“They just switched it up a little bit and went high tempo, tried to catch us not lining up, sped things up on us. We kind of did get a couple alignments right. They gashed us in a couple spots, which, as the game went on, we adjusted to it.”
Georgia Tech outside linebacker Brandon Watts
“I think once we settled in and got that composure and settled into the game after that (second) drive – I think that kind of caught us off guard – we kind of went back to our roots and played Georgia Tech football.”
Tech nose tackle Adam Gotsis
“I felt the defense really controlled the tempo of the game, as well. If the defense can get off the field and let our offense run the ball, that’s the best thing for us. That third-quarter drive, the first drive for the offense, went for seven minutes. You can’t really complain with that, being a d-lineman.”
Gotsis
“I was frustrated at halftime offensively that we didn’t have more points, and I looked at the stats and we’d only punted once. But it still didn’t seem like we were in sync like we needed to be. But if you can play like that and win 38-14, that’s a good thing.”
Tech coach Paul Johnson
“The thing that’s disappointing is at times we had some chances. The one interception should have been a touchdown pass. (Vad Lee) threw it to the wrong guy. We should have hit the guy on the wheel (route). We dropped one in the end zone. We had another guy Darren (Waller), (who) was behind him early on and we overthrew. So we’ve got to settle down and make those throws, and if we do that, then it certainly helps the running game a lot.”
Johnson
“I don’t know if we ever had the rhythm. I probably didn’t do a great job of calling plays. We never got in rhythm. We jumped around too much.”
Johnson
“We’ve got to play better than we did today if we’re going to win our division and go to Charlotte.”
Johnson
“To be honest, I think we could have played a lot better. I think we left a couple points out there on the field, but we got the win and that’s the main thing. We got DeAndre Smelter going in the pass game. I think the offensive line did a great job of protecting all day and the pass game, we did a lot of great things on the ground, as well. But still, we can get a lot better.”
Tech quarterback Vad Lee
“I don’t think I really get too nervous before a game. I would just say it was the most emotional game because I knew a lot of those guys (on Duke’s team). I knew Coach (David) Cutcliffe very well. We have a great relationship and then also, my family, I had about 70 people here. That was very exciting, just being in front of all these familiar faces.”
Lee
“Honestly, everything that we were doing was working. It was up to us whether we executed it right or not. Luckily, we made enough plays that we needed to win the game.”
Tech A-back Robbie Godhigh on the execution of the offense
“It’s kind of tough. Elon, I don’t know how they’ll end up doing in the FCS, but they weren’t really a good measuring stick. They’re not in our conference, they’re not in our division like Duke is, so it’s good to come out and play against similar competition and come out with a win. Duke, in my eyes, they’re better this year than they were last year and they went to a bowl last year. They’re a very good football team, so I think that speaks volumes to how good we can be this year.”
Tech guard Will Jackson
“I think we were all probably shocked a little by the outcome. The first half, a couple things bothered me. One, I thought they were kind of took the fight to us when things didn’t go well. I thought we didn’t play as hard as what I expected us to play. And I told them at halftime, ‘Third downs … we didn’t play a clean game.’ We had five penalties at halftime, 52 yards. We have to correct all of that. It probably shouldn’t have been a 24-7 game at that point. And we were really no better in the second half.”
Duke coach David Cutcliffe
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