Mike London Postgame Quotes

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Sept. 1, 2012

Virginia vs. Richmond
Sept. 1, 2012
Virginia Head Coach Mike London Quotes

On quarterback play:
“They obviously played well enough to win. There are a couple throws you’d probably like to get back. For the most part, Mike (Rocco) threw the ball pretty well. Phillip (Sims) had a chance also to come in. I thought he threw the ball pretty good as well. He made some of the throws he’s been making in camp, some of the plays he felt comfortable with, he made those plays. Now the learning curve will continue. He threw the ball around a little bit, made some good catches down the field. I’m more concerned with making sure we establish a type of running game we need, particularly in these short yard situations. I don’t think we actually sort of woke up until the second half. It’s one of those games where they were playing hard. Danny Rocco’s going to do a great job with that team. They’re very much improved. Now, we have to make sure we take care of the things that kind of hampered us a little bit and get ready for our next opponent.”

On Richmond’s play:
“I know going into the game they probably thought they had to bring movement, bring blitzes off the edge, try to chase it down from behind, and that’s some of the stuff that they did. Actually, they made some pretty good plays on that, so we have to be able to block what we see and block who’s in front of us. I just thought it lulled a little bit back and forth. For the most part, I think we had 500-something total yards, and that is an accomplishment. But we have a long way to go.”

On complacency after the first few minutes:
“That’s something to go back and look at on the film, because it looked like we were doing a pretty good job moving the ball. We kind of got caught it a couple lulls there. We’ll address that when watching tape and film, and coaching it up, and making sure that we play really good teams. I’m not taking anything from Richmond, but we’ve got to be able to execute. We have to make a block, as opposed to leaving guys running open on a couple blitzes. That’s why you practice and that’s why you get the film. You make the corrections and you hope that the following week you’ve done a better job.”

On rookie linebackers:
“I felt okay about them. Sometimes when you’re out there and the stage lights are on, you’ve got to be able to make the calls, your hand signals. You’ve got to be able to be demonstrative with your voice and with your gestures, because that’s part of the communication. Sometimes you’re out there and you’re playing and you lose a little bit of that because of the game itself. So they’re going to have to play their way into being experienced players. It is what it is right now. I think we’ll get better there. I thought we should have had our hands on a couple balls, but that’s one of the things when you have young players: they just have to play. There’s no magic potion for it. I think as the season goes on, their learning curve increases, and they’ll become better players.”

On Rocco’s efficiency:
“We need the quarterbacks to be efficient. We need him to make the throws that are necessary, take what they give you, and move the team along that way. He got it to our playmakers. I think that as long as he continues to do that and allows our quarterbacks to do that, give it to the guys who can catch and run, then that will be a big part of our offense.”

On McGee’s first career catch:
“‘Wow.’ I thought the ball was going out of bounds. That’s the kind of catch he’s been making in practices, too. Having a tight end like that, having a run like that is important. He just wanted the opportunity to catch many more balls because of that one spectacular catch.”