Football: Gold-Blue Postgame Quotes
April 29, 2011 10:37 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Quotes West Virginia University’s Gold-Blue Scrimmage.
Coach Bill Stewart
Opening statement
I thought we had a very crisp, hard-hitting Gold-Blue game. I think I was most proud of the way we competed. It was pretty much mistake free.
The penalties, we had six. Although six is too many, it is still not bad for this time of year.
I really liked the way we moved the ball offensively and tackled defensively, and I thought they competed very well against each other.
On Geno Smith
I thought Geno had total command and good presence. He did not seem rattled. He missed two hot reads early that he could have gotten hit, but the officials kept them off of him. Other than those two mistakes, I thought he played very well. The ball looked sharp coming out of his hand. It was a tight spiral.
On the production of the quarterbacks
Paul (Millard) did some good things. He’s learning and there are a couple other youngsters who should still be in high school, he and Brian (Athey), but they’re getting it and making progress. I thought he threw the ball well. We were moving and really getting an up tempo. There weren’t many delays so that tells you the quarterbacks have field presence and were trying to move the chains.
On the offensive screens
We have not been a good screen team. We have pushed the ball very clean horizontally, but nothing behind the line of scrimmage with blockers out in front. I was really pleased with how it looked tonight. It’s very difficult to do that in practice, but in a game setting you can work on them. They looked good tonight. I am really pleased to see us dump the ball to our backs.
Offensive Coordinator Dana Holgorsen
On the first team and second team performance
I thought our second team offense did alright. I don’t look out there to see who is out there and if it is the first team guys or the second team guys going out, or who they are playing against. It doesn’t matter to me. They have a job and they need to go out there and do it.
On the scoring system
I don’t even know how the scoring system works. They asked me if I cared, and I said I could care less. I could look up there and see 0-200 and it doesn’t matter. It is about getting guys in positions to make plays. We put them in positions to make plays and for the most part, they did.
On scrimmage
I will be satisfied until I watch the tape and see some things. They seemed fired up. Like I said, you put them in positions to make plays and I saw some guys making plays. I am happy with that.
On Geno Smith
He really likes to play. I told him he was done after he threw that last touchdown and he looked at me like he wanted to fight. He just likes to play. He looks like he has a good time out there. I talked a lot about body language and he has good body language.
You could also tell that Tavon (Austin) had good body language in warm-ups. He likes to play football. You look for a bunch of guys like that who enjoy the game and get fired up about making plays in front of a bunch of people.
Vernard Roberts
On being in front of the crowd
It was fun. These games have more people than were at my high school championship game. I was very overwhelmed. I had my family in the stands with my mom, my dad and my cousins. It was a great experience for me and I plan on moving forward from here.
On running with the first team
I found out a couple weeks ago that I was running with the first team. It didn’t surprise me because of the hard work I have put in throughout my whole life. My dad trained me since I was little and told me if there was anything that I wanted to be when I grew up, he was going to push me to be the best.
On attending college early
Every time I hear the alarm go off to go work out, I realize I am still supposed to be in high school right now. It is fun.
On college ball coming easy
It hasn’t come easy. The first couple of practices I had to get used to the speed.
Julian Miller
On the scrimmage
It felt good to get out there and get a game-type-feel with a good crowd and a good atmosphere. It gave us a look of what it will be like out there this fall.
I think it came full circle, especially for our offense. Those guys have been running a new scheme and they have been trying to find guys to play at different positions. As an offense, those guys played really tough out there.
For the defense, it is just another learning step with the new defense and guys that we have. We just have to work hard this summer.
On working this summer
Personally, I need to work on playing in this new role at the tackle spot. I need to work on that and get a good mindset on how to play that position.
On the offense
From day one, you can see that they have worked on getting the guys in the right positions. I think tonight we saw a lot of guys step up and play in roles they could be in this season.
Tavon Austin
On getting opportunities
Coach Holgorsen and the others give everyone a chance. Everyone comes in and works hard to make plays.
On playing the defense
When you go against guys like our front line with Bruce Irvin and Julian Miller, you can’t do too many deep balls. You have to work on the quick game.
On the offense
Geno is the leader. If he feels like we are still at stage one, then we are still at stage one.
Keith Tandy
On the progression of the corners
We have a lot of young guys that haven’t played too much. Being in front of a crowd is different than practice. You go through the motions every day but when you get in front of a crowd, with people watching you, there is pressure.
On guarding the offense
Today we took a big step back, so we have to correct that this summer.
Coach Bill Stewart
Opening statement
I thought we had a very crisp, hard-hitting Gold-Blue game. I think I was most proud of the way we competed. It was pretty much mistake free.
The penalties, we had six. Although six is too many, it is still not bad for this time of year.
I really liked the way we moved the ball offensively and tackled defensively, and I thought they competed very well against each other.
On Geno Smith
I thought Geno had total command and good presence. He did not seem rattled. He missed two hot reads early that he could have gotten hit, but the officials kept them off of him. Other than those two mistakes, I thought he played very well. The ball looked sharp coming out of his hand. It was a tight spiral.
On the production of the quarterbacks
Paul (Millard) did some good things. He’s learning and there are a couple other youngsters who should still be in high school, he and Brian (Athey), but they’re getting it and making progress. I thought he threw the ball well. We were moving and really getting an up tempo. There weren’t many delays so that tells you the quarterbacks have field presence and were trying to move the chains.
On the offensive screens
We have not been a good screen team. We have pushed the ball very clean horizontally, but nothing behind the line of scrimmage with blockers out in front. I was really pleased with how it looked tonight. It’s very difficult to do that in practice, but in a game setting you can work on them. They looked good tonight. I am really pleased to see us dump the ball to our backs.
Offensive Coordinator Dana Holgorsen
On the first team and second team performance
I thought our second team offense did alright. I don’t look out there to see who is out there and if it is the first team guys or the second team guys going out, or who they are playing against. It doesn’t matter to me. They have a job and they need to go out there and do it.
On the scoring system
I don’t even know how the scoring system works. They asked me if I cared, and I said I could care less. I could look up there and see 0-200 and it doesn’t matter. It is about getting guys in positions to make plays. We put them in positions to make plays and for the most part, they did.
On scrimmage
I will be satisfied until I watch the tape and see some things. They seemed fired up. Like I said, you put them in positions to make plays and I saw some guys making plays. I am happy with that.
On Geno Smith
He really likes to play. I told him he was done after he threw that last touchdown and he looked at me like he wanted to fight. He just likes to play. He looks like he has a good time out there. I talked a lot about body language and he has good body language.
You could also tell that Tavon (Austin) had good body language in warm-ups. He likes to play football. You look for a bunch of guys like that who enjoy the game and get fired up about making plays in front of a bunch of people.
Vernard Roberts
On being in front of the crowd
It was fun. These games have more people than were at my high school championship game. I was very overwhelmed. I had my family in the stands with my mom, my dad and my cousins. It was a great experience for me and I plan on moving forward from here.
On running with the first team
I found out a couple weeks ago that I was running with the first team. It didn’t surprise me because of the hard work I have put in throughout my whole life. My dad trained me since I was little and told me if there was anything that I wanted to be when I grew up, he was going to push me to be the best.
On attending college early
Every time I hear the alarm go off to go work out, I realize I am still supposed to be in high school right now. It is fun.
On college ball coming easy
It hasn’t come easy. The first couple of practices I had to get used to the speed.
Julian Miller
On the scrimmage
It felt good to get out there and get a game-type-feel with a good crowd and a good atmosphere. It gave us a look of what it will be like out there this fall.
I think it came full circle, especially for our offense. Those guys have been running a new scheme and they have been trying to find guys to play at different positions. As an offense, those guys played really tough out there.
For the defense, it is just another learning step with the new defense and guys that we have. We just have to work hard this summer.
On working this summer
Personally, I need to work on playing in this new role at the tackle spot. I need to work on that and get a good mindset on how to play that position.
On the offense
From day one, you can see that they have worked on getting the guys in the right positions. I think tonight we saw a lot of guys step up and play in roles they could be in this season.
Tavon Austin
On getting opportunities
Coach Holgorsen and the others give everyone a chance. Everyone comes in and works hard to make plays.
On playing the defense
When you go against guys like our front line with Bruce Irvin and Julian Miller, you can’t do too many deep balls. You have to work on the quick game.
On the offense
Geno is the leader. If he feels like we are still at stage one, then we are still at stage one.
Keith Tandy
On the progression of the corners
We have a lot of young guys that haven’t played too much. Being in front of a crowd is different than practice. You go through the motions every day but when you get in front of a crowd, with people watching you, there is pressure.
On guarding the offense
Today we took a big step back, so we have to correct that this summer.
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