Virginia Player Quotes

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Senior Defensive End Nate Collins
On preparing for Thaddeus Lewis
“It’s something that I thought we were ready for, but you have to tip you hat to them. They are good at what they do. We got to him a little bit early, but in the end it wasn’t enough.”

On pressuring the quarterback
“That’s a product of coach Groh putting us in the right spots. We were there a few times, but we didn’t make enough plays. As a D-line, we should have gotten our hands on a few more passes tonight.”

On moving forward
“We have to pick it up on every level. The biggest thing is that we all stay together. After a loss, it is easy for a team to start pointing fingers, and pinning the loss on certain guys. We are all a team, and we lose together just like we win together.”

Junior Tight End Joe Torchia
On rebounding from a game like this
“We made some mistakes, and they were able to execute better than us tonight. We have to go back to the film, learn from our mistakes, and work hard this week in practice.”

On play of the defense
“Those guys play hard on every play, even in practice. They fight to make us better as an offense. Tonight they were put in some tough spots, and that’s why the score ended up like it did.”

Sophomore Cornerback Chase Minnifield
On his interception
“That was just a play where I recognized someone was open and when I ran to him the ball came my way.”

On seeing more playing time and recording tackles
“We were just trying to do what we are supposed to do. On defense we emphasize the “Next Man Up” philosophy, and you just have to be ready to step up even when you are not playing that much. Everyone is expected to do it so it is really nothing new.”

On holding Duke to field goals and not allowing touchdowns early
“It is always good to hold teams to field goals, but we would rather stop them earlier in the drive. They were able to move the ball downfield a number of times, so we just have to make more plays.”

Junior Tackle John-Kevin Dolce
On a career high number of sacks
“I was just trying to play hard and keep the quarterback uncomfortable in the pocket.”

On pressuring the Duke quarterback
“That was a big part of the game plan, but we just have to work harder because they ended up with more points than we did.”

On holding Duke to field goals and not allowing touchdowns early
“If a team can gain yards against you and get in the red zone, then you just have to buckle down and do the best you can to stop them. We were able to hold them to three instead of seven early on, and we look at that like a four-point play.”