NC State vs. Miami
Nov. 3, 2007
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| NC State Notes 
Post-Game Quotes – Miami Players
Senior guard Derrick Morse
On the game…
“We started on our 20 with six minutes left in the game and we were very confident. We were running the ball pretty well all day. We did just that, we ran it right down. We were out of timeouts on their 10-yard line and had to throw some balls up. We got down there and kicked the field goal to send it to overtime. We didn’t capitalize in overtime.”
On the rest of the season…
“It is definitely tough. We knew that we can control our own destiny, and now that is out of our hands again. We still have a shot, we need some help. All we can do now is focus on Virginia.”
Junior Daren Daly
On the field goal in overtime…
“The one in overtime… we just laid one down and missed it. It’s pretty simple. You have to make it. It’s on my shoulders. I had an opportunity to hit these field goals and I missed it. I was hoping they were going to miss, but that is out of my control. I thought my kick was going to be good. It felt good, but it didn’t go through.”
On the field goal to force overtime…
“It was just like any other kick. I went out there and hit it trying to push this game into overtime. When it came time to hit the next one, I messed it up.”
Senior quarterback Kyle Wright
On not being able to play…
“It was frustrating. You have confidence in your teammates and coaches, but there were several of us on the sideline hurting. You just want to be out there, good situation or bad situation.”
On Kirby Freeman…:
“I just tried to keep [Kirby] as calm as possible. At halftime I told him you just have to keep going. I’ve been in those situations before this season, like the North Carolina game. I had a bad first half, but you have to capitalize no matter what. Just keep throwing and have a good start to the second half.”
Junior quarterback Kirby Freeman
On the game…
“It’s disappointing. It’s difficult to lose anytime, but when so much is on the line you just hate it; especially when you have a big role in such a great game. I was really disappointed in myself. You want to make the field goal, but it came down to the way that I played the game today. I just didn’t have it today. I tried as hard as I could… trying to bring everything to the table, but it just didn’t work out.”
On the difference this week from the FSU game…
“I’ve been on the best and the worst side of football in just over a week now. I don’t need anyone to feel sorry for me. The person I let down most is myself.”
On being nervous…
“How nervous can you be when you go in last week and have a drive to beat Florida State? We just ran the ball very well against them. We didn’t throw the ball a lot, but when we did I didn’t do a very good job at it today.”
On turnovers…
“I can’t have turnovers. I can’t throw the ball into coverage. For the last one I thought I was throwing the ball away out of the pocket. I am just really disappointed in myself. If I played better today, we would have come away with a win.”
Post-Game Quotes – NC State Players
Strong Safety DaJuan Morgan
On the win…
“It was a sweet victory. We fought to the end, which makes it all so much sweeter. We got the win.”
On giving up the long touchdown to Jenkins…
“We didn’t read our keys. I was playing safety in the cover two and I was supposed to be deep. I came and bit on the play-action pass, so they snuck one over our heads and capitalized on our mistakes.”
On the defensive hold at the end of the game…
“You show teamwork, great effort and determination. Everybody did what the coaches told them to do by focusing on their assignments. We came together as one collective group and made it happen.”
Kicker Steven Hauschka
On the game-winning field goal…
“My focus on the last kick was just to slow down because everything happens out on the field a lot faster than out in practice. I was just happy to be in the situation. I’ve never had a chance to win a game like that with a kick, so I was really excited to have that opportunity…
“Getting picked up on their shoulders was pretty awesome. It was definitely pretty exciting and I’ll never forget it. It’s gonna be hard to come down from this one.”
On what he was thinking before the game-winning kick:
“I wasn’t thinking about how exciting it would be to win the game. I wasn’t thinking about the crowd or how excited NC State fans would be. My main focus was just on relaxing and playing it smooth when I was out there.”
Defensive End Willie Young
On the defense…
“We just finished the game and we fought, we fought, we fought, and came out victorious.”
On the intensity on the field…
“It was like a bowl game. We made sure we didn’t lose focus and everything came out for the best.”
Post-Game Quotes – Miami Head Coach Randy Shannon
Opening statement
“It was a tough loss today on Homecoming. It was a big-time tough loss. We had opportunities in the game to come out with a victory, and we gave up some big plays for long yards on defense on blown assignments. We can’t keep doing those things. Even though we held them to a field goal, we can’t keep doing those types of things.
“Offensively, we’ve got to be able to throw the ball. We can line up and pound it, pound it, pound it… but after a certain time, you can only run the ball so many times.
“Special teams-wise we’ve got to kick the field goals. That is just the bottom line. If [Daren] Daly kicks the field goal in regulation, we wouldn’t be in overtime. If he kicks it then, we’ve got a chance to come back in the second overtime. Both of them were chips shots. He’s been kicking them in practice, but it’s like we’ve said from day one, we’ve got to find a kicker and we’re going to continue trying to stress it and have competition in practice. If we don’t, it is going to be a tough time for us to win games.”
On whether he considered to pass in overtime
“Our passing game wasn’t going, it just wasn’t. We tried to do some things in the passing game and it wasn’t working. It was almost like the quarterback was nervous the whole entire time. Kirby [Freeman] wasn’t getting in a rhythm. He didn’t settle down at all, and it was just difficult. As coaches, we’ve got to play to our strengths when those types of things happen. Kirby just couldn’t get settled down no matter what we did. We tried to settle him, but we couldn’t.”
On whether he was surprised Kirby Freeman completed only one pass
“No. When you look at it, the only way we can run the football is to line-up in the personnel group that we did, and try and pound it and do some play-action passing off of it. But then also, we’ve got to understand that everything we were trying to do was limit what Kirby could handle. He’s a good quarterback, but when a guy gets nervous like that – and it’s nothing against him being nervous, understand that I’m not down on Kirby, but he was just too nervous. We’ve got to settle him down in some kind of way.”
On whether he considered playing Kyle Wright
“No. No. He did some things in pre-game but he just couldn’t get that back foot planted. I’ll never sacrifice a player for a win. Their careers are more important than us winning a game. I’ve seen too many guys get injured and never come back from injuries and their careers are over.”
Post-Game Quotes – NC State Head Coach Tom O’Brien
On the game…
“We made the plays at the end. You have to give Miami credit – they took the ball over the last six minutes and ran it down the field. We hung in there, got into overtime. We made a kick and they didn’t – that’s what it comes down to.”
“Mental toughness is a big part of it. You got to learn to be tough. Hopefully we are progressing. We are not anywhere near where we have to get to, but we’re making strides.”
On the NC State kicker Steven Hauschka…
“Well he’s a good kicker. We know he’s a great kicker. He gave us an opportunity… I think he was a little nervous, a little fast on the first one and he missed. I said to the team if he gets 15 chances next week, we’ll give him 15 chances. ”
