Oct. 31, 2015
Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Gallery
POSTGAME QUOTES: VIRGINIA 27, GEORGIA TECH 21
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 • 3 p.m. ET • CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. • SCOTT STADIUM
Head Coach Paul Johnson
On falling apart after getting the ball to start the third quarter…
“We miss a read, bust a play on the second play, maybe we tried to throw a hitch that should have been converted and wasn’t converted. We were our own worst enemy. Then the next time we get the ball we fumble the ball, just too soft with it.”
On Defensive Tackle Adam Gotsis being injured on the first play from scrimmage…
“Adam has been our best player on defense. He is kind of a leader out there, so that didn’t help.”
On possibly coming out flat after emotional Florida State victory…
“I don’t know, there wasn’t a lot of energy really in the stadium. We talked about that, we knew it. That’s no excuse, you have just got to play. When you’ve won three games, you shouldn’t be flat about anything. We’ve got a lot of young kids, and I’ve done a very poor job of teaching them what it takes to win. Still the bottom line comes down to turnovers. That’s what it comes down to, if you win the turnover battle.”
On missing tackles against the run game…
“We missed a ton of tackles. Their back is a good back, and the play that killed us was the speed sweep that we worked on all week, and we had guys rolling down out of the secondary and corners that were supposed to be firing and we couldn’t get it done. Guys couldn’t get off the block.”
On wide receivers getting behind the secondary multiple times…
“They were playing the run, and the one we missed in the third quarter, it was play action and we had the guy on the post wide open and it was huge. We had a couple guys wide open and we missed them, and that time was one of the times we had protection and we just didn’t make a play.”
On the offensive line having trouble run blocking…
“We didn’t have the ball a whole lot, and that was our own fault. When you fumble the first drive away, and then you fumble the second drive away in the second half, and they were consuming seven and eight minutes when they get the ball, there’s not a lot of turns. I thought that when we ran the option, Clinton (Lynch) hit one big play on the pitch, but there weren’t a lot of big plays. Some of it was misreads, some of it was the blocking.”
On Virginia Linebacker Micah Kiser’s pass deflection in the endzone…
“I don’t know how that’s not pass interference. The guy ain’t even looking for the ball. They can fine me if they want, but that was ridiculous. He’s face guarding and running into the guys and everything else.”
Redshirt Senior Safety Jamal Golden
On the team’s energy…
“There wasn’t quite as much [energy] as there was last week, but we kind of knew that there wasn’t going to be a big crowd. We knew there wasn’t going to be a lot of energy, so we knew that we had to bring our own energy. I feel like for the most part effort wasn’t a part. It was just we have to execute better.”
On missed tackles…
“We missed some tackles. They made us tackle in space, and we have to do a better job. It isn’t like we don’t practice that.”
On their inability to stop the run…
“We just didn’t stop the run. They ran the ball pretty well. We just have to fill our assignments, get in our gaps, stop the ball, and put them in obvious pass situations.”
On UVA’s multiple options out of the backfield…
“It makes you think. There is no question about it. But that is not an excuse for us to not do our job. We practiced that all week, and we knew they were going to give us a bunch of different personnel groupings, a bunch of shifts, a bunch of motions. We just have to see what we practice and get to the ball.”
On the emotions after winning a close game last week and losing this game…
“We are just disappointed. We know that now that we lost today we are only going to be able to finish even throughout the regular season. We just have to go out and work because we don’t want to be the first team in 19 years not to make a bowl game.”
Redshirt Senior Corner Chris Milton
On the problems in the secondary…
“I think we did some good things. There are always things we need to work on. So we are going to go back and watch the film and try to get better from it.”
On the problems stopping the run…
“I’m not sure. Everyone messed up. You can see the outcome and see that we didn’t do the things that we should have done to win the game. We have to go back, watch the film, and reevaluate ourselves.”
On Virginia…
“They are a good team. We knew that coming in. We knew they ran the ball pretty well and when they did throw the ball, they caught a couple passes. Just a couple things we have to work on, and I feel like we are going to get better at it, so I think we are going to be all right.”
