UVa-W&M Postgame Quotes

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Virginia Head Coach Al Groh Quotes
On William & Mary:
“We congratulate them on the win. They did everything they needed to in order to win. They deserved it in every respect.”

On the game:
“We were hoping this game would be a lot smoother than it was. They had a very good plan and we didn’t execute very well. Hopefully, now that we’ve played against some competition, we’ll have a chance to move forward with it.”

On William & Mary QB R.J. Archer:
“He brought his team home a winner. That’s what he’s supposed to do.”

On the Virginia Quarterbacks:
“Clearly we need better performance than what we got from that position.”

On playing three quarterbacks:
“With three players who have all performed in games before, whatever it will take to get that position to be as productive as necessary, in any particular game, we will do it.”

On turnovers:
“We turned the ball over seven times … and it’s clear that we need more work on what we’re trying to do. That’s the answer to this game. Turnovers.”

On Vic Hall:
“He gave it everything he had today. His seven points were pretty important to us in the beginning.”

On the Virginia Offensive Line:
“Clearly we struggled. We had one ball turned over. We need to do a better job up there but we all need to do a better job.”

On what he told his team after the game:
“There are 11 more weeks to go. There will be a lot of negativity out there. Some of it well deserved. We can either crack or we can stick together. One thing we have never done around here is crack.”

Virginia Player Quotes
Junior Quarterback Marc Verica
On how to rebound from a loss like this:
“All we can really do is stick together. It’s a tough loss, but we had one of our best seasons ever when we played at Laramie (Wyoming) a couple years ago. There will be a lot of negativity, but it’s important we don’t point fingers and correct the things that cause us to lose, and simply move forward.”

On the team’s psyche after this game:
“I think it’s tough. Losing the way we did today would be tough on anyone. It is extremely important to bounce back, and how we respond will ultimately define this team.”

On what needs to change before you play TCU next week:
“We have to take care of the football.”

Senior Quarterback Vic Hall
On how to rebound from a game like this:
“It’s extremely frustrating. We have to stick together to overcome this, and the only thing that can right something like this is hard work.”

On touchdown run in first quarter:
“It doesn’t matter. We didn’t win the game. If one of us dies, we all die. Mistakes overshadow plays like that.”

On how it felt to be back under center:
“I just want to play football, and I was just glad to be out there with my teammates.”

On moving forward and preparing for TCU:
“We have to stay together, and most importantly remain positive.”

Sophomore Wide Receiver Matt Snyder
On bouncing back:
“Tomorrow’s a new day. We will have to go out there, practice extremely hard, and work together to correct our mistakes.”

On the wide receivers as a unit:
“Everyone played hard today, but we didn’t take care of business. We have to go out tomorrow, practice hard, and we will bounce back.”

On play of the defense:
“They played great. They played their hearts out for us.”

On team’s psyche:
“Losing is always the most painful thing that could happen to a team. We just have to be sure to stay together, pick each other up, push each other and get ready for TCU next week.”

Senior Linebacker Denzel Burrell
On what to take from the game:
“Obviously you can’t turn the ball over as much as we did, and every Saturday, both teams are out here to win. You’re not guaranteed a win by any means. You have to play harder than the other team, and tonight they just outplayed us.”

On how to move forward and prepare for TCU:
“We have to work on the fundamentals and holding the ball. We have to work on the fundamentals, execute and prepare all week for TCU, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Freshman Linebacker Steve Greer
On the loss:
“Obviously we’re disappointed. We didn’t get the results we wanted, but right now I think we just need to move on.”

On the William & Mary offensive line:
“We practiced defending the quick passes all week and they tried to deny us from having a good pass rush.”

On illegal substitutions calls:
“Sometimes I think we can be in a hurry to get out there. We felt the urgency to get out and try to stop this team.”

William & Mary Head Coach Jimmye Laycock
Opening remarks:
“I feel like we can be a pretty good team. During the preseason, we pushed them pretty hard and held them to a higher standard. They worked at it really hard, and they got the payoff tonight by playing extremely well. I thought after we got by those first few opening plays, where we were maybe a little jittery, we settled down and showed poise. We played extremely smart on both sides of the ball. This is a tremendous win for us.”

On the William & Mary offense:
“We can’t worry about [missed opportunities]. We had some posts open that we didn’t connect on, and you don’t know how many plays you will have like that. We came in with more of a limited offense tonight. We took some shots that we didn’t hit, but we kept plugging away.”

On the William & Mary defense:
“Our defense really settled in and played well. Our coaches did a good job of putting them in the right spot, and we made the big plays. I have a lot of confidence in our defense.”

On senior quarterback R.J. Archer playing in his hometown:
“I was a little worried about the emotional factor. R.J. is pretty cool and almost nonchalant. Tonight he was very poised. I was extremely impressed.”

William & Mary Player Quotes
Senior Defensive End Adrian Tracy
On being ready for the game:
“Our coach has prepared us very well. We were mentally tough and well conditioned. Coach said we were in the right place at the right time.”

Senior Quarterback R.J. Archer
On being from the Charlottesville area:
“I don’t think it’s sunk in too much yet. I told these guys on defense, I mean, they played their hearts out tonight and really I think they won the game for us. I’m tired of going against them in practice, I really didn’t care who it was, I just wanted to come out here and play someone else. They’re, as you see tonight, the toughest team to go against. Yeah, it really hasn’t sunk in too much yet. It’s the first game still and I hope we can build on this and make it a nice season.”

On whether he had pre-game jitters:
“I was more nervous before the Villanova game last year, opening at home in front of all the fans that like me a lot. Coming in here, I just… I don’t know why, maybe just the same thing, it hasn’t sunk in yet, but I just went out there and had a blast.”

Freshman Defensive Back B.W. Webb
On starting his career with this win:
“It’s kind of like a dream almost. Everything happened at the right time.”

On his interception:
“Coach always told me to know my techniques and watch the other guy… and the guy came right into my area.”

“I was really excited. My first touchdown, I can’t even explain it. So much emotion.”

Sophomore Linebacker Jake Trantin
On containing UVa’s quarterbacks:
“We knew they could make plays, but they did a really good job containing the quarterback. For the most part we contained him pretty well.”