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Tony Elliott: "Rough Day at the Office" for Virginia Football in Loss to Illinois
Following his first loss as a head coach, Tony Elliott didn't mince words as he addressed Virginia's 24-3 defeat at Illinois on Saturday in Champaign.
“That was a rough day at the office right there," Elliott said after the game. "But hey - you live and you learn and grow, and we’re gonna find a way to get better from it.”
Keep reading to see what Tony Elliott said in the postgame press conference following Saturday's loss.
On Virginia's offensive struggles:
“First, for a quarterback, when they [Illinois] have five sacks, you could really tell it was wearing on him [Brennan Armstrong] as the game went on. He didn’t trust his protection, he was moving in the pocket too much, he was throwing off his back foot, he had some wide open guys and, you know, just felt the pressure and never could get settled to be able to go through his progressions. So overall, offensive line wise, I was disappointed in how they played.”
On Billy Kemp's fumble on a punt return, which was recovered by Illinois for a touchdown:
“That’s costly there. That’s where, you know, when you learn how to win, you don’t press, you don’t panic, you don’t flinch. Credit to Billy [Kemp], he’s a playmaker, he’s wanting to make a play, but he slipped. He’s already back on the ten yard line. You slip, you fall down, just fair catch the ball, and let the offense have possession. But now, we muff the ball and also that’s going to be a great opportunity for everybody to teach. Every practice we have a five minute ball security circuit and we teach the fundamentals of keeping the wrist above the elbow… …Was Billy trying to fumble? No, he wasn’t trying to fumble, but he was trying to press too hard and make a play and it backfired on him."
On the performance of the Illinois defense to hold the UVA offense to just three points:
“They did a good job, once they saw where the offense was struggling, of adjusting and doing some more variations. Dropping coverage, when we were anticipating man in some of those situations and trying to run some pick and some cross routes to try and spring some guys. The thing that’s disappointing is, they’re telling you, ‘Line up. Come beat us.” Right? And that was the mindset with these guys and to win, I mean that’s going to have to be what you do, especially if you want to play late into the season. That’s how it’s going to be.”
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