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Post-Game Quotes

Nov. 2, 2007

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

Georgia Tech Head Coach Chan Gailey

On missed opportunities:

“When we had our opportunities, we missed them. We missed a pass to James on the sideline. We had field position in the third quarter and didn’t do anything with it. They played well and we played poorly and couldn’t get back into it in the third quarter. In my opinion, that’s what cost us the game.”

Why was Glennon so successful in the first quarter?

“I thought he did a good job of just taking what was there. He didn’t try to force anything. I think he threw maybe one or two balls deep; that was all. He did a good job of throwing the ball underneath and hitting the guys, and they broke a couple of tackles.”

Assess Tech’s running back play:

“I thought Dwyer ran extremely hard. Jamaal (Evans) didn’t get as many opportunities in the open field as Jonathan did. That defense got to the ball; their safeties got involved in the running game a lot. We weren’t able to take advantage of the passing game, even though the safeties were playing the run.”

On the play of quarterback Taylor Bennett:

“I thought he could have read some things better, obviously. Early in the ball game he made some good throws. After that, I thought he didn’t read things the way he hoped he would read them. That’s something we have to get better at. I have to do a better job of preparing him to play games like this.”

On Virginia Tech converting 3rd downs and maintaining long drives:

“Most of them were 3rd-and-1s, 3rd-and-2s. There were some 3rd-and-longs in there, but most of them were 3rd-and1s or 3rd-and-2s. They kept the ball a great deal, but we had our opportunities to get off the field.”

On how the team focuses on goals for the rest of the season:

“If you have the right kind of guys. It’s my responsibility to keep us focused on what is at hand. There are still a lot of things to play for this season. We’re going to talk with the team about that Sunday night when we get ready to go for the next ballgame against Duke.”

On the play of Georgia Tech’s defense:

“I think we gave up some big plays. Other than that, we played good. But you can’t say `other than that’. Those count. We hit the quarterback a lot; we got some sacks. But they hit some big plays. The offense has to go take advantage of their opportunities to get some momentum back in the ballgame. I thought in the third quarter, defensively we played extremely well.”

On Virginia Tech’s successful onside kick:

“I thought that was a big play in the game. That was a gutsy call. I told Frank (Beamer) after the game it was a gutsy call.”

Wide Receiver James Johnson

Did that pass handcuff you?

“Yes. He kind of threw it, it was supposed to be in front of me, but as a receiver it is hard to run like that and really run your fastest. It was a missed opportunity.”

When this offense is playing without your playmaker, how important is it for you to hit big plays?

“When you don’t have a great back like Tashard Choice in the game, it really limits you. But we really didn’t know how this game tonight was going to go. We really felt like we could be just as good without him. We’ve got great backs all around, and I don’t think him not playing was that much of a factor. We weren’t clicking on all cylinders tonight.”

On your fumble, did you have any idea that guy was coming?

“No, I didn’t. And, I’m supposed to know that, but I didn’t. I was trying to make a play and it turned out he got a good arm on it and I lost it.”

Did you get the feeling that your team just could not get any breaks?

“No, not until the clock hits 0:00 in the fourth quarter. We were only down two touchdowns in the fourth and we still had a chance we just hadn’t scored. They caught us too far back in the field, and they got us in the big play ratio.”

What are some things you can do to help keep the team motivated?

“You just got to get back in here to watch the film, see what mistakes we made and correct them. Need to keep our heads up – we still have three more games and the season is not over. We still have more games to play so we’ll come back in here Sunday and start all over again. We feel like a lot of people don’t believe in us, so we’ve got to come together as a team and we’ll come through.”

Georgia Tech Quarterback Taylor Bennett

Did you hear the fan’s reaction when Coach was on the board, and what was your reaction?

“Yes, I did. It’s disappointing. It’s tough when your fans boo, but that’s just the game of football.”

Since Tashard was out, did you feel like you needed to make some bigger plays?

“When your running game isn’t working, you’ve got to go to the air. That’s the only 2 ways to score on offense. It just didn’t go our way tonight. I can’t throw 4 picks in one game, I don’t think I’ve ever done that, even in a season in high school. You can’t have 4 turnovers in a game on my part and I just got to make my plays when they call my number.”

Where do you go from here, and what do you do?

“Duke. We just got to go out and win. Just put this game behind us and take the mistakes and learn from them and go out and get another win.”

Is it tough to still stay motivated now that the chance of winning an ACC Championship is out of reach?

“Now we are motivated to get as many wins as possible and try and get the best bowl possible and finish the season on a good note.”

Virginia Tech Head Coach Frank Beamer

Opening Statement

“I’m really proud of our football team. I told them I wanted to be able to come in here tonight and tell you how tough-minded we are at Virginia Tech, to come back from a loss like we had last week to beat a really good football team. We weren’t going to let bother us. We had jersey complications. Nothing was going to stop us from coming out and competing and playing a great football game against a team I have a lot of respect for, a coach I have a lot of respect for and a coaching staff I have a lot of respect for.

“I feel like we were a little bit lucky there in the third quarter. They got a guy free down the field. They completed a pass then turned it over. It was kind of our night. I think we helped it be our night, in the first half and some of the things in the second half. It was great to see our player come back and be as tough and relentless as they were. To play like that, I’m really proud.”

On how Sean Glennon has responded the last three weeks when he re-entered the lineup.

“He’s made some big plays for us and run our football team very well. I’m proud of Sean. We just gave him the game ball in there for being the outstanding player of the game. He’s done a nice job.”

Is he your starting quarterback?

“We’ll, we’re going to look at this and decide where we go next week. Every defense is different, and we’ll decide where we’re going to go next week. We think we’ve got two good quarterbacks. We’re going to look at this video and sit down as a staff and talk about what we’re going to do. We’re going to play the best person to help us win football games.”

When was the last time you used an onside kick in the first quarter?

“I’m not even sure. I remember against Virginia (several years back), I could have kicked myself. We had it all set up for the second kick of the game, and I chickened out, and should have kicked it.”

Comment on your defense and how it played.

“They made some plays, every time they got moving on us a little bit. Brandon comes up, Macho comes up. We made some plays, and a couple of them I thought were big-time interceptions. They weren’t easy interceptions.”

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