What Jeff Brohm, Louisville Players Said After 13-10 Win at NC State
RALEIGH, N.C. - Traveling to NC State for their first true road game of the season, the Louisville football program was able to ride their defense to a big win, capturing a 13-10 victory to move to 5-0 for the first time since 2013.
Here's what head coach Jeff Brohm, defensive end Ashton Gillotte, wide receiver Chris Bell, kicker Brock Travelstead, safety Cam'Ron Kelly and quarterback Jack Plummer had to say following the win:
Head Coach Jeff Brohm
(Opening Statement)
I'm really proud of our football team, I think, to go on the road, gut out of win in a sold out environment we hadn't, we hadn't done that before. To do that and fight to the very end, it just shows a great toughness by our football team. Some veterans really stepped up and did a good job. Really just proud of them. A lot of things we could have done better, without question, but when you play good football teams, you're not going to win every rep. You just have to find a way to win more than they do. I think overall, we made enough plays, and a lot to learn. Just a really good win to come out of here, on the road, with the W.
(On if he had confidence in their ability to come back given it was a different halftime locker room than their last comeback win)
I think so. We had multiple people say, 'Hey, we're gonna come back and win this. We've been here before.' And we have. We've been there with a lead, and we've been there when they're down. That's good experience. It wasn't the first half we wanted, so we just had to regroup. I just think we came out and made enough plays. We moved the ball some on offense, just turned the ball over multiple times, which is disappointing. So many things to get corrected, but our defense was aggressive in their approach all day. We got after the quarterback, we challenged routes. When you have two really veteran corners that can guard one-on-one, we allowed them to do that. That really helped us win the football game.
(On if the pressure impacted Jack Plummer's play)
Well, it did. So there's a lot to learn. Jack plays hard, and sometimes tries to make too many plays. But you know what, I could have called a better game. We could have helped him out to not allow so much pressure, and have some max protection things to help him. But they disguise everything. They give you the same look, and then they drop eight and play coverage. They give the same look, and they bring all of them. That's what they did to us. When it's loud, it's hard to check as much. But, we got to have answers. Our guys played hard, and made enough plays. We made some vertical shots down the field that helped us. I thought we had another vertical shot on the touchdown that they said was incomplete. Sometimes you just got to throw it over their head, and we did. We actually made some plays.
(If he felt he had to use the tight ends more in this game)
I think it just kind of came with the flow. Those guys work hard. We haven't utilized them as much in the passing game. I think anytime you're getting a blitz heavy team, we're gonna have to get in some bigger personnels to allow those guys to block, and then allow them to get out and run some routes. When we look at the film, they'll be a lot to learn, but our tight ends work hard and we're not afraid to lose them.
(On what Kevin Coleman Jr. brings as a punt returner)
Kevin's a dynamic player. I think we're this close to kind of letting him make plays as a receiver, we just haven't gotten to that point this year. But he's dynamic with the ball his hands. We got to make sure we figure out ways to get it to him. He can make guys miss, he's just a very natural athlete. His blocking on the punt return was really good. It helped us get some really hidden yards. I think special teams really came through for us today.
(On if the 5-0 start is where they thought they would be)
I tell you what, years ago, I stopped kind of predicting anything. We treat is as a one game season. While that's boring for everyone else, you have to do it. You got to put everything you got in one game in order to win. Ss soon as you look beyond as a coach, as a player, you're gonna get beat. I think our players and coaches have learned that. We know the schedule ahead is going to continue to get more difficult, and there's big games in front of us. But we got to learn from each game. We're happy to be where we're at. But we want to continue to find a way to win the next game.
(On Plummer taking risks trying to make plays)
Unfortunately on the first sack, there was a fumble. We had somebody run the wrong route. He was ready to throw it vs. blitz and he did not run the route, so we got sacked. After that, I think he just pressed a little bit. But he he was getting pressured. It really wasn't our offense line's fault, they were bringing everybody. Like I said, I need to have a better plan to make sure that we can negate that a little more often, because the heat affected Jack. A lot of things to learn from it, but we made some plays in the second half. We scored some points, could have had more, so that was good that we responded and answered.
(On another big game from Cam'Ron Kelly)
Well, we've gotten some guys back healthy in the secondary. Cam, really just kind of has a knack for football. He understands it, he's played a lot and the experience shows. The pressure we got on the quarterback allowed him to be in a good position, but a tremendous job by him. I just really think, defensively overall, a really really good plan, and they executed very, very well.
(On the defensive line getting pressure on Armstrong)
Well I think we've been close to some sacks the first four games, and for whatever reason, haven't made them. Sometimes that happens, but we've been applying pressure. Today we dialed up even more. It helped those guys kind of break loose. I think we defended, and got in front of guys, and got our hands on him and made the quarterback hold the ball longer. All those things matter. I really just think it was a really good plan, that our guys executed well and allowed those defensive linemen to to make some really good plays. I'm very proud of their effort.
Defensive End Ashton Gillotte and Wide Receiver Chris Bell
Kicker Brock Travelstead
Safety Cam'Ron Kelly
Quarterback Jack Plummer
(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Rob Kinnan - USA TODAY Sports)
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