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Virginia Postgame Quotes
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VIRGINIA COACH AL GROH
On the team’s play:
“It was an inspiring effort. These players have a lot of heart. This is another example of the team power they have worked so hard to build — the confidence they have in each other and the way everyone has everyone else’s back. Guys had to step up in and make plays. We believe that if one guy makes a play, we all make a play; if one guy has a hard time, we all have a hard time. There was great confidence on the sidelines, especially in the latter part of the game. The players had great confidence and faith in themselves. Obviously, there were some great calls upstairs that [the game] came down to. There were some pretty gutsy calls and some pretty gutsy execution when the game was on the line. Once again, we’re showing that this is a team that isn’t going to crack.”
On players stepping up to fill positions:
“Not only did Mikell [Simpson] step up, but on the first play of the game we lost one of our best players. The attitude on the sidelines was that it was time for the next man up. Maybe it was just players at that position, or maybe it was players stepping up at other positions. Whatever it was, we had enough to win this game. We are humble to win a game like this, and we’re still hungry to win more. This was a real good win for this team. We have a tough road ahead. The road isn’t straight, it still has a lot of curves in it. Certainly when Monday comes and it’s time to prepare again, we will be well focused.”
On Simpson’s fourth-quarter play:
“He really stepped up and showed what he can do today. I really want to highlight Mikell for what he did for his team today. But without subtracting anything from what he did, a lot of other kids did the exact same thing. It just wasn’t as visible. We had a little bit of a tough go early on defense, and a lot of guys had to step up and change what they did. We had some lulls on offense, but when we really needed it, between our quarterback, our protection and Mikell, we came through. We needed a contribution from all three phases of our team today and we got a contribution from all three.”
On winning another game on the final drive:
“We believe that however the game presents itself, our job is to find a way to win. We have confidence in being able to do that. There are new challenges every week and just because we excelled in one circumstance doesn’t mean we will in another. We have the confidence that whatever we’re presented with, we’ll be able to cope.”
Sophomore Tailback Mikell Simpson
On Virginia’s second half comeback:
“The second half was a display of us not giving up on the game. We knew we would not crack no matter what the situation was. The game was tight and just stepped up in the second half like we have been doing the whole season.”
On his play:
“I stepped into the role this week due to the injury to Andrew Pearman. I went back to running back this week and worked hard. It showed in the game. The linemen and receivers played well tonight in the running and passing game. It was just me running off of those guys.”
On getting a chance to contribute:
“I have been waiting for this opportunity ever since I left high school. I came to Virginia thinking I can do the same thing I did in high school. Tonight, the opportunity presented itself and I took full advantage of it.”
Senior Defensive End Chris Long
On the defense:
“We knew Maryland’s capabilities coming into the game. They have great running backs and a physical offensive line. We were not making plays in the first half. We made some adjustments in the second half. Coach (Groh) made some great calls and things went in our favor.”
Sophomore Quarterback Jameel Sewell
On the game:
“We did not want to have any setbacks tonight in our stride to be the best team in the conference. We made sure we played with all of our heart and brought our team power with us.