FB: UVa Head Coach Mike London Quotes - Eastern Michigan at Virginia Postgame

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Virginia vs. Eastern Michigan
October 23, 2010
Virginia Head Coach Mike London Quotes

Opening Statement:
“It feels good to win a game and be able to celebrate with the players on what this team can do and can accomplish. Cant let the highs get too high or the lows get too low, but we haven’t won around here in a while and when you get the chance to experience a win regardless of the opponent, when you have a chance to compete you always want to win. I’m very proud of the team, particularly in the second half, scoring twice on special teams, and the quarterback directing the ball – five-for-five in the red zone. We did a nice job in third down situations, no interceptions. We played the play we need to play to have a chance.”

On improved performance in the second half:
“They did a good job of what their offense is. It’s kind of a wildcat, spread you out but they also have a dive option where they run trap option with a big scheme. As soon as you start running outside to stop the hand sweep, they started running on the inside with the quarterback – he became an extra player. Some of the things they did — getting to our legs, chopping, getting us to the ground and we weren’t using the technique we were using during practice. The second half we just talked about one of the things, again that we had practiced, coverages and the way we played. If we just went back to that, I thought we’d be okay.

“Offensively, there were a lot of balls that were just right on the fingertips, or overthrown, or just didn’t have enough time and have to get rid of it sooner than what we wanted. At halftime it was more about us and what we were doing and just continuing with the game plan and we came back out. I think they had 200 yards or something in the first half, in the second half they didn’t have nearly as many. We started connecting on some passes; we started converting on third downs. We had an opportunity to score on special teams a couple times. They gave a look that we thought we could exploit and we went ahead with it and it was executed perfectly, so it was great to see. I would imagine they have respect for Raynard Horne and his kickoff return abilities since he is first in the ACC for that. There were a lot of bloop kicks and you try to school up your up backs that you can become a runner also. I think Terence Fells-Danzer – they kicked one like that, he caught it, and everyone converted like Coach Poindexter taught them to go and be blockers. He ran one back. Those 14 points were huge lifts for the team and for the morale and started things for us in the second half.”

On using the fake punt:
“It was different than the one we used at USC and it was some of the things they were doing that we were looking to exploit. Every week we try to look and see if we can exploit what they’re doing using the fake. You have to prepare for the fake or practice something more than they want to because they have to be sound on all fake responsibilities if they have something schemed for us. This opportunity presented itself so we took it.”

On the play of Marc Verica:
“He’s seen good times and bad times and he understands that part of it is going through the criticism and hearing the boos. Part of being a mature fifth year guy is understanding that you are a game away or a throw away from righting your ship and playing the way you are capable of playing. That’s what he did. He wasn’t worried about what people were saying or what he wasn’t doing. He just followed the game plan. The third downs, the passing yardage, the red zone opportunities – those things presented themselves and he was on. If you talk to him, he is probably satisfied with his performance but he wants to get better. That’s the difference between a guy like that and young quarterbacks. Sometimes you ruin a young quarterback by having a rough day because they can’t handle the things that a veteran would.”