TCU-West Virginia Postgame Quotes
11/10/2018 3:38:00 PM | Football
TCU coach Gary Patterson
Opening Statement
"Well, in essence, it turned after (it was) 3-3 with about five minutes left to go in the second quarter, as we got our butt kicked. We're not good enough right now to make up for mistakes, and they're a good football team. You have to give West Virginia a lot of credit."
On the offensive struggles:
"We have to win two more ball games. I'm going to tell you a story. There was a guy, a long time ago, that did your job and we lost to UAB. We went 4-5, we had Southern Miss and Louisville left, and he said 'do you think if you beat Southern Miss and Louisville,' which were both ranked in the top-20, you deserve to go to a bowl game?' And I said 'yes,' and we did. That was my first year as a head coach. 2001. So, you keep fighting. We had the same problems, you have to get ready to go, you have to understand that West Virginia's a good football team, and we played them at their house, and it's the way it is. But, you have to give them a lot of credit, (on) both sides of the ball."
On what happened when WVU opened the game up:
"It's been that way for us all the way back to the Ohio State game. We had them in the third quarter, (and) about five minutes was the difference of about 20 points. Right now, we can't make up for mistakes yet. (Like the) fumble on the kickoff return. You have to make plays. We have enough energy right now to play about a half against good people. We played not quite a half - we played up to about six minutes left to go. The last quarter, kind of pushed in (my) mind, but they pushed us around to be honest with you, just running the divide zone. He was nice to us, the fourth quarter, he was nice to us. So, it could have been a lot worse. I respect that. We've been on the other side of these many times. We have to find a way to score points, and we have to find a way to stop people, that's what our jobs are."
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen
Opening Statement
"Overall, (it was) a good win. (It) kind of started the way I thought it would. I thought TCU was pretty good on defense and I still do. I thought they got worn down a little bit, obviously. (It was) back and forth, like this game usually is. I thought we did a good job of changing our mindset, offensively, towards the end of the second quarter. We started using some different tempos with them, which I thought was good on (offensive coordinator) Jake Spavital's part. We just got momentum, (and) created a turnover. Our special teams played really good. (We created) a turnover in the kicking game, and then jumped up on them, 24-3. The we came out and started fast in the second half. We got a three-and-out safety, and then, offensively, took it down and scored. I'm happy with the way we played. The goal is be to be 8-1 and we're 8-1. We'll enjoy it, then move on to Stillwater tomorrow."
On playing more uptempo:
"We've just got to get into a rhythm. We all in this room understand that "uptempo" can be detrimental to your team if not done properly. I believe in mixing that. It's a way of sparking us, so to speak. We need to be able to have that in our back pocket. I think last year we probably did it too much. This year, we're going about it right. We've just got to vary it more than anything. I think it's a good changeup. If you're sputtering a little bit, changing things up is good. I like (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) being able to control that. He can sit there and figure out what they're doing and go slow and be efficient. We can also push it and catch them off balance as well. I think it caught them off guard in the second quarter. We just haven't done a ton of it. Our plays have been down, trying to be as efficient as we can, which we have been. That brings a different element to what we do offensively."
Question inaudible:
"(TCU coach) Gary (Patterson) never really changes a whole lot. Their third-down package is obviously a little different. They go odd, like everybody does. We wanted to push that a little bit. If you catch them in that and you want to keep them in it, you go fast. If you want to prevent them from getting their specific people in there, then you go fast. I just think you change it and use it to your advantage."
On the play of (redshirt senior tight end) Trevon Wesco:
"I've been saying it all year. He's getting better every game. The blocking aspect of it is something we've seen all year. The more he plays and the more we scheme things up for him, the better he is. Yeah, he's pretty good. He's a big part of what we're doing and why we're so successful offensively right now. He's a big part of that. I've seen this coming for quite a while."
On the run game numbers:
"You do know TCU is, like, the No.1 defense in the league? I thought we ran the ball effectively."
On the defensive effort:
"(I thought it was) really good. They were motivated all week. We've been playing good defense. I've said this a hundred times, (defensive coordinator) Tony Gibson has arguably done as good of a job as any defensive coordinator in college football. We've got high standards for playing good defense here. Last week, we probably didn't play like we could have. Like I said on Tuesday, I think our opponent had something to do with that. Texas played well offensively, but we were pretty motivated to come back and play better. Obviously, we did."
