38 Quotes by Skip Holtz

Coming into this one ... I would say I would like to be able to say that we're probably going to open it up a lot more than we did in our opening game, and utilize a little bit more of the offense. I just want to make sure we protect the ball and don't do anything foolish. I don't want to turn the ball over and put our defense in bad field position.

As in any game, one of the first things we have to do is take care of the football offensively. We can't afford to give them (Duke) a short field to work on each time they get the ball.

This is certainly an event we all really look forward to. Anytime we have the chance to play in front of the greatest fans in the country, it's a tremendous and overwhelming experience.

They put the ball in their best athlete's hands as much as possible. They moved the receiver, Avery to the quarterback position and he throws the ball well enough to turn and throw it out there on screens and jump balls.

They are the best team fundamentally we have faced this year. They will test us in every phase of the game. Offensively and defensively they are very similar to us. Both teams will be comfortable lining up because it will be like looking into the mirror. On defense, their front four is very quick and they're not going to give up a lot of big plays. They keep it in front of them and make you earn it.

There was some good balance out there between both the offense and defense. Yet, we really have to eliminate the small plays that get our offense off the field and our running game needs to really improve in an overall sense.

It will be a great challenge for us to stop them on offense. I think our defense has a good grasp on what we are trying to do, now it's time to go out and execute in a real game.

It's all about making plays. While I was pleased with the intensity, enthusiasm and the physical part of it, this is the stage of the spring where you look for execution and people who consistently make plays and a difference out there. As I've said before, this is a work in progress and changes are part of it.

Everybody blocks a gap and you give it to a back and say 'find the hole'. And they do. They've got great vision, they hit it, they're tough, they're physical, they run hard.