North Carolina State University Athletics
Quotes From Amato And Bunting
9/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2001
Quotes From North Carolina Coach John Bunting:
On Last Saturday's 41-9 Victory Over Florida State: Looking back on Saturday, we're still obviously thrilled to be able to come out of there with a win, our first win, and obviously for me personally my first win. And at home, it was a great experience. Our defense played well. I was not surprised. They played their best. Number one, they stopped the run. That's important in any football game for a defense to do. Number two, I think we played our best game on special teams by far, not giving up any big plays. We had a snap over the punter's head, which was pretty ugly, but our special teams performed very, very well, the best by far they've performed. That's important for us to win. No way we can win ball games without them playing well. Offensively, we didn't turn the ball over (and we) made a play or two. That's what football games can come down to, playing great defense, playing well on special teams and don't give the other team the ball.
I think a big plus for us was playing at home, playing in front of those great fans, seeing those fans at the Old Well. It was real thrill for me and I think it was exciting for the players. I think the fans were into the ball game. I think their mindset combined with how we started the game helped our players get a mindset and I think it carried through for the entire football game. I'm thrilled for our players, especially our seniors, that we had that kind of game. Unfortunately in this business you don't have much time to think about that beyond 24 hours, 36 hours. It certainly didn't go much beyond about 12 hours for me and for most of our staff. We've been back hard at work. We've got to refocus our attention on a very imposing opponent. Obviously it's an intrastate rivalry. It's a rivalry that when I was here 30 years ago was ablaze and I don't expect it to be any different this week.
On NC State: Obviously they had success last year and have had great success this year. They're a very good football team, and they do a lot of different things to put pressure on you offensively, defensively, and they've been extremely good in many phases of special teams, particularly punt rush.
On Julius Peppers: I think Julius sets the tone for the defense in the way he works in practice along with the big plays that he will make on Saturdays. He certainly came up with a big interception (against FSU). He's our leading interceptor, our only interceptor I might add.
Julius is one of those playmakers. He's a big-play guy, but he also is doing some other things that are making him a more consistent football player. When I say that, I'm really referring to the way he works on the practice field. That's how he gets better, that's how he makes big plays because of his preparation on the practice field. He's getting much more consistent, I think he's playing the run pretty well, it doesn't always show necessarily in tackles or tackles for losses, but he is a pretty stout individual and one with a lot of athleticism. As I've said to him and as I've said before to anyone who cared to listen, I think he has a huge upside. I think his best football is still way out there in front of him. I think he's going to get better and better and better, because I think he really enjoys the game.
On Defensing NC State QB Philip Rivers: I don't think he's been sacked very much. I think he only has two. The reason is that they're obviously doing a good job up front, but mostly I think Rivers has a very good release. It's uncanny. it reminds me a little bit of (Jeff) Garcia, a little bit of (Dan) Marino. He sees things very well. He sees blitzers. He sees receivers. He knows where to go with the ball and where to get it right now. Not only does he have this uncanny quick release, but he has the anticipation. So he is an excellent football player, and obviously he makes that offense go.
NC State Coach Chuck Amato
IMPRESSIONS OF THE WOLFPACK THROUGH TWO GAMES: "I'm still unsure. We are a young team that, in our first game away from home, we didn't play as well as could have. We made enitirely too many mistakes. It's really like we played two first games. We went two and a half weeks of school and then played our first game and then we played our second game 16 days after that. I'm not making excuses for these young men, by any means. We've just got to be more disciplined in what we do. They've got to do what their coaches ask them to do. However, the ultimate thing in any sport is to win."
ON KICKING GAME VS. SMU: "I thought Herbert did a good job for us. He averaged 44 yards a punt, which helped with field position. He made two field goals, which one of them was the deciding factor."
ON TAR HEELS: "If you can play defense, you've got a chance to win every game you're in. I've told people all along that they've got a great defensive football team. They've got the most dominant player in college football, probably, playing one end and the other one's not to shabby. Their front four is as good as any that I've seen. They've got a couple of good cover people and their linebackers can run fast and they've done that in every game they've played in. Florida State tried to run the ball at them and that didn't work."
KEYS TO VICTORY VS. UNC: "We can't allow punt returns for touchdowns because they've got a great punt returner. The kicking game is going to be very instrumental. The game is going to be won up front. Their strength defensively is their front seven and our weakness on offense is our offensive line. That's quite a match-up there."
ON STRATEGY TO STOP PEPPERS: "We've got to get rid of the ball and we've got to put two people on him. I've been on the other side coaching defensive ends of that caliber. You've got to do something to slow him down. He's in their (great FSU defensive ends that Amato has coached) class or they're in his class. They're all at the top of their class, I can tell you that. He'll be drafted just as high as some of those have been."
ON RUSHING SUCCESS VS. HEELS IN 2000: "We were successful there, but a lot of that came late. That can help, but two of those offensive linemen are no longer here. We'll do what we have to do. It will be interesting."
ON CONTINUING CONCERNS WITH KICKOFF COVERAGE: "The first couple of times we went down there, we got them at the 25 or 27. Then they broke one that I thing everybody missed him at least once and some twice for a 65 yard return. That's that hidden yardage that you have to correct. In any game, it can help turn a game around."
ON FACING CURRY/DURANT TANDEM: "They're a little bit different, but they throw the deep pass very, very well. They can both run it, but the ad-libbing is the the thing that creates problems defensively. You could have a play totally defended and someone ad libs and a bad play turns into a good play."
ON PERFORMANCE OF RUN DEFENSE VS. SMU: "SMU had a good running back but I was upset. I was upset at the fact that we were undisciplined. We had our opportunities. We had three turnovers that would've taken the defense off the field. All of those things created more snaps for them. We've got to learn to open up our eyes and see a lot more than what we do. We played well against Indiana, but I'm still concerned with someone just taking it and coming right at us."
