Postgame Quotes - App State vs. Wake Forest

App State Head Coach Scott Satterfield

Opening Statement...

"What a ballgame. We knew that's what kind of ballgame it was going to be. We knew we were going to have to bring that kind of intensity. I thought our guys had a great week of practice. I knew we would come out and play with the kind of effort that we played with. In games like this, and I tell our guys all the time: There's a very fine line from winning and losing. Especially when you're playing really good football teams. You've got to make a play somewhere down the road to get over the hump…It came down to the last play, and we didn't make it. I'm extremely proud of our guys. The way they fought. The way they played. I thought we learned a lot about our football team today, and we also did last week at Texas State. If we continue to improve like we have over the last two weeks, then we've got a great chance in this league."

On Kicking Issues...

"The extra point was a low kick. [Wake Forest] really didn't get any pressure on that one, and it ended up hitting in the back of someone. The missed field goal: he hit it pretty good, just didn't make it. And the last one was a little bit low, but there was also some penetration there. [Rubino] will tell you he didn't hit it as good as he'd like to hit it. If you hit it normal, maybe it had a chance to go in. It's just unfortunate that we didn't make the last kick…These kickers, it's hard. All the spotlight is on them, but it's not just them. It's the snap. It's the hold. There's so much timing that goes into it, so we'll go back and look at the film and see.

On Using The Passing Game Extensively...

"We're an offense that we want to take whatever the defense is giving us. They were playing a little soft in coverage, so we were able to hit some of those big plays down the field. I thought Taylor played well getting the ball to the playmakers outside. We just have to continue to work on the passing game, but we also have to work on the running game. Depending on what guys are going to give us, we have to be able to take it offensively."

On Ability to Compete with the Wake Forest...

"This is a good defense, an ACC defense that beat Temple in a bowl game last year. They got all of their guys back on offense and defense. I think they're a very, very solid football team. A bowl team. I think the ACC was one of the best leagues in the country last year. For us to go toe-to-toe with these guys, I'm extremely proud of them. Looking at the stats, we played really good. No turnovers, and played a really clean football game."

On Final Drive...

"I thought our guys did a good job. Nobody panicked. We had the fourth down play. We threw it up to Thomas (Hennigan) one-on-one. We felt like he was either going to catch it or get pass interference, and that's what ended up happening. The offense did their job…You just hate that you're on the short end of the stick."

App State Senior Linebacker Eric Boggs

On Disappointment of Losing a Close Game...

"It's happened a couple of times here in the last few years. We just have to find a way to finish when it comes to the end of it. Whether it's the offense or defense getting a stop. We've just got to find a way."

On Facing the Wake Forest Offense...

"We knew (Wolford) could run from the beginning. Knew he was going to cause a couple problems if we didn't do what we were supposed to do, but he did away from us a couple times. They get momentum on their side and start tempo-ing us. That's hard to deal with…Once they got that momentum going, that tempo going, it was hard to stop."
 
App State Junior Linebacker Anthony Flory

On Facing the Wake Forest Offense...

"Our coaches always make sure we are on point with our responsibility. We always have someone for the quarterback and the running back. We always know what we've got to do. We executed well, but you've just got to keep playing."
 
App State Senior Quarterback Taylor Lamb

On the Disappointment of Losing a One-Point Game...

"It is very disappointing because I thought we gave great effort on both sides of the ball. We know we left some points out there…We lost by one one point and that's the story. That's what we've got to live with and build on this momentum, as the effort was there."

On Throwing 50 times...

"I didn't expect it. We knew we had some holes in their defense we could attack. That's how coach was calling it. I thought we made some good plays out wide, and I thought we missed some opportunities also. Key plays that maybe the fans don't see, but in film tomorrow we'll see. I was very proud of our offensive line and our wideouts. I thought they played very well."
 
App State Freshman Wide Receiver Thomas Hennigan

On success with deep passes...

"We were scouting them on film, and a lot of the time they were off about six or seven yards inside so just taking what the defense was giving us. We had a great gameplan for it. Then we started having to take deep shots because they were getting in my face and all of the receivers faces."

On Gaining Confidence Each Week...

"I would say that I've grown more in these four games than in my whole football career. I've got to give it up to Taylor Lamb and all of the receivers sitting in the room. There are a lot of seniors on this football team, and everyone's had my back from the very beginning."

Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson

"A great team win in a lot of ways. Appalachian probably outplayed us. Tremendous stats sheet. Moved the ball better than us. Made some big plays on special teams. Obviously, the block at the end. If the ball was a little higher, it's a totally different celebration on the sidelines. Proud of our players. We didn't play well in the first half. Guys were hanging their head a little bit. First few weeks might have been a little too easy for us, and we got challenged by a really good football team. But our guys responded and our offense responded in the second half. Made plays when they had to. They go up by two, we get the ball immediately, go down and kick the field goal, and then we go up one. Defense made some good stops in the end. That was a 60-minute game, went down to the last second. Hats off to Coach Satterfield. Appalachian is an excellent football team. We were very fortunate to come away with a win. At the same time, we're really proud of our players. A lot of things didn't go right today, but kept playing hard, and it allowed us to persevere and find a way to win."
 
Wake Forest QB John Wolford
 
On the first half...
 
"Yeah, we just couldn't get it going. We just kept having 3 and outs, I missed some throws, my feet weren't good, didn't really settle in there. We have to do a better job, we can't put that much pressure on our defense. But the important thing is we came out in the second half and we got it rolling. Not every game is going to be perfect, not every game we're going to put up 600 yards, but if you find a way to win in the end, that's the biggest thing."

On confidence in throwing to Greg Dortch...
 
"For his age, he's pretty mature. He's always confident, he's a good leader on the sidelines. I know every time I throw him the ball, he's going to make a good play, so he's a good athlete and he works hard."

Wake Forest WR Greg Dortch
 
On victory...
 
"Well I feel like the first half, App State did a great job of just humbling us. I feel like we needed that. Second half, we came in, got ourselves together, and told ourselves that what we were doing the first half wasn't Wake Forest football. And when we came out the second half, we were a different team."
 
On the final field goal...
 
No, I turned my head.  On our field goal to win, I turned my head too.  There's no way I was watching."

Wake Forest WR Scotty Washington
 
"It was very important to practice game-like situations. You get that situation under the belt, and it just gets you ready for the game. It's one of those games you dream of. You just grow up watching those types of games, those battles, shoot-outs, it's just exciting."