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Virginia Head Coach Mike London Quotes
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Virginia vs. VMI
Sept. 25, 2010
Virginia Head Coach Mike London Quotes
Opening statement:
“I’m very happy for the team to get a victory, put some points on the board, and get some turnovers. I thought that Chase Minnifield made some very athletic plays. We wanted to show up on our special teams aspects. I know we dropped a punt, but we returned a kickoff for a touchdown and I can’t remember the last time we did that. We had a couple good punt returns and Robert Randolph did a nice job with his field goals so we are very happy for him. I told the guys that the first half, the first quarter looked lethargic a little then we just came to life a little bit and did the things I thought we needed to do to win this game. We will celebrate this for a little but. It is always short-lived because the next opponent is a very good team. We’ll be here in Charlottesville playing again. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
On the decision to rely on the passing game instead of a running offense:
“When you play with your safety down in the middle, you do a lot of things to stop the run and that means you put your corners out there playing one-on-one even though they might be playing a third, it’s still one-on-one. We just wanted not to force anything but to take what they gave us. I thought Marc [Verica], Ross [Metheny] and [Michael] Rocco did a good job of distributing the ball.”
On playing Michael Rocco:
“We talked a lot about not having a [second] quarterback with any game experience and there wasn’t a clear-cut guy over the next guy. The next best thing was to put them in a venue, in a game, and see how they manage the game outside of practice. You put yourself in a game and play and make the calls and see if you are affected or distracted by anything. We wanted to do that; that was the plan. Both guys came in, both played, I think both guys threw touchdown passes. We will go back and we will look at this and see… if there is a clear cut number two or two guys who have played in the game now who are still battling.”
On Ras-I Dowling and Rodney McLeod getting snaps:
“I thought it was important that they had the chance to get into the game, play, and be out there making calls, competing, taking a hit. Now their bodies are subject to the normal aches and pains that happen when guys play any game. I didn’t want the Florida State to be that game. Both of them went out there and played – a little rusty, we saw. Now they have a game behind them and we look forward to them playing and participating next week.”
On Jared Green:
“A lot of teams talk about the next man up mentality. You have to have guys who are capable, ready, and able to step up. I saw a lot of really nice catches that Matt [Snyder] made and then Jared with catch-and-run opportunities; he’s always been fast. To see those two guys have some success, now there is a little more depth at the wide receiver position.”
On assessing the team going into conference play:
“I don’t know about putting a grade on it without seeing this tape, but maybe people who watch us see that there’s something different about this team, something different about the way these guys like to play, about how they feel about themselves. I’m pleased to see our students out there. It’s a new atmosphere that these guys have, and a new belief in themselves. If you have that, you have opportunities for guys to believe in themselves, believe in their teammates, things happen on the field for you. This next game is a big game for us in that we have gone from playing Richmond to going out to USC, a very good team, to playing VMI – credit to them for fighting and giving a good effort. Now back to the ACC schedule and a team like Florida State and the caliber team that they are; we will find out which team we are and we are all looking forward to that challenge and answering that question.”