them. I just thought Drew was ready. He has waited a long time for this opportunity, he has prepared himself well. As a staff we went around the room and it was a tough decision because we liked both of those kids. It was about ten days ago when we sat down and talked and decided that was the direction we were going to go.”
On the final offensive series with Syracuse trailing by six:
“I thought we were going to win the damn thing, I really did. I thought we were going to win the doggone game. It was just what we wanted. It was where I thought we were going to be. I didn’t think we were in a position from a confidence standpoint to go out there and blow them out, They are too good of a football team. I knew that they had a supporting cast that was pretty good despite the young quarterback but I thought we were going to win the game.”
“The biggest lesson we learned is to keep fighting the good fight. We always have an opportunity to win a game if we keep fighting. There were times where kids could have hung their heads and they did not hang their heads. That’s what I loved about us last year too. When we were 2-4 we kept fighting and that’s the thing I love about these kids. The biggest thing is to take the positives and learn from the weaknesses and not repeat the mistakes next week.”
