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Virginia vs. Duke

Nov. 12, 2011

Duke Coach Quotes

Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe

On the game:

“We left way too many plays on the field to win a ball game. When you do that, it’s going to slip through your fingers. Simple as that.”

On the game being tied at 21 in the third quarter:

“We had missed assignments. In a lot of plays we looked tired and fatigued for whatever reason. It concerned me a little. Other than that there weren’t any big breakdowns. ‘Got to be where you got to be’, you hear me say that all the time. On both sides of the ball, we left some plays on the field. That’ll get you beat.

On losing five games in a row:

“I told our seniors that I’m very sorry that one of our major goals have slipped through our fingers at this point. We know we have no chance of being bowl eligible. I addressed that and I addressed the fact that we’re getting ready to play these next two ball games. We’ll be ready to play.”

On Donovan Varner:

“Couldn’t be more proud. Consistent play has been the trademark of Donovan Varner. He’s the all-time career reception leader in Duke football history. That’s consistency – 35 games in a row with at least one reception. He’s a fine young man and we’re very proud of what he’s accomplished.”

On goals of the last two games:

“Well obviously at the start of the season you want to be a bowl team. You want to compete for championships and you want to have a winning record at home. But the most significant goal is to get better every week and we’ll never let that go, never, ever. That is the challenge down the stretch. We want to play our best two football games the last two games of the year. And we’ll capable of doing that. And we will prepare. I believe in our heart of hearts that we will do that.”

“I just told our radio people out there, when used the term properly we have character on this team. Our young men behave well, they work hard, they prepare well. Character is used a lot for a team that wins in the fourth quarter – but I don’t think character has anything to do with that. Character is a willingness to prepare, it’s a willingness to be where you’re supposed to be, to be doing what your supposed to doing as well as you can do it. Period. And that’s why our team has character, and that’s why I’ll always believe in them. Character is an overused and misused word by a lot of people in sports.”

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