Senior Wide Receiver Joe Reed
On being surprised if teams kick to him
“Yeah, I am surprised now that they kick it to me. But we are still in the ACC playing great teams so if they do kick it to me, I will be thankful for the opportunity. “
On winning big at home
“We just love playing at home. It is such a different atmosphere at home. We know what we are capable of, especially when we are here. So it wasn’t really surprising to us. We had already told each other that we are playing at Scott Stadium so we know what to do. We haven’t lost one here at home in a while, so it is just a home court advantage.”
On setting records for kickoff returns
“It means a lot, especially when it helps me help the team. Anything I can do to help us put points on the board. Especially on special teams, if I can help out with the team it means a lot to me.”
Sophomore Running Back Wayne Taulapapa
On quarterback Bryce Perkins
“Bryce, as quarterback, his job is very hard but he does it well. For all of those passes that I was open, there was always positive yards. He is always going to make the right read.”
On preparing for Duke
“I think that we just wanted to focus on us. Within practices, we talked about living in the moment. It showed up in this game. It was a challenge for each and every one of us at practice this week. We put a lot of work in when it comes to the red zone. There was a lot of talk on how we can dominate more when it comes to that and throughout the game it was evident that we did a good job. The coaches really set up schemes that worked well for us.”
On Family Weekend
“Families are a really big part of our game, as you could see today. It helped us to keep the energy going. It’s amazing to see the amount of support and love that we have. No matter what happens, they will always be there and it is a blessing for each and every one of us.”
Junior Linebacker Charles Snowden
On defense’s success
“We just knew they like to get it out quick, spread you out and get it to their playmakers. We kind of tightened the coverage up, pass rush kind of tried to cage the quarterback and we executed.”
On difference without Bryce Hall
“His presence is definitely missed. It’s a little bit weird, but it was kind of like a collective leadership stood up. Dudes all over the secondary stood up, Jordan Mack took even more of a leadership role and he’s already a captain. Guys kind of rallied around it.”
Junior Cornerback Nick Grant
On changes without Bryce Hall and answering the call
“We’re a cohesive unit. We’re all really close friends off the field. [With] another person stepping in I feel like we really didn’t miss a beat. You saw what happened this game, we didn’t really give up anything besides the one pass. We just try to stick together and know that we have each other’s back more than anything else. If anything, Bryce going down brought us closer together. We’re all just unified and trying to lift him up through our play.”
Sophomore Linebacker Noah Taylor
On the mindset after losing two games in a row
“It feels good (to bounce back with a win) but it only lasts so long. Monday morning we have to get back to it and put this behind us.”
On how they were able to dominate in this game
“We are just focusing in on practice, just doing what we need to do. We knew we had to up our preparation and our execution coming into this game. The emphasis in practice was on forcing turnovers. It showed today because we practiced hard and played hard.”
Senior Defensive Tackle Eli Hanback
On tweaks to game plan with Bryce Hall being out
“We have confidence in our guys. The coaches don’t treat those guys any different. They are expected to come out and perform and they did that today.”
On being able to stop the Duke offense
“Generally, when you can stop the offense from being able to run the ball, they have to start passing the ball. Coach Hal can scheme that up so we can get turnovers and we did. We did a good job of stopping the ball and stopping the ball early. They had to start passing more but that was a very good O line. We went against a very good running attack, so kudos to us and them.”
Junior Linebacker Zane Zandier
On the spirit going into this game
“Tuesday and Wednesday we practiced really hard. We always practice hard but there was a different level of urgency with Bryce [Hall] out. All of our DBs stepped up. Chris Moore and Devante Cross really stepped in and did great tonight. Not that we didn’t miss him tonight, but we did well without him.”
On the effect of this game after the losses
“This game was huge, another ACC game. Every time you play an ACC team you have got to get that W.”
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