Mike London Postgame Quotes - Wake Forest Game

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Oct. 20, 2012

Virginia vs. Wake Forest
Oct. 20, 2012
Virginia Head Coach Mike London Quotes

On today’s offense:
“We didn’t score enough points obviously. We had two turnovers, which hurt particularly when the ball is turned over on the other side of the 50-yard line. The defense did a really good job today; at one point they were 0-for-11 on third downs, though they ended 1-15. But they scored 16 we scored 10, so we gave up too many points and didn’t score enough.”

On allowing long returns:
“It’s very demoralizing. Special teams, open field tackling, staying in your lane, taking on a double team block, how to read the blocks that come in front of you while you’re running: we spent a lot of time doing that. It’s very disappointing that it led to a quick score for them. Not only that, but a late hit out of bounds that had a blocking penalty and allowed them to continue on after we had punted. Again, you make things difficult for yourself when you continue to move the ball on special teams. Particularly when you’ve already flipped the field, you don’t want to continue to move the ball for them and against yourself.”

On Phillip Sims’ interception:
“We talk about practicing in the red zone and throwing the ball high and to the outside so if Darius [Jennings] doesn’t get it then it goes out of bounds. Right now, without seeing the film or talking to Phillip, it looked like it fluttered up in the air a little bit. But the throw, which is practiced and practiced, is to throw it to the outside shoulder, so that if he can’t catch it the defender can’t either. But the defender made a great play. The other thing is that if the ball looks like it’s going to be caught by the defense, then the wide receiver is taught to become the defensive back and play to the hands of the defender, who is now the wide receiver in that situation.”

On the sacks and the defensive pressure:
“I think we allowed three sacks. We talked about the multiple line movements and safety blitzes and practicing blocking all of those things. But that’s what they do as a part of their package. We simulated it in practice but obviously we didn’t simulate it well enough because they still were disruptive and did a very good job in the defensive game.”

On the running game today:
“The running game over the last two weeks has been very productive. The style of defense that they play, that’s what they do. They slant, they blitz, they line up and shift at the last moment: they do things to be disruptive. They did a better job of executing their defense than we did of blocking what they were doing to us.”

On talking to Khalek Shephard after his muffed punt:
“You tell him to keep his head up. You keep trying to coach him and trying to show him the positive things that he’s done this season and since he’s been here. However it might have happened, you have to adjust to the conditions and the elements to adjust your technique. If it’s windy and the ball is moving, you have to be able to judge it. It was unfortunate that he wasn’t able to judge it at the end of the game.”

On the bye week:
“That losing taste lingers in your mouth for a while and the only way you can get rid of it is to play another game. Obviously we won’t play for a while, but you can go back and do things while you wait. We can dedicate time toward improving our fundamentals in blocking, throwing, catching and all those things. It’s not going to be about the schemes of who we’re getting ready to play, but taking care of ourselves and eliminating some of the things that we do that continue to keep costing us. That’s what the open week will be dedicated to, is fixing ourselves. We’ll be coaching and teaching and getting the players to understand what we need to get done.”

On special teams:
“We talked about looking at what we’re doing and who we’re asking to do it. We will be talking about the techniques but also understanding smart plays. It’s frustrating because we have a bunch of try-hard kids that want to get it done right but we’re not getting it done. We’ve got to find a way to get it done, and help them to be successful.”