GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH PAUL JOHNSON
Opening Statement
“I think that anytime you can win a game and win it in a pretty dominating fashion that is a positive, at the same time I was disappointed in the way we played offensively for sure. I thought that defensively we played pretty well for the most part. We did miss some opportunities. We missed a couple of turnovers we could have had. We missed a few tackles, some organizational stuff we had to burn a couple of timeouts with ten on the field. All of that stuff should get worked out and get better. So we have to make a ton of progress from week one to week two as the competition will continue to ratchet up each week we play. For as many guys we had returning on offense that was a pretty sloppy performance.”
On the offense during the first half being done by individuals instead of offensive linemen:
“I don’t know about that I mean we had long runs on the pitch and they knocked the corner and the safety down. We had a couple quarter back draws. We had people blocked. I mean it was just inconsistent. I wouldn’t just blame the offensive line. There was more than enough to go around.”
On the performance of the new defensive staff and players:
“Well I thought overall, like I told our defense after the game, if you don’t give up any points you’re probably never going to lose right? So that was a positive, but at the same time with what we want our standard to be we missed some opportunities I thought in the second half we let them string some first downs together, had a couple of drives where they had three or four first downs, that I challenged our guys to try not to let them cross midfield, and we didn’t do that. But, all in all, our defensive effort was certainly better than offense.
On the game overall:
“I thought it was lousy. (We) threw the ball lousy. The second drive of the second half, I wanted to throw the ball down the field, and they were able to do that. Now we hit a scramble play for the touchdown. But (TaQuon Marshall) did hit a couple throws. He hit a high one over there to Jalen [Camp], a little drag to Qua [Searcy], but all in all it wasn’t up to speed. It wasn’t up to my standards.”
On the consistency of the offense:
“You know, I guess I have a high standard. I don’t know. We punted the ball one time, and I just didn’t like the way we played. I didn’t think we were consistent. I didn’t like how we played considering who we were playing. We didn’t throw the ball well. We didn’t block well. We turned too many guys loose inside at times. We got too much pressure when we did try to throw. We didn’t throw well. I mean, yeah we converted some third downs and we scored, we should. We should be able to move the ball and beat those guys.”
ALCORN STATE HEAD COACH FRED MCNAIR
Opening thoughts
“Anytime you have an opportunity to play a team such as Georgia Tech from the ACC, you’ve got to embrace it. I thought our guys played fairly well. Our defense played really tough football. On offense, we’ve just got to execute. We had some wide open receivers and just cpuldn’t hit [them]. But my hat’s off to Paul and his crew. They do an outstanding job in the things they do. We’ve just got to get better as a team.”
Did Tech show you anything different than what you watched on film?
“Nah (chuckling). Georgia Tech has been Georgia Tech since Paul (Johnson) has been doing the things he normally does with his offense. With Coach (Nate) Woody coming over from Appalachian State and putting a new defense in, that’s big. They’re great guys and have put together a great football program. Paul’s done a great job with his offense here, and with Coach Woody here now, it’s going to be good.
“Like I told our guys, it’s all about executing and doing things you’re able to do as a team. It’s not about what they do, it’s about what we do. We just didn’t get it done today. In some aspects of the game, I thought we could’ve been better.”
On rotating quarterbacks
“We had planned on playing both of the guys (Johnson and Harper). They’ve been doing a great job throughout the whole camp. Noah (Johnson) started the game off, he missed a couple of passes. I wanted to see Felix (Harper) in there, but I was going to put him in at some point. I played them by quarters and put Felix in the second quarter to see what he could do. He threw a pic, so we’ve got some work to do there. We’ve got to get better at that position. But the skill positions on the offensive side of the ball, we’ve got to get better.”
On takeaways from this game
“The tough mentality of it is the biggest thing, to see how tough the guys are when they play a team like Georgia Tech. It’s the mental toughness and how physical you can be with their guys. I think our guys stood up to the task, and they did a great job. It could have been worse, but I think we played hard enough to keep the game in perspective. Offensively, we didn’t score anything, but defensively, we held them down [somewhat]. We had a few turnovers on defense. On offense we turned the ball over three times, so that’s not good in any aspect. Penalty-wise, we had a couple false starts and one holding penalty, and that was it. That’s something we emphasize in the way we play.”
GEORGIA TECH PLAYERS
David Curry, LB, R-Jr.
On the defensive performance:
“There is no confusion. Everyone was flying around. You got defensive tackles making tackles on the sideline. I feel like we ran really well as a defense today, and we got turnovers on turnovers, and that’s what we need to take each week and continue to build on that.”
On his touchdown:
“I was going to go tackle the running back, and it was just a routine scoop and score. It was nothing special. We practice it all the time in practice.”
Brad Stewart, WR, Sr.
On the offensive performance:
“I have all the confidence in the world in our offense in every aspect, but sometimes it’s not going to go our way. We had a good talk in the halftime meeting and got on the same page and came out and executed like we should have.”
On his touchdown catch:
“We have a very athletic team, and we make plays when they are needed. TaQuon (Marshall) got out of the pocket, and I happened to be open and felt like it was in the sky for about an hour. We just have to continue to make plays like we have been.”
TaQuon Marshall, QB, SR.
On his passing performance:
“I lost my confidence after missing a couple of balls and just got frustrated with myself. In the second half, starting off with a few short throws helped build my confidence back up, and I was just trying to play at that point.”
On how he was played defensively:
“They were playing me hard on the defensive side of the ball. So I just put the ball in the guys’ hands and let them run, and as you can see, it was pretty successful.”
