	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 12, 2016

David Cutcliffe

Greensboro, North Carolina

COACH CUTCLIFFE: I'll start with saying I cannot respect the ability or the coaching that Louisville has any more than I do. I've coached against, I don't know, over 10 national championship teams. We've played quite a few good teams since we've been here. I really mean it. I haven't seen anybody with the weapons and the completeness that this Louisville team has. There's a reason they're playing as well as they are. So that combination has been lethal for them. We've got our hands full coming off of a tough ballgame Saturday, a physical ballgame Saturday, and a short week.

But I'm very proud of our young people that have gone back to work. We've worked as hard as I think we possibly could or have all year long to prepare ourselves for this big task.

I'll take questions.

Q. When you speak on this Louisville team, obviously give them a lot of respect in your opening address, what can you say about Lamar Jackson? You've been very strong as a coach in training and uplifting quarterbacks. You've had a lot of good quarterbacks you worked with. What can you say about Lamar Jackson?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Let's first talk about him without even having to consider just the physical abilities he has. He is a fierce competitor. You can tell he loves playing the game. You can tell he's smart and poised. I kind of start looking at quarterbacks in all of those ways first. He makes everyone around him better. He is spirited. He puts people in good positions to make plays.

I haven't even gotten to the incredible ability he has that he can throw it. He has an extremely quick, strong arm. He's as elusive and fast, and a really, really, really good runner. I don't see anybody in college football playing as an individual as well as he is.

Q. As far as everything that you've seen in your history, all the quarterbacks you've worked with, not working with him one-on-one, but when you see him, is there anybody that comes to your mind that has been similar or has a similar skill set that you've been able to see?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: You know, I don't know that there are many that mimic all of his skills because he is just such a great runner with such great speed to go along with all of those quarterback skills.

I didn't work with him. But in the impact that a guy has on the game, I just recall Charlie Ward having an impact that just was incredible if those Florida State teams, particularly that one year.

In my history, the guy that had kind of the physical tools was Heath Shuler back in the early '90s at Tennessee. But, again, this young man is just incredible athletically.

Q. If you've had any time to reflect, what did you think about the calls made regarding the weather and playing the games last weekend down in North Carolina?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Well, when you're playing and you're on a game day, I had no idea -- I don't think that particular day maybe it was as devastating to the state as some of the flooding since. But it was a little strange afterwards when you're talking about reflecting to realize that 11 people lost their lives in the state of North Carolina.

From the standpoint of playing the game, there was no one in danger. We never even had a close lightning strike, I mean, within 50 miles of us. The wind and the rain was challenging. I don't know if you saw our field. Our field was in incredible shape. It's the best field in college football. It was never really a factor in the game that you felt badly about the players having to play in it.

I think both teams played pretty well. It was different, but both teams played pretty well and fought it out well on the field.

Q. Did you watch any of the NC State-Notre Dame game?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: I walked in the training room, they played before us, I saw the field, and the conditions looked tough in that regard.

You can always second guess things. Now you have Florida and LSU, that mess. Those are very difficult calls for the conference office, for administrators. I haven't gone back and felt guilty or felt somebody was wrong in trying to play because, again, nobody was put in danger.

Q. We hear so much about Lamar Jackson and Louisville's offense. What are your thoughts about Louisville's defense?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: That's a great question, because I've been looking at all of it, kicking offense and defense. This team is extremely well-coached. They are really, really, really talented defensively. Their front, their linebackers, their secondary, the speed, the strength, schematically they're very difficult to deal with. They're as well-coached as anyone we will play defensively.

I haven't had much sleep. That may be the best way to answer it.

Q. Were there a lot of your players impacted by this storm?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: There were a few. Re'quan Boyette from Wilson, a number of people. What we've done is asked if there is anything that anybody needed, any assistance in any regard. I know we've had some parents coming to Durham to stay with their sons.

All we can do is do that. We prayed every day as a team for all of those people affected in our state. We're open next week. If there's some way we can do something, even minor, that may assist, that's kind of been our plan.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your fourth down defense. You're the only team in the league that hasn't given up a fourth down conversion. Is that happenstance?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: It's a good thing to try to figure out. It was huge in the Army game, as you know, huge. 0-3 or 4?

Q. 0-4.
COACH CUTCLIFFE: I think great young people, does design by Jim Knowles, about you great young people that are willing to fight for every inch. We do a lot of work against each other good on good, third and short, fourth and short, third and medium, fourth and medium. I think it's important. We start that back in spring ball. Do you guarantee yourselves that you're going to be successful? No. But if you don't work at it, I can almost guarantee you you won't be successful.

Maybe it's good fortune. Whatever it is, I like it. Hopefully we can keep it up.

Q. Stopping a team on fourth down, that's pretty much the equivalent of a turnover, isn't it?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Yeah. I mean, I think it depends on where the ball is on the field. We've seen some things that we've done that didn't help us win the Virginia game, but it could have. If we got a stop in a good field position area, fake punt, got one on defense. We kind of view them that way. It's a big-time sudden change. Fourth down, if somebody is averaging 40 yards a punt net or even 35 yards net on a punt, that's a significant change in field position.

So, yes, it's very much like a turnover.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297