Press Conference: UVA football coach Mike London

UVA football coach Mike London talks with reporters after the Cavs’ 20-13 loss at Duke on Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.

 

Opening Statement: “First of all, that was a good football game that resulted in Duke winning. I think we did a good job through the whole course of the game. I thought we played pretty well in a lot of situations, but obviously we didn’t play well enough to win the game. My hat goes off to them and now it’s time for us to regroup and to go back to Scott Stadium against North Carolina this Saturday.”

On what Duke did offensively to disrupt what Virginia does usually on defense: “They’re a well-coached team. They got the ball out quickly. That’s one of the things you can do. The biggest difference was they got a turnover on that catch and fumble, and we weren’t able to match that with a turnover.”

On what caused the delay of game in the fourth quarter: “They have a 40-second clock and they have a 25-second clock. There are things that you have to teach your guys to look at being run down and be made aware of. We just didn’t have that focus that we needed to make sure that we could avoid a penalty like that.”

On if Duke had shown Thomas Sirk throwing the ball in game film: “When you run that wildcat offense, it’s always a possibility. It’s always something that you have to be made aware of and we were loaded up to stop the run. Obviously, it was a breakdown and we didn’t cover the guy. He did a good job of showing the run and, at the last minute, making the jump pass.”

On Anthony Boone’s read-option play that set up Sirk’s touchdown: “It’s always an assignment issue if the quarterback runs for five, six or seven yards, and obviously that was a big play. I’ll have to go back and look to see where the breakdown was in that regard, but this was a game where he probably ran it more than in other games. He did a nice job. I know this was a team that was averaging 30-something points. Even though they got 20, it wasn’t good enough for us to win the football game.”

On what Jamison Crowder did to find holes in the Virginia defense: “He’s a very good player and they move him around all over the place. They put him in motion, they put him in the slot. He’s just all over. He was in the backfield a couple times. He’s an athletic player and he made athletic plays for them. That’s why he’s an All-American. We did some good things, but at the same time, they were able to utilize his skill set and made some dynamic plays for them.”

On Miles Gooch making a number of big plays for Virginia: “As a football player, he continues to get better. You’re happy for the kid. I know if you ask him about the catches and things today, they’d all give it back for an opportunity to win the football game.”