University of Richmond Athletics
Richmond Football Postgame Quotes -- September 23, 2006
Sept. 23, 2006
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Josh Vaughan
On the play of the offensive line:
"The offensive line did a great job today. They opened up some running lanes. Coach [Wayne] Lineburg and Coach [Dave] Clawson told us to hit the vertical seams so that's what we tried to do. The offensive line created those seams, so we just tried to hit them as fast as we could and then make people miss in the secondary."
On the unity of the running back group:
"We're like brothers out there. Blood brothers. We laugh with each other, we joke with each other and we correct each other when we're wrong. We're just one big unit. That's how we do with the running backs."
On the team's early success:
"It feels great being 3-0. I think they said this is the first time since 1995 that we are 3-0 so it's good to get that accomplished and on top of that, it's good to get our young offense some wins under our belt going into league play. We're looking forward to working this week and the next game."
On the team's good health:
"We have been healthy so we're just hoping it stays that way for the rest of the season."
On what the offense needs to work on:
"Just coming out flat. On the first few drives we have either been ending up with a punt or something like that. We just need to come out focused and ready to play. We should be able to score on the first or second drive so our defense doesn't have to do as much as they've been doing."
Andy Lehatto
On scoring his first two touchdowns of his career:
"It feels great. First of all, we wanted to pick up a win against these Patriot League teams since we were 0-2 the previous two years. Coming out and getting that win was the first goal we had."
On his first touchdown catch not being the play signaled from the sidelines:
"We were supposed to run a shorter route since it was 4th and 7 so we were just trying to pick up the first down yards. Me and Levi were confused because we had never ran that play out of that motion, but we did it anyway after reading the coverage. Weird things happen, it's part of the game."
On the play of Levi Brown:
"We have three great quarterbacks. Each one brings their own special thing to the game. Eric, with his mobility, can make a lot of things happen. Levi, with his arm strength, his arm is just unbelievable."
Lawrence Sidbury, Jr.
On the defense's early success:
"That's what we want to come out and do every week. We don't want to give up a yard, we don't want to give up any scores. We want to come out strong every week and not give up any ground. We just have to come out and play hard and prepare hard."
On facing another option offense:
"They were a little bit more fluid this week running the offense but we just played our assignments and played hard and got a lot of penetration up front so that made a lot of things happen and opened up a lot of things for other players on the defense."
On the hits seeming a little harder against Bucknell:
"I mean this is a physical game. We tried to come at them full speed and they were coming at us full speed. We've been blessed with a lot of health even though a couple of guys went down today. It's a contact football game so that's going to happen sometimes."
On his own play and dealing with the option offense:
"All week the coaches, especially Coach Huesman, have been stressing that when they run the option I was going to have to run down the quarterback so I just used my ability to run him down."
On winning the turnover battle:
"I mean we always need to improve. We could still create some more turnovers to help the offense and the whole team. Next game we just have to come out with the same intensity but get the ball out and get some more picks and make some things happen on defense so our offense can have some more chances as well."
Richmond Head Coach Dave Clawson
On what the team accomplished today:
"We threw the ball well at times and we made some good plays in the passing game which is good to see. After the first score we found some consistency and I think defensively our first group did very well after the first drive. I think our kicking game did a lot better so we were happy about that."
On the team's defensive speed:
"Our first defense played very well. Our concern is when we brought in the second team because they gave up a couple of scores late which is disappointing. We have some good players in that group that need to step up when called upon."
On the team's perfect non-conference record:
"We're right where we want to be - undefeated. If you told me at the beginning of the season we'd be 3-0 at this point after the three non-conference games, I'd be very happy. We are very happy. At the same time we realize the level of competition is going to get better in a week. There are a lot of areas we need to get better at."
On having quarterback Eric Ward throw the ball more:
"We do not want to be a run-on-first and run-on-second and throw-when-we-really-need-to kind of team. We want to be a balanced offense. Our ability to throw the ball on first and second down is going to allow us to run the ball better. So we scout ourselves, look at our tendencies and then try to break those. We are a very heavy run-on-first-down team so we wanted to break that a little bit today. Some of the time we did it with success like the pass to Matt [Hale] but other times we put ourselves in second-and-10. I think the important thing is we avoid third and long. I think today if you looked at our conversion rate, if it was third and less than six it was probably good but if it was third and long it'd be not very good."
Bucknell Head Coach Tim Landis
On the game:
"Our defense kept us in it in the first half, and it was a remarkable effort on their part. In the first quarter I thought we had to get a couple scores when we had the wind. We got a first down on the first drive then we fizzled. We got the ball back and held us -- three-and-out. We then went down and scored. I felt if we could get another field goal or another touchdown -- try to get a 10-0 or 14-0 lead -- I knew the quarter would change and we would battle the wind. We then just had to get into halftime with our lives. They had the wind in the second quarter they just kept us pinned. The offense couldn't get going."
On Richmond:
"If you give Richmond a 40-yard field or a 50-yard field, the seventh-ranked team in the country, you are going to struggle."
On his team:
"Terrance (Wilson) is going to play for us next week against Marist. I felt really good about him taking the team down the field late in the game. We even had subs on the field during that -- I know they did as well. We played a lot of young guys. You can either hang your head and look at who we have lost and say here we go again. We aren't going to do that. We have seven games left and we are going to fight our tails off."